Bala, Gwynedd
Encyclopedia : B : BA : BAL : Bala, Gwynedd
Bala (more correctly "Y Bala") is a market town in north Wales, formerly an urban district of Merionethshire. It lies at the north end of Bala Lake, 17 miles (27 km) north-east of Dolgellau, with a population (2001 census) of 1,980. It is little more than one wide street, Stryd Fawr (Welsh for 'Big Street' but more usually translated as 'High Street').
In the 18th century, it was well-known for the manufacture of flannel, stockings, gloves and hosiery. The Tower of Bala (30 ft. / 9m high by 50 ft. / 15m diameter) is a tumulus or "moat-hill", formerly thought to mark the site of a Roman camp. The theological college of the Calvinistic Methodists and the grammar school, which was founded in 1712, are the chief features, together with the statue of the Rev. Thomas Charles (1755-1814), the theological writer, to whom was largely due the foundation of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Other famous people from the Bala area include Owen Morgan Edwards born in Llanuwchllyn and T. E. Ellis, born in Cefnddwysarn.
Bala hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1967 and 1997.
The Welsh word "bala" means the outflow of a lake. Bala, Ontario, Canada was named after it in 1868. They have since become twin towns.
Bala Lake ("Llyn Tegid" is its Welsh name) is the largest natural lake in Wales.
The Bala Lake Railway, also known by its Welsh name of "Rheilffordd Llyn Tegid", runs for 4.5 miles from Llanuwchllyn to the edge of the town, along a section of the former trackbed of the Great Western Railway.
See also
- Bala Series of geologic beds in Bala
- Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
External links
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