Tal-y-Cafn
Encyclopedia
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
It lies in the Conwy valley close to the Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
settlement of Canovium
Canovium
Canovium was a fort in the Roman province of Britannia. Its site is located at Caerhun in the Conwy valley, in the county borough of Conwy, in North Wales....
at Caerhun
Caerhun
Caerhun is a village and rural community on the west bank of the River Conwy, to the south of Henryd and to the north of Dolgarrog, in Conwy County Borough, north Wales. The population was 1200 at the 2001 Census.-Features:...
, and was the site of a Roman river-crossing point of the River Conwy
River Conwy
The River Conwy is a river in north Wales. From its source to its discharge in Conwy Bay it is a little over long. "Conwy" is sometimes Anglicized as "Conway."...
. A mediæval ferry, which operated from as early as 1301 , was replaced by a steel bridge of rivetted plates and angles on piers of concrete and masonry in 1897. Originally a toll bridge
Toll bridge
A toll bridge is a bridge over which traffic may pass upon payment of a toll, or fee.- History :The practice of collecting tolls on bridges probably harks back to the days of ferry crossings where people paid a fee to be ferried across stretches of water. As boats became impractical to carry large...
, it is now toll free, and is the only road bridge over the river between Conwy
Conwy
Conwy is a walled market town and community in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales. The town, which faces Deganwy across the River Conwy, formerly lay in Gwynedd and prior to that in Caernarfonshire. Conwy has a population of 14,208...
and Llanrwst
Llanrwst
Llanrwst is a small town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It takes its name from the 5th century to 6th century Saint Grwst, and the original parish church in Cae Llan was replaced by the 12th-century church....
.
The present bridge dates from 1977-8 following severe rusting of the original structure. The chosen design by A. M. Hamilton
A. M. Hamilton
Archibald Milne Hamilton was a New Zealand-born civil engineer, notable for building the Hamilton Road through Kurdistan and designing the Callender-Hamilton bridge system. His name is also associated with the Callendar-Hamilton aeroplane shed of the late 1930s.- Early life, marriage and children...
is of interest, being a Callender-Hamilton type B10 bridge
Callender-Hamilton bridge
The Callender-Hamilton bridge is a modular portable pre-fabricated truss bridge. It is primarily designed for use as permanent civil bridging as well as for emergency bridge replacement and for construction by military engineering units...
of unit construction and intended for rapid deployment in civilian and military applications. The pre-fabricated steel sections are hot-dip galvanised for protection against corrosion, and no part is too heavy for two men to carry. The piers of the old bridge were in perfect condition, and it was a stipulation that the footway be available for use at all times during reconstruction. It was therefore decided to adopt an unusual installation method, whereby the new bridge was assembled through and around the old bridge. Once completed, the new bridge was lowered onto the piers by cutting away piece-by-piece the old bridge.
The bridge also carries water in a pipe from Llyn Dulyn
Llyn Dulyn
Llyn Dulyn is a lake on the edge of the Carneddau range of mountains in Snowdonia, North Wales.The lake covers an area of only , yet is extremely deep - it reaches to a depth of 189'...
and Llyn Melynllyn
Llyn Melynllyn
Llyn Melynllyn is a lake on the edge of the Carneddau range of mountains in Snowdonia, North Wales.It lies at a height of just over , and has an area of some ....
in the Carneddau
Carneddau
The Carneddau , are a group of mountains in Snowdonia, Wales. It includes the largest contiguous areas of high ground in Wales and England, as well as six or seven of the highest peaks in the country—the Fourteen Peaks...
mountains to the coastal town of Llandudno
Llandudno
Llandudno is a seaside resort and town in Conwy County Borough, Wales. In the 2001 UK census it had a population of 20,090 including that of Penrhyn Bay and Penrhynside, which are within the Llandudno Community...
.
Tal-y-Cafn is primarily known as the site of the Tal-y-Cafn Hotel, a former coaching inn
Coaching inn
In Europe, from approximately the mid-17th century for a period of about 200 years, the coaching inn, sometimes called a coaching house or staging inn, was a vital part of the inland transport infrastructure, as an inn serving coach travelers...
located on the A470 road
A470 road
The A470 is a major long-distance connective spine road in Wales, running from Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. It covers approximately 186 miles , over a zig-zagging route through the entirety of the country's mountainous central region, including the Brecon Beacons and...
, and the adjacent Tal-y-Cafn railway station
Tal-y-Cafn railway station
Tal-y-Cafn railway station is located at Tal-y-Cafn on the Conwy Valley Line from Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog. This station is a request stop for northbound trains but not, according to timetables, for southbound trains .Prior to nationalisation the station was a...
. The shop and post office are now closed.
Nearby lies Bodnant Garden
Bodnant Garden
Bodnant Garden is a National Trust property near Tal-y-Cafn, in the county borough of Conwy, Wales. Bodnant Garden is situated above the River Conwy and overlooks the Conwy valley towards the Carneddau range of mountains.- History :...
, a National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
property set in 80 acres (323,748.8 m²).
A modern housing estate
Housing estate
A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...
development on the western bank of the river was the location of The Ferry, a former public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
. This pub, popular at a time when alcohol could be served on a Sunday (which was not legal across the river), suffered when the Sunday Closing (Wales) Act 1881
Sunday Closing (Wales) Act 1881
The Sunday Closing Act 1881 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It required the closure of all public houses in Wales on Sundays. The Act had considerable political importance as a formal acknowledgement of the separate character of Wales, setting a precedent for future...
was repealed.