Traeth Mawr ( Welsh for 'large beach') is a polder near Porthmadog in Gwynedd in Wales. The area was formerly the large tidal estuary of the Afon Glaslyn . It was created after large-scale land reclamation occurred in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. A large embankment, called the Cob, separates the area from the sea and carries a road and railway line.
The original estuary of the Afon Glaslyn was a dangerous place; many people were said to have died in the quicksands trying to cross the Traeth Mawr. In the late 18th century, various landowners around the edge of the estuary began to systematically reclaim land of between 50 acres (20 ha) and 100 acres (40 ha). Between 1770 and 1800 this resulted in the creation of about 1,500 acres (607 ha) of new land.
Around 1798, William Madocks bought the Tan-yr-Allt estate near Penmorfa Marsh. Soon afterwards he reclaimed an area of sand from the sea and the river by building a 2 mi (3.2 km) earthen bank from Prenteg to Clog-y-Berth (now Porthmadog). The township of Tremadog was founded within the new area. A wooden-tracked railway was used in the dyke's construction. The rails were later used by the Croesor Tramway. [1]
In 1807 Madocks obtained a Private Act of Parliament permitting him to complete the reclamation of Traeth Mawr. [2] Between 1808 and 1811 an embankment called the Cob was constructed from the island of Ynys Towyn (now part of Porthmadog) to Boston Lodge in the Meirionnydd. The massive stone-lined earthwork was 1,600 yards (1,500 m) long, 90 feet (27 m) wide at the bottom, tapering to 18 feet (5.5 m) at the top, which was 21 feet (6.4 m) above the level of the river. The work completed the reclamation of 1,500 acres (607 ha) of Traeth Mawr.
Soon after completion in 1812, the embankment was breached in a violent storm. Repairs were completed by the end of September 1814. [3] Although the original estimate to complete the Cob was £23,500 (£16.9million in 2014), it eventually cost Madocks £60,000 (£43.3million in 2014) to finish. At its seaward end, Traeth Mawr joins "Traeth Bach" ("little sands"), the estuary of the River Dwyryd.
In 1836, the Ffestiniog Railway began using the Cob when it built a tramroad to transport slate from the quarries around the inland town of Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog, where it was loaded onto ships. Empty wagons were hauled back up to the quarries by horses. Loaded dandy waggons used gravity to run downhill from Blaenau Ffestiniog to the port across the Cob. After a number of trials and some modifications, the line was upgraded to a narrow gauge railway in 1863. In 1927 the Cob was breached again, and took several months to repair.
A carriageway was also constructed at a lower level on the inland side to take a public highway. Until September 2003, when the Cob was bought by the Welsh Assembly Government, all vehicles crossing the embankment were required to pay a toll. The collection of fees often caused traffic jams at peak holiday travel times: it was not exceptional for queues to back up to one mile (1.6 km) in each direction. In 2002, the highway across the Cob was widened while a separate path was added for walkers and cyclists. The pedestrian route now forms part of Lôn Las Cymru, the national cycle route from Holyhead to Cardiff.
In 2010 work started on the Porthmadog, Minffordd and Tremadog bypass to reduce the amount of through traffic in the town. [4] On completion the original course of the A487 across the Cob was renumbered as the A4971.
In 2012, 260 m (850 ft) of the embankment were widened on the seaward side of the Porthmadog end to allow a second platform to be constructed at the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway's Harbour Station.
The Ffestiniog Railway is a heritage railway based on 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park.
Porthmadog, originally Portmadoc until 1974 and locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies 5 miles (8 km) east of Criccieth, 11 miles (18 km) south-west of Blaenau Ffestiniog, 25 miles (40 km) north of Dolgellau and 20 miles (32 km) south of Caernarfon. The community population of 4,185 in the 2011 census was put at 4,134 in 2019. It grew in the 19th century as a port for local slate, but as the trade declined, it continued as a shopping and tourism centre, being close to Snowdonia National Park and the Ffestiniog Railway. The 1987 National Eisteddfod was held there. It includes nearby Borth-y-Gest, Morfa Bychan and Tremadog.
