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Porthmadog Museums Galleries And The Arts

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About Porthmadog - show info hide info

Porthmadog, known locally as Port, is a small coastal town located in Gwynedd, in north-west Wales, traditionally part of Caernarfonshire. It has a population of 4,187. Porthmadog came into existence after William Madocks built a long seawall, called the Cob, to reclaim a large amount of land from the sea for agricultural use. The town was called Portmadoc until 1974, when it was renamed to a Welsh equivalent spelling. It is named after Ynys Madoc (Madoc Island), located in the Glaslyn Estuary, which relates to Madog ap Owain Gwynedd, who is said to have been the first European settler of America. Located on the Irish Sea coast, Porthmadog has a small harbour where ships used to load with slate carried on the many local narrow gauge railways that terminated there. These included the Croesor Tramway, Ffestiniog Railway, Gorseddau Tramway, and Welsh Highland Railway. In the second half of the 19th century Porthmadog was a flourishing port. A number of shipbuilders were active here at this time, and were particularly well-known for the three-masted schooners known as the "Western Ocean Yachts". Porthmadog's role as a commercial port was effectively ended by the First World War. Today, Porthmadog has termini for the Ffestiniog Railway at the south of the town, and for the Welsh Highland Railway in the north. Porthmadog also has a station on the main line (Cambrian Coast). Pwlhelli, Harlech, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Caernarfon, Harlech, Nefyn, Llanwrst, Bala and Bangor.