This document is a snapshot of content from a discontinued BBC website, originally published between 2002-2011. It has been made available for archival & research purposes only. Please see the foot of this document for Archive Terms of Use. 12 March 2012 Accessibility help Text only BBC Homepage Wales Home Our village Pupils from Betws-y-Coed Primary School share the results of their research into tourism - and let us know more from this section what they think of their village BBC Local themselves. Betws-y-Coed Ask a local North West Wales Dry stone walling contest Things to do Fifty years in business Making Betws better People & Places Who visits Betws? Meet the people Nature & Outdoors Our village History St Michael's Church Ceri: "We did our project on tourism this year. We went Religion & Ethics The Ugly House round asking questions, like where do you come from, where Your pictures Arts & Culture are you staying and how did you get here. Some people were Music Bridges and rivers walk nice to us, but some people ignored us!" Mountain biking guide TV & Radio Slideshow tour Local BBC Sites Naomi: "Lots of the visitors came from England for the day Train information News by coach and they said Betws was a lovely place and they Arts: Martin O'Neill Nature: Bats at Cobdens Hotel Sport liked going walking and looking at the views. They liked Weather walking up the mountains round here, up to Snowdonia." living in betws-y-coed Travel Emily: "Some teenagers from Liverpool were here too, doing Local public services Neighbouring Sites Community events Mid Wales their GCSE geography. They were doing a questionnaire like Useful links North East Wales us, but with different questions. We asked them what would Have your say they change about Betws, and they said not so many old Local healthcare explained Related BBC Sites people. We think there are lots of old people here too. Wales Weather for Betws-Y-Coed Cymru Some people told us that they Gogledd Orllewin Sunday Monday were just driving through max 14°C max 10°C Betws and saw the shops and min 8°C min 7°C they looked nice so they decided to stop. Lots of people interact said that." Tell us about a web page So what are the best things Found a web page we should know about? Send us the details. about Betws? Lewis: Cadwalader's ice cream - it's great because it's really Email A Friend nice. My favourite flavour's toffee." Anything bad about Betws? related www links The whole class: We've made a list of all the things we've www.betws-y-coed.net got to go to Llandudno to get. It includes the hospital, ten www.croeso-betws.org.uk pin bowling, shoe shops, clothes shops, cinema, carpets, bikes, cars, electrics, food, books, opticians, musical more from North West instruments, theatre, the beach, market and the art gallery." Wales Lots in the class also thought there were sometimes too many tourists, who make it difficult to park outside their house and Towns & Villages created two big jams all the way up to Capel Curig last Your patch summer. Have your say or find out more about community life past and present. What about the weather? The general consensus is that it rains more in Capel Curig up Your Say the road, but Betws gets a lot more snow than near the Talking points Share your views, gripes coast - so get ready for some snowboarding! and passions and make your voice heard. What's living in the country like? Emily: "It's nice, especially the views and the trees, but History sometimes it can be a bit boring. The best thing is you can go The Romans Find out what the empire- walking and it's peaceful. building legions got up to. We do live near a dry ski slope which is good. We couldn't do that in a big city." More on the mysteries of Betws' history... Tai Hanesyddol O blastai crand i ffermydd gwledig, camwch dros drothwy rhai o dai mwyaf your comments hanesyddol yr ardal Mel from Lancaster I also love Betws Y Coed and visit every year. I always stay at the Glan Aber Hotel which i highly recommend as it is in the middle of the village and has lovely rooms. BYC makes such a nice break, all year round. Mon Nov 24 10:13:31 2008 mick hadley, from chesterfield been visiting betws around 40yrs, since i was a child. its never lost its charm. always camped at hendre farm, where mrs pearce lived.got lots of wonderful and happy memories there in betws. Mon Sep 8 09:48:50 2008 Trudy Swift Does anyone remember The Gwydyr hotel when Miss Violet Smith owned it? It had a unique atmosphere, people used to come for the fishing. I worked there in the early 1970s with Mary, Maureen and Beryl. Remember the cats? Mon Jun 9 09:44:56 2008 Yvonne V Cope Visited Betws-Y-Coed in April this year only for a few hours but loved it, the shop,the scenery, the railway station. The tulips were out too. I'm from Queensland Australia and spent 6 weeks in UK. What an interesting country. Mon Nov 5 10:02:44 2007 Dawn Coleman Hi, love BYC, come as often as I can, i've even managed to convert my hubbie and kids and loved camping at Riverside campsite this August. I am working on my hubbie to buy a second home get away that in a few years we can move to as soon as the boys leave home! Love the area, love the people. Wed Oct 10 10:50:38 2007 Tom from Prestatyn The secret jewel in the Betws crown is the Hendre Farm campsite. Half hidden very basic, well kept, clean and tranquil. A wonderful experience. We have been coming for over 15 years and the magic of the place gets stronger as the years go by. Seek it out you won't regret it. Tue Dec 19 14:42:36 2006 12 March 2012 Accessibility help Text only BBC Homepage Wales Home Our village 2 Last updated: 27 April 2006 Some historical facts more from this section Aaron: "We did a project on BBC Local the population of Betws. In Betws-y-Coed Ask a local North West Wales 1881, 654 people were living Dry stone walling contest Things to do here. In 2001 it was 1187." Fifty years in business Making Betws better People & Places Meet the people Nature & Outdoors Our village History St Michael's Church Religion & Ethics The Ugly House Emily: "Betws-y-Coed means Your pictures Arts & Culture safe place, or sanctuary in the trees. People used to come Music Bridges and rivers walk and hide here because it was a safe place, they used to hide Mountain biking guide TV & Radio in the trees. When the English were keeping the Welsh out of Slideshow tour Local BBC Sites towns like Conwy they'd come and hide out here. Train information News Arts: Martin O'Neill Nature: Bats at Cobdens Hotel Sport If you were on the run, you'd normally come here. Imagine if Weather you're a gangster or something, and someone was trying to living in betws-y-coed Travel shoot you because you'd done something wrong, you'd come to Betws to try and escape from them for a bit because you Local public services Neighbouring Sites Community events Mid Wales couldn't be found in the trees because there are so many of Useful links North East Wales them and no one can be seen. Not many people knew about Have your say Betws." Local healthcare explained Related BBC Sites Wales But is it still a safe place to live? Well, one from the class Weather for Betws-Y-Coed Cymru decided that it was - especially compared to Llanrwst! Gogledd Orllewin Sunday Monday max 14°C max 10°C Where can you go for a min 8°C min 7°C walk? There were lots of suggestions, including through interact Gwydir Forest, up to Llyn Elsi Tell us about a web page and a walk beside the river to Found a web page we should know Miner's Bridge and back along about? Send us the details. the road to Betws. Email A Friend Haunted Betws Aaron: "Pentre Du used to be an Army camp and on the related www links triangle near our school, a soldier got shot by a German. Every New Year's Eve at twelve o'clock, people think they've www.betws-y-coed.net www.croeso-betws.org.uk seen him walking round the triangle." more from North West Another story was that of Sir John Wynne who was said to be really evil. He was an MP in the 1600s and lived in Gwydir Wales Castle. He's spirit is supposed to be trapped in Swallow Falls, in the whirlpool underneath the waterfall. You can tell by the Entertainment movement of the water that he's there. Days and nights out Find events for all ages, indoors and out, all year Naomi: "There is also a tale about a massive monster called round. the Afanc who lived in a lake near Betws which they wanted to get rid of, so they got some pretty women to sing him to Traffic and Travel sleep and they used some oxen to pull the monster up to Getting around Take the train, boat or Llyn Glaslyn.