The A487, officially the Fishguard to Bangor Trunk Road, is a trunk road in Wales that follows the coast from Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in the south, to Bangor, Gwynedd, in the north.
Tremadog is a village in the community of Porthmadog, in Gwynedd, north west Wales; about one mile (1.6 km) north of Porthmadog town centre. It was a planned settlement, founded by William Madocks, who bought the land in 1798. The centre of Tremadog was complete by 1811 and remains substantially unaltered. Tremadog hosted an unofficial National Eisteddfod event in 1872.
William Alexander Madocks was a British English politician and landowner who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the borough of Boston in Lincolnshire from 1802 to 1820, and then for Chippenham in Wiltshire from 1820 to 1826. He is best known, however, for his activities as an agricultural improver in Gwynedd, especially around the towns of Porthmadog and Tremadog which he founded and which are named after him.
The River Dwyryd, is a river in Gwynedd, Wales which flows principally westwards; draining to the sea into Tremadog Bay, south of Porthmadog.
Boston Lodge is situated at Penrhyn Isa, Minffordd, Penrhyndeudraeth, on the A487 road about 1 mile SE across the Afon Glaslyn causeway from Porthmadog, Gwynedd in north-west Wales.
Penrhyndeudraeth is a small town and community in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The town is close to the mouth of the River Dwyryd on the A487 nearly 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Porthmadog, and had a population of 2,150 at the 2011 census, increased from 2,031 in 2001. The community includes the villages of Minffordd and Portmeirion.
The Croesor Tramway was a Welsh, 2 ft narrow gauge railway line built to carry slate from the Croesor slate mines to Porthmadog. It was built in 1864 without an Act of Parliament and was operated using horse power.
Porthmadog Harbour railway station in Porthmadog, Gwynedd, North Wales. It is the passenger terminus of two narrow gauge railways: the Ffestiniog Railway, which was opened in 1836 to carry dressed slate from the Quarries around Blaenau Ffestiniog to the sea port of Porthmadog, for export by sea; and the Welsh Highland Railway, incorporated in 1923, which ran to Dinas. After rebuilding in 1997-2011, the other terminus is at Caernarfon, in sight of the Castle.
Minffordd is a village within the Welsh county of Gwynedd. It is situated on the A487 road between Porthmadog and Penrhyndeudraeth, and in the community of the latter.
Boston Lodge Halt in North Wales is an unstaffed halt on the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway, which was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea.
Afon Glaslyn is a river in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. While not of great significance in terms of its length, it is one of Gwynedd's primary rivers, and has greatly influenced the landscape in which it flows.
The Aberglaslyn Pass is a narrow gorge of considerable beauty in Snowdonia, Gwynedd, north Wales. The A498 road/A4085 road follows a relatively level route along the Afon Glaslyn through the pass from Beddgelert to Prenteg and then continues at the edge of the Traeth Mawr via Tremadog to Porthmadog.
Pont Croesor is a railway halt in Wales, on the Welsh Highland Railway, which runs through the Snowdonia National Park from Caernarfon to Porthmadog. It is located on the section between the stations of Hafod y Llyn and Pen-y-Mount Junction.
The A498 is a 16-mile road between Pen-y-Gwryd and Porthmadog in North Wales.
The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway is a short reconstructed heritage railway in Gwynedd, Wales. Its main station is in Porthmadog.
The Blaen y Cwm quarry was a slate quarry located east of Blaenau Ffestiniog in Wales. It was first worked in some time between 1813 and 1818 and sporadically after that until 1914. The quarry was connected to the Ffestiniog Railway at Duffws Station via the Rhiwbach Tramway.
Morfa Bychan is a village located in Gwynedd, North Wales, with a population of over 500, with an almost equal number of people born in England or Wales.
Tremadog Town Hall is a municipal building on Stryd Fawr, in Tremadog, Gwynedd, Wales. The structure, which was most recently used as a shop, is a Grade II* listed building.
