pwllheli

The town's name means 'salt-water pool'.{{URL|http://www.pwllheli.org.uk/}}

File:Donkeys outside a warehouse, Pwllheli (copy of jtoo001) NLW3363760.jpg

File:Albert Evans-Jones (Cynan).jpg

The town was given its charter as a borough by Edward, the Black Prince in 1355;{{cite book |last=Davies |first=John |author2=Jenkins, Nigel |title=The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales |year=2008 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff|page=719 |isbn=978-0-7083-1953-6}} a market is still held each Wednesday in the centre of the town on Y Maes (‘the field’ or ‘the town square’ in English).

The town grew around the shipbuilding and fishing industries and the granite quarry at Gimlet Rock ({{langx|cy|Carreg yr Imbill}}).{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/pwllheli/pages/marina.shtml |title=A glance back at history with Luned |publisher=BBC |date=17 June 2006 |access-date=21 February 2009 |quote=Another relaxing place in Pwllheli is Gimblet Rock. It is a rock which stands on the southerly side of the town. It was once a huge rock, but was used to make setts for the streets in England.}}

The population in 1841 was 2,367.The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol.III, (1847) London, Charles Knight, p.1019

During the 1890s, the town was developed by Solomon Andrews, a Cardiff businessman. This work included the promenade, roads and houses at West End. The Pwllheli and Llanbedrog Tramway was built, linking the town to Llanbedrog. The trams ran until 1927, when the section of track between Carreg-y-Defaid and Tyddyn-Caled was seriously damaged by a storm. Andrews ran the Cardiff Road section in 1928 and offered to sell the tramway to Pwllheli Corporation at the end of the season, but they did not take up his offer. He then sold the assets and the Corporation removed the tracks during the winter of 1928/29.Narrow Gauge Railways in North Caernarvonshire, Vol 1 - West, (1981), J. I. C. Boyd, pp 211-221, Oakwood Press, {{ISBN|978-0-85361-273-5}}

File:Pwllheli.jpg

Poet Albert Evans-Jones, who was an archdruid for the National Eisteddfod of Wales and was known by his bardic name {{lang|cy|Cynan}}, was born in Pwllheli. Before becoming an archdruid, he joined the First World War effort through the Welsh Student Company of the RAMC, serving in Salonika and France, initially as an ambulance driver and medic, later as the company's chaplain. He was the son of the proprietor of the Central Restaurant in Penlan Street, Pwllheli.

File:Sgwâr y Farchnad Pwllheli Market Square - former market hall - geograph.org.uk - 3088595.jpg, Market Square frontage]]

There are two tiers of local government covering Pwllheli, at community (town) and county level, with both councils using Welsh as their primary language: {{lang|cy|Cyngor Tref Pwllheli}} ('Pwllheli Town Council') and {{lang|cy|Cyngor Gwynedd}} ('Gwynedd Council'). The town council is based at the Old Town Hall at 9 Penlan Street.{{cite web |title=Contact |url=https://cyngortrefpwllheli.cymru/en/contact |website=Cyngor Tref Pwllheli |access-date=1 December 2024}}{{cite web |title=Old Town Hall |url=https://cadwpublic-api.azurewebsites.net/reports/listedbuilding/FullReport?lang=&id=4562 |website=Cadw |publisher=Welsh Government |access-date=1 December 2024}}

Pwllheli formed part of the ancient parish of Denio (or Deneio).{{cite web |title=Deneio Ancient Parish / Civil Parish |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10181963/boundary |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=1 December 2024}} It also was part of the medieval cantref of Llŷn, which in 1284 was made part of the new county of Caernarfonshire under the Statute of Rhuddlan.{{cite book |last1=Breverton |first1=Terry |title=Wales: A Historical Companion |date=2009 |publisher=Amberley Publishing |isbn=9781445609904 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I2qoAwAAQBAJ&dq=Eifionydd%20commote%20rhuddlan&pg=PT67 |access-date=23 November 2024}} Pwllheli was made a borough in 1355 under a charter from Edward the Black Prince.{{cite web |title=Pwllheli |url=https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/702/ |website=Coflein |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |access-date=1 December 2024}} The borough covered the same area as the parish of Denio.{{cite book |title=Parliamentary Papers |date=1838 |page=115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TgZEAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA115 |access-date=1 December 2024}} The borough was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country.{{cite book |title=Municipal Corporations Act |date=1835 |page=461 |url=https://archive.org/details/statutesunitedk35britgoog/page/460/mode/2up |access-date=1 December 2024}}

The borough of Pwllheli was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. A community called Pwllheli was created instead, covering the area of the abolished borough. District-level functions passed to Dwyfor District Council, which was in turn replaced in 1996 by Gwynedd Council.{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1972|year=1972|chapter=70|accessdate=6 October 2022}}{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government (Wales) Act 1994|year=1994|chapter=19|accessdate=9 October 2022}}

{{lang|cy|Ysgol Cymerau}} is the town's primary school.

{{lang|cy|Ysgol Glan y Môr}} was formed in 1969 by the merger of the former Pwllheli Grammar School at Penrallt and the Frondeg Secondary Modern School in Upper Ala Road to form a comprehensive school based on two sites in the town. The junior pupils (year 1 and year 2) were located at the Penrallt site and the senior pupils (year 3 and upwards) at a new complex in Cardiff Road. This new school was subsequently expanded to accommodate all pupils under the {{lang|cy|Ysgol Glan y Môr}} name.

