Bala
Bala is brimming with outdoor activities.
Bala is a small yet fascinating market town located at the head of its famous lake, Llyn Tegid, is an ideal centre for touring North and Mid-Wales' Mountains, Valleys and Coasts.
Bala is famous for the quality of its watersports facilities, fishing (fly and coarse) walking, cycling, miniature steam railway and offers outstanding value for money high quality accommodation in a variety of properties to suit all pockets and tastes.
It is surrounded by breathtakingly beautiful countryside, being located within the Snowdonia National Park.
Llyn Tegid (sometimes known as Bala Lake) is the largest natural lake in Wales and also is home to the unique fish called the Gwyniad, a kind of land-locked herring.
Bala and the surrounding Penllyn region is probably the best region in the whole of Wales to hear the Welsh language being spoken. It is the first language of around 80% of the 2000 or so population. The region is steeped in Welsh history and culture.
Caernarfon
Caernarfon is a Royal town in Gwynedd, Wales
Caernarfon has a population of 9,611. It lies along the A487 road, on the east banks of the Menai Straits, opposite the Isle of Anglesey.
In the 13th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, ruler of Gwynedd, refused to pay homage to Edward I, King of England citing political hostilities.
This prompted the English conquest of Gwynedd, and subsequent construction of Caernarfon Castle, one of the largest and most imposing fortifications built by the English in order to control Wales.
Caernarfon continues to flourish towards its present status as a major tourist centre with a thriving harbour and marina.
Its population includes the largest percentage of Welsh-speaking citizens anywhere in Wales.
The status of Royal Borough was granted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1963 and was converted into the title of Royal Town in 1974.
Connah's Quay
Connah's Quay - largest town in Flintshire.
Connah's Quay is the largest town in Flintshire, North Wales, lying on the River Dee, on the border with England. It grew as a port, and is now an industrial centre, home to three power stations.
The major part of Corus Steelworks lies in the town. The swimming baths have recently been refurbished.
Wepre Woods, a major green space in Flintshire, is controlled by the County Council's Rangers.
Holywell
Holywell first enters written history in 1093.
In 1240, the Welsh prince Dafydd ap Llewelyn, once more in control of this area in Wales, gave the holy well and church to the newly-established Basingwerk Abbey; and the Cistercian monks cared for the well and its pilgrims until the Reformation.
Winifred's fame, and with it the fame of the Well, continued to spread throughout the middle ages, but little is factually recorded about the pilgrimage.
By 1415, her feast had become a major solemnity throughout Wales and England. Kings could be found among her pilgrims.
Towns where Lodges &
Chapters meet
Penmaenmawr
The seaside resort of Penmaenmawr
Penmaenmawr translates loosely as the Welsh for 'great stone hill'; Pen meaning 'hill', maen meaning 'stone' and mawr meaning 'great', 'large', big etc
Penmaenmawr is a town in the parish of Dwygyfylchi, in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The population in 2001 was 3857.
It is a seaside resort and quarrying town, though the latter is no longer a major employer, on the North Wales coast between Conwy and Llanfairfechan.
The town was bypassed by the A55 Expressway in the 1980's, losing its fine old Edwardian period promenade in the process, which was largely replaced by a modern and still popular one.
Penmaenmawr is noted for its spectacular mountain and coastal walks. Nearby are the popular attractions of Bwlch Sychnant (Sychnant Pass) and Mynydd y Dref, and the town also lies partly within Eryri, the Snowdonia National Park.
Llangollen
The small country town of Llangollen
Llangollen is a small town and community in Denbighshire, north-east Wales, situated on the River Dee and on the edge of the Berwyn mountains. It has a population of 3,412.
Llangollen takes its name from Saint Collen (from the Welsh llan meaning 'fortified church yard' and gollen meaning Collen), a 6th century monk who founded a church beside the river there. St Collen is said to have arrived in Llangollen by coracle.
The bridge at Llangollen was built in about 1345 by John Trevor, of nearby Trevor Hall, who later became Bishop of St Asaph.
It was extended to cross the railway when this was built in the 1860s and was widened in the early 1960s. The upstream side has new masonry which blends in with the older structure.
Llangollen, which was predominantly a farming and agricultural area, was an important coaching stop for the Mail coach on the old mail route along the A5 road from London to Holyhead.
Llanrwst
Llanrwst is some 13 miles (21 km) from Conwy.
Llanrwst is a small town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It takes its name from the 5th century to 6th century Saint Grwst, and the original parish church in Cae Llan was replaced by the 12th-century church.
According to the 2001 Census, the population of the town was 3,037 and 65% of the inhabitants were Welsh speakers.
At one time Llanrwst was the eighth largest town in Wales, its population being greater than that of Cardiff.
The narrow three-arch stone bridge, Pont Fawr, originally built to carry horses and carts has stood up well to modern traffic, not to mention the regular floods.
Abergele
Old Roman trading town of Abergele.
Abergele is a community and old Roman trading town, situated on the north coast of Wales between the holiday resorts of Colwyn Bay and Rhyl, in Conwy County Borough.
Its northern suburb of Pensarn lies on the Irish Sea coast and is known for its beach, where it is claimed by some that a ghost ship has been sighted.
