Place:Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire, Wales

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source: Family History Library Catalog

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Trawsfynydd (; Welsh for "across [the] mountain") is a linear village in Gwynedd, Wales, near Llyn Trawsfynydd reservoir, and adjacent to the A470 north of Bronaber and Dolgellau and 10 km (6 miles) south of Blaenau Ffestiniog.

The total community area is 12,010 hectares (46.4 square miles) with a population of only 973. The area is sparsely populated with each hectare inhabited by an average 0.07 persons. The village is typical of many Welsh villages. There is one grocery shop, one public house, a newsagent, a chemist, garage, petrol service station, and a branch of a large agricultural merchants. The community includes Bronaber.

Before 1974 it was located in the historic county of Merionethshire.

The village is close to Llyn Trawsfynydd, a large man-made reservoir, which was originally built between 1924 and 1928 to supply water for Maentwrog hydro-electric power station.

The original flooding of the area in the 1920s to create the lake involved the drowning of some two dozen properties, some of historical significance, but there was little objection at the time. The new power station was regarded as a good thing, and indeed on its completion was capable of supplying the whole of North Wales' electricity needs.

The lake was subsequently also supplied cooling water to the twin reactor Trawsfynydd nuclear power station used for the commercial generation of electricity for the UK national grid.

Research Tips

• A 1900 Ordnance Survey map of the historic county of Merionethshire is available on the A Vision of Britain through Time website. This shows all the old parishes within their urban and rural districts. Large farms and estates are also marked.