Plas Tan y Bwlch

Plas Tan y Bwlch (grid reference SH655406) in Gwynedd, Wales is the Snowdonia National Park environmental studies centre, administered by the National Park Authority.

The centre aims to provide courses which are of interest to all lovers of the countryside who would like to know about the Snowdonia National Park and the part of Wales in which it resides.

Plas Tan y Bwlch occupies a position overlooking the valley of the River Dwyryd, and the village of Maentwrog, with no part of the Park more than an hour’s drive away.

Plas Tan y Bwlch was built by the rich Oakeley family during the 19th century, it being substantially rebuilt on the site of a first house probably built in the early 17th century. Additions designed by the Chester architect John Douglas were made to the house for W. E. Oakley in 1872. The nearby Oakeley Arms Hotel was also once part of the estate but was sold off in the early 20th century.

The Oakeley family owned a huge slate quarry in Blaenau Ffestiniog. Slates were carried from the quarry to Porthmadog by means of the Ffestiniog Railway which passed through the estate.

Plas Tan y Bwlch is thought to be the first house in North Wales with electric lighting powered from its own hydro-electric station, which was commissioned in the 1890s. A pipeline from the lake fed water to a Pelton wheel, which was located in a small power house on the hillside immediately behind the house. It ceased to operate soon after 1928, when the public hydro-electric power station at Maentwrog began supplying the area. In June 2013 a new hydro-scheme, costing £420,000, and similarly tapping the water from Llyn Mair, was opened. The water falls 60 metres (200 ft) to the turbine, and the scheme is expected to meet most of the Plas' electricity needs.

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Wikipedia