Bala
Bala maps (2 available)
Map of Gwynedd
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Bala books (2 available)
- 8 photos on Bala appear in 5 Frith books - View photos of Bala
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Bala and Gwynedd
Bala memories
Read and share memories of Bala and Gwynedd inspired by Frith photos
the bridge at llanuwchllyn
I know this view very well, as my aunt and uncle lived in Ty Newydd, their garden led down to the river on the right hand side of the photo. Spent many an hours playing in the river and fishing with my cousins, never caught anything!
Contributed by Bob Hughes
Ty Newydd.
Good to see that you have the view from the bridge, my aunt and uncle lived in the house on the left, which is called Ty Newydd. Many happy memories of tea time visits and playing and fishing in the river with the cousins. I helped my Uncle lay his drive, which 34 years later is still in good condition.
Contributed by Bob Hughes
Gwynedd memories
Ty Newydd.
Good to see that you have the view from the bridge, my aunt and uncle lived in the house on the left, which is called Ty Newydd. Many happy memories of tea time visits and playing and fishing in the river with the cousins. I helped my Uncle lay his drive, which 34 years later is still in good condition.
A memory of Bala contributed by Bob Hughes
the bridge at llanuwchllyn
I know this view very well, as my aunt and uncle lived in Ty Newydd, their garden led down to the river on the right hand side of the photo. Spent many an hours playing in the river and fishing with my cousins, never caught anything!
A memory of Bala contributed by Bob Hughes
Extracts From Bala & Gwynedd books
This was one of Bala`s most famous inns. It was immortalised by George Borrow, who enjoyed the most sumptuous breakfast of his life here in 1854 during a tour which he recorded in Wild Wales: `a noble breakfast, such indeed as I might have read of but never before seen`. It included local salmon, trout, eggs, and mutton chops.
An extract from from"Gwynedd and Anglesey Photographic Memories".
This spacious town lies at the head of Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid), the largest natural lake in Wales, with a narrow-gauge railway running along its south-eastern shore. It is ringed round by mountains and is now a major watersports centre, though in the 18th century it was renowned for its woollen industry. In Bala’s spacious tree-lined High Street we can see the White Lion (centre right) and a pleasing mixture of building styles.
An extract from from"North Wales Photographic Memories".
Leland wrote that Bala had ‘a little poore market’ in the 16th century. This vast Victorian hotel, with its half-timbered detail, is a feature of the High Street. Some 60 years earlier George Borrow had stayed here on his tour through ‘Wild Wales’; here he drank ‘the finest glass of ale he had ever tasted in his life’.
An extract from from"North Wales Photographic Memories".
This nostalgic and peaceful late-summer view shows corn stooks above the little town by the lake whose Welsh name, Llyn Tegid, means ‘beautiful lake’. The lake is over three miles long and 100 feet deep; it stretches north-east towards the edges of the town, its borders wooded and its shores gravelled. Victorian commentators tell how it abounded with pike, perch, roach and eels.
An extract from from"North Wales Photographic Memories".
Here the street is seemingly deserted in the sunlight, save for a few parked cars; one is waiting outside the Plas Coch Hotel. In the 18th century Bala was a centre for the great religious revival that led to Welsh nonconformism. The town was once known for the manufacture of knitted woollen stockings and gloves, and it is said that George III wore stockings knitted here; much of the knitting was done in the open air.
An extract from from"North Wales Photographic Memories".