Pwllheli:

The town's name means saltwater basin. The pronunciation of Pwllheli includes a sound not found in the English language, the voiceless alveolar lateral fricative [ɬ].

The town was given its charter as a borough by Edward, the Black Prince in 1355,^{[citation needed]} and a market is still held each Wednesday in the centre of the town on the 'Maes' (=field in English).

Pwllheli Railway Station

During the 1890s, the town was developed by Solomon Andrews, a Cardiff businessman. This work included the Promenade, roads and houses at West End. A tramway was built linking the town to Llanbedrog. The trams ran until 1927 when a section of track was seriously damaged by a storm.^{[citation needed]}

For many years a holiday camp run by Butlins operated a couple of miles from Pwllheli. The camp, renamed Hafan-Y-Mor, has been redeveloped and is now run by the Haven group.^[3]

The town contains numerous retail shops, including Euronics and many smaller shops. It also had a Woolworths until that chain's demise. Supermarkets include Somerfield, SPAR, the Co-op supermarket, Iceland and Asda. A new Lidl store opened very recently.^[when?]

Education

Ysgol Glan y Môr was formed by the merger of the former Pwllheli Grammar school and the Frondeg Secondary Modern Schools. These occupied sites at Penrallt and Upper Ala Road, respectively. The two schools merged in mid-1969 to form a comprehensive school based at two separated sites within the town.

The junior pupils (year 1 and year 2) were located at the Penrallt site (former grammar school site) and the senior pupils (year 3 and upwards) were located at a new complex constructed at Cardiff Road. This new school was subsequently expanded to accommodate all pupils under the Ysgol Glan y Môr name.

The Penrallt site was later redeveloped to form the Pwllheli campus of Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor. The facade of the main building of the old grammar school was retained and incorporated into the design of the current college buildings. Thus the 'old school' is readily seen from the town square (Y Maes) in much the same way as it has been since the former Pwllheli County School moved to Penrallt in the early 20th century.

Attractions

Plas Bodegroes, formerly a Michelin starred restaurant^[4]

Two Blue Flag beaches

Penarth Fawr, a 15th century house

Marina

Hafan Y Môr, a former Butlin's holiday camp now operated by Haven

Pwllheli Accommodation, a wide choice of self-catering accommodation operated by Mann's Holidays

Pwllheli Market

Clwb Golff Pwllheli - a par 69 links and parkland golf course

Pwllheli Sailing Club - frequently hosts national and international events.

Neuadd Dwyfor - Theatre & Cinema located on Penlan Street

Notes

^ Gwynedd website
^ "A glance back at history with Luned". BBC. 2006-01-17. http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/pwllheli/pages/marina.shtml. Retrieved 2009-02-21. "Another relaxing place in Pwllheli is Gimblet Rock. It is a rock which stands on the Southerly side of the town. It was once a huge rock, but was used to make setts for the streets in England."
^ [www.haven.com/parks/north_wales/hafan_y_mor/index.aspx "Hafan-Y-Môr, Haven website"]. 2009-11-26. www.haven.com/parks/north_wales/hafan_y_mor/index.aspx.
^ walesonline news