Penmaenmawr Village

Penmaenmawr is a town in the parish of Dwygyfylchi, in the county borough of Conwy, traditional county of Caernarfonshire, north Wales. It is a seaside resort and quarrying town, though the latter is no longer a major employer, on the North Wales Coast between Conwy and Llanfairfechan.

The town was bypassed by the A55 Expressway in the 1980s, losing its fine old Edwardian period promenade in the process, which was largely replaced by a modern and still popular one. Penmaenmawr is noted for its spectacular mountain and coastal walks. Nearby is the popular attraction of Bwlch Sychnant, or the Sychnant Pass, and the town also lies partly within Eryri, the Snowdonia National Park.


Quarrying Town and Seaside Resort

The industrial quarrying of granite at Penmaenmawr began in the early 19th century with the forming of the Penmaenmawr & Welsh Granite Co.. As the industry grew workers and their families flocked to Penmaenmawr from all over north-west Wales and beyond. The link was especially strong with Trefor, also the home of a significant granite quarry on the slopes of Yr Eifl. The community which sprang up in the present day wards of Penmaenan and Pant-yr-afon was close-knit and almost entirely Welsh-speaking. By the early years of the 20th century about 1,000 men worked in the quarry and its associated workshops. Neighbouring Llanfairfechan was an integral part of this process. Life was far from easy for the quarrymen, especially those who worked on the higher slopes. They were expected to walk up to the summit area in all weather and faced losing pay if unable to. Naturally a strong spirit of camaraderie developed and this was reflected in the town's chapels, pubs and cultural societies. Granite was exported by rail to ports like Liverpool and the cities of England and by sea from the two quarrying jetties to Liverpool and also to a number of European ports such as Hamburg.