The Penrallt site was later redeveloped as the Pwllheli campus of {{lang|cy|Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor}}. The façade of the main building of the old grammar school was retained and incorporated into the design of the current college buildings. Thus the 'old school' is readily seen from the town square ({{lang|cy|Y Maes}}), as it has been since the former Pwllheli County School moved to Penrallt in the early 20th century.

File:Pwllhelistn.jpg

Pwllheli railway station is the north-western terminus of the Cambrian Coast Line, which provides services to {{rws|Machynlleth}}; most trains continue on to {{rws|Shrewsbury}} and {{rws|Birmingham International}}. Services are operated by Transport for Wales.{{Cite web |title=Timetables |work=Transport for Wales |date=2 June 2024 |access-date=4 October 2024 |url=https://tfw.wales/service-status/timetables |quote=}}

The railway line to {{rws|Caernarvon}}, via the Carnarvonshire Railway, was axed under the Beeching cuts and it closed in December 1964.{{cite web| url=http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/c/caernarvon/| last1=Fifoot| first1=Les |last2=Wright| first2=Paul |title=Station name: Caernarvon |website=Disused Stations |date=17 May 2017 |access-date=5 October 2024}}

Pwllheli is connected to the wider road network by the A497 to Porthmadog and the A499 to Caernarfon. From there, major roads lead away from Gwynedd to the rest of Wales.

Bus services on the Llŷn Peninsula are operated by Berwyn Coaches and Nefyn. Routes connect the town with Aberdaron, Caernarfon, Nefyn and Rhydlios. Pwllheli bus station is sited in the town centre. {{cite web |url=https://bustimes.org/localities/pwllheli |title=Pwllheli bus services |website=Bustimes.org |access-date=4 October 2024}}

File:Pwllheli Town Hall (48161273111).jpg

• {{lang|cy|Plas Bodegroes}}, which was a Michelin starred restaurant until 2009[http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/01/28/why-wales-needs-more-michelin-stars-91466-22798169/ walesonline news]
• {{lang|cy|Penarth Fawr}}, a 15th-century house
• {{lang|cy|Hafan y Môr}}, a former Butlins holiday camp now operated by Haven
• Pwllheli Market
• {{lang|cy|Neuadd Dwyfor}}, a theatre and cinema in Penlan Street{{NHAW|desc= Town Hall |num=4566|access-date=2 June 2022}}

Pwllheli has a section of the Wales Coast Path along its shoreline.

File:Harbwr Pwllheli Harbour - geograph.org.uk - 547673.jpg in the background.]]

Pwllheli has a small harbour at the confluence of the Afon Erch and Afon Rhyd-Hir.{{cite book |last1=Morris |first1=Ralph |title=Cruising Anglesey and Adjoining Waters |date=2021 |publisher=9781786791825 |page=180 |isbn=978-1-78679-233-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5A46EAAAQBAJ |access-date=1 March 2023}}

Hafan Pwllheli is a marina built in Pwllheli Harbour during the 1990s.

Pwllheli hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1925, 1955 and 2023, as well as an unofficial National Eisteddfod event in 1875.

According to the 2011 Census, 80% of the population spoke Welsh.{{cite web|url=https://www.ukcensusdata.com/pwllheli-north-w05000101#sthash.6p4mWIas.dpbs|title=Pwllheli North|publisher=UK Census Data|access-date=28 November 2022}}

Pwllheli is home to association football team Pwllheli F.C., rugby union team Pwllheli RFC and running club Llŷn Striders. There is a hockey club, {{lang|cy|Clwb Hoci Pwllheli}}.

It is a hub for water sports, owing in part to a marina; Pwllheli Sailing Club and {{lang|cy|Plas Heli}} (the Welsh National Sailing Academy) are based here.

The town has two beaches, South Beach and Glan-y-don. South Beach stretches from Gimlet Rock, across the Promenade and West End, towards Penrhos and Llanbedrog. Glan-y-don Beach is on the eastern side of the river mouth and runs for 3 miles (5 km) from behind the marina workshops and out towards Penychain (holiday camp).

The town has a golf club on the Llŷn coastline.

{{more citations needed section|date=May 2024}}

• Eleazar Roberts (1825–1912), musician, translator, writer and amateur astronomer
• Owen Davies (1840–1929), Baptist minister and writer
• Alice Gray Jones (1852-1943), known as Ceridwen Peris, writer, editor and activist; governor of Pwllheli County School
• Sir (Albert) Cynan Evans-Jones (1895–1970), bardic name Cynan, was a war poet and dramatist.
• William Richard Williams (1896–1962), Principal of the United Theological College, Aberystwyth
• John Robert Jones (1911–1970), philosopher
• Eirwen Gwynn (1916-2007), Welsh nationalist, writer, teacher and physicist; attended Pwllheli County School
• Christine Evans (born 1943), poet; taught at Pwllheli County Grammar School{{cite news |title=Poet's joy at literary prize win |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4377703.stm |access-date=19 May 2024 |work=BBC News |date=23 March 2005}}
• Hywel Williams (born 1953), Plaid Cymru politician, MP for Arfon, previously Caernarfon, 2001-2024
• David Dawson (born 1960), artist

{{reflist}}

• On Bonfires, Butlins and Being Welsh: Growing up in Pwllheli in the '50s and '60s by Jos Simon (2022, Y Lolfa)

{{commons category}}

{{Wikivoyage}}

• [http://www.pwllheli.cymru Official Website for Pwllheli]
• [https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=3490318 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Pwllheli and surrounding area]

{{Gwynedd}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Towns in Gwynedd