OUR Story
by the community,
for the community
In February 2009 the Pengwern closed its doors, some feared for the last time. At a public meeting held shortly before it closed it was decided to establish a community social enterprise in order to reopen the hotel: Pengwern Cymunedol Cyf.
Through large fundraising efforts and with help from the Welsh government, the building was purchased in March 2011. Over the following months and years it was repaired and improved by a dedicated team of volunteers. The bar and function room were reopened at the end of May 2011. By July 2012 the kitchen and restaurant reopened. In November 2013 the first three rooms were available for accommodation. We now have nine!
The vision for the future is to continue the development of the Pengwern over time so as to make it an economic , social, educational and cultural asset. The aim is a thriving business with all the benefit going to the community. This is part of a wider vision for the Ffestiniog valley; to utilise local resources by developing social enterprises owned by and run for the benefit of the whole community.
The Pengwern in 2012, a year after reopening as a community enterprise
Some history…
"Pengwern" is the name of a Tudor Manor House in the parish of Ffestiniog. Its six tall chimneys are visible from the road leading from Ffestiniog to Blaenau Ffestiniog. Part of the house dates back to the 14th century, and members of thre family took part in the War of the Roses. There is a plaque bearing the date 1662 on the newer part of the building. The "Arms" consists of a wild boar - traces of this are still to be seen on a gravestone in the village church yard.
The Hotel bearing the name "Pengwern Arms" was one of three taverns in the village in the 18th century. It was then known as "Yr Efail" (The Smithy), and it was then occupied (about 1795) by David Owen, the Smith, and Alsi Jones, his wife. Alsi possessed some medical skills and her services were particularly in demand with children's ailments, there being no doctor within reach, and the nearest "drug store" was in Penrhyn. Their daughter, Martha Owen, became famous as an inn keeper in the course of time, and "Yr Efail" became known as "Ty Martha"(the house of Martha). Bards and writers of all kinds were made welcome, and several of them wrote odes to her:
"Ni wnai un dyn o enw da
Ymwrthod a thy Martha”
(no man of good repute would refuse to visit the house of Martha)
Martha Owen could speak English, there being only one other person in the parish who could converse in what was then still a foreign tongue. In 1862, George Borrow in his book "Wild Wales" records a visit to Ffestiniog, and a night's stay at the inn:-
"About an hour's walk from Tan-Y-Bwlch brought me to Ffestiniog which is situated on top of a lofty hill looking down from the south east on the valley (of Maentwrog)".
In the later decades of the 19th century the inn was occupied and run by a family of the name of Jones, and they carried on until the late 1920's. During this period many famous people visited the inn , and the Visitor's Book was well worth studying. The family had a remarkable dog, who had been trained to conduct visitors to the Cynfal Falls down the valley, and he became very well known. When he died, his body was preserved and placed in a glass case, which stood in the present saloon bar.
The Jones family sold the hotel to a family of the name of Hayward - the mother, two sons, and two daughters. They built up a good business, and during the 2nd World War the hotel never had an empty bed. The Hayward family ran the farm then attached to the hotel, and the home produced food was much relished by the visitors. The hotel has changed hands since then, but still continues to attract the tourists, with its old world charm and at the same time its modern conveniences and good fare.