The National Park with the hole in the middle

The Snowdonia National Park in North Wales is unusual for a National Park in that it has a hole in the middle, around the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog.

Blaenau Ffestiniog, once the centre of the Welsh slate industry in the 19th century, was deliberately excluded from the park when it was set up in 1951 to allow for the development of new light industry to replace slate mining following its decline after the Second World War.

The slate tips remain however, scarring the hills that surround the town and looming large as a constant reminder of the town’s heyday, now long gone.

The below is a series of photographs from our recent trip to The Snowdonia National Park and the roads around Blaenau Ffestiniog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shop Albion Spring/Summer 2018 here.