Eda,
Port Dinorwic is on the A4087 between Bangor and Caernarfon. Don't be put off by the Welsh looking name. The Welsh name is Y Felinheli, as it is called today.
To my shame, I can' t say when the 2 bridges over Menai were built, but I'm sure they were well before 1901. Telford built the famour Menai bridge. He was around in 1800 ish. Stephenson built the railway bridge on the London- Holyhead line. this would be about 25 years later. There was a railway line that went from Bangor to Caernarfon, but as far as I can recollect, it has been disbanded. There were however several slate quarries in the area, some of which had narrow gauge railways to bring the slate to the coast, one port was Port Dinorwic. The port was constructed in the 19th century:
http://www.travelbritain.com/northwales/part2.htmlSlate Mill
Commercial quarrying of slate began at Dinorwic in the early 1800s with the product being shipped around Wales and England by sea.Of course Dinorwic is many miles from the sea and the first part of the journey was by packhorse.
In common with other quarries railways came into use and eventually two systems were used by the Quarry company. 2ft gauge railway were laid in each level of the quarry and connected by rope worked inclines between the levels, these railway were worked by dozens of small steam locomotives, mainly saddle tanks supplied by Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds. To transport the slate from Dinorwic to the sea a 4ft gauge railway was built running from the quarry to Y Felinheli, the harbour here is still known at Port Dinorwic to the confusion of the less historically aware visitor to the area.
Port Dinorwic Marina
This historic port at the mouth of the Arfon Heulyn, which has provided a safe haven for ships and fishing vessels for centuries ( even the Romans are thought to have visited!). The dock was constructed in the 19th century to export slate from the Dinorwic Slate Quarries, via a narrow gauge railway.And from Genuki for Llanfair-is-gaer:
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/CAE/LlanfairIsGaer/Llanfair-is-gaer
"LLANFAIR-IS-GAER, (or Bryn Llanfair) a parish in the hundred of Is-Gorfai, county Carnarvon, 2 miles N.E. of Carnarvon, its post town, and 7 from Bangor. It is situated on the shore of the Menai Strait, and includes the township of Brynffynon and port of Dinorwig. The Roman general, Agricola, crossed over to Anglesey at this point. Copper is obtained here, and slate is shipped at the above port. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Bangor, value £77, in the patronage of the bishop. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is close to the water's edge. This place takes the suffix to its name-Gaer, signifying a fort or place for defence-from the old Roman camp. The seats are Plas Llanfair, and on the opposite bank, Plas Llanidand, the estate of Lord Boston." [From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]
Census
1851 Census of Llanfair-is-gaer. A full transcription by Joyce & Douglas Hinde in both "As Enumerated" and "Surname Order" form.
Gazetteers
The transcription of the section for Llanfair Is Gaer from The National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.
Hope this helps.
D ap D
