Dinorwig

This article is about the village. For the slate quarry, see Dinorwic Quarry. For the power station, see Dinorwig power station.
Dinorwig

Bwthyn Congl-y-mynydd Cottage, Dinorwig
Dinorwig
 Dinorwig shown within Gwynedd
OS grid referenceSH592616
CommunityLlanddeiniolen
Principal areaGwynedd
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town CAERNARFON
Postcode district LL55
Dialling code 01286
Police North Wales
Fire North Wales
Ambulance Welsh
EU Parliament Wales
UK ParliamentArfon
Welsh AssemblyArfon
List of places
UK
Wales
Gwynedd

Coordinates: 53°08′06″N 4°06′50″W / 53.135°N 4.114°W / 53.135; -4.114

Dinorwig, sometimes spelled Dinorwic, is a small village located high above Llyn Padarn, near Llanberis, in North Wales. It is thought that it was part of the territory of the Ordovices tribe, and that 'Dinorwig' means "Fort of the Ordovices".

History

The village has a long history of slate quarrying. The Romans used local slate for the construction of Segontium, and slates from the valley were used in the construction of Caernarfon Castle. The main local quarry was the Dinorwic Quarry, which was worked from the late 1770s until 1969. After the First World War, cheaper alternative roofing materials became available and production at the quarry declined. This led to a decline in the fortune of the village itself and many moved away to nearby towns such as Bangor and Caernarfon.

Today, the village shares its name with a pumped storage hydroelectric power station, Dinorwig power station. The village is also the location of the Blue Peris Mountain Centre, a residential outdoor activities centre operated by Bedford Borough Council and Central Bedfordshire Council.

Part of the film Willow was shot in the disused Dinorwig Quarry, in June 1987. The village's population is approximately 200.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dinorwig.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/22/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.