# Nant Ffrancon Pass

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Mountain pass in north Wales

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Nant Ffrancon Pass Llyn Ogwen (near the summit of the Nant Ffrancon Pass), taken from the A5. Interactive map of Nant Ffrancon Pass Elevation 312 metres (1,024 ft) Traversed by A5 road Third Approach Location Snowdonia, North Wales Range Glyderau and Carneddau Coordinates 53°07′28″N 4°01′13″W / 53.124535°N 4.020308°W / 53.124535; -4.020308

The **Nant Ffrancon Pass** ([Welsh](/source/Welsh_language): *Bwlch Nant Ffrancon*) in [Snowdonia](/source/Snowdonia), [North Wales](/source/North_Wales) is at 312 metres (1,024 ft) at Pont Wern-gof, about one-third of a mile beyond the eastern end of [Llyn Ogwen](/source/Llyn_Ogwen). The [A5 road](/source/A5_road_(Great_Britain)) crosses it between Llyn Ogwen and [Bethesda, Gwynedd](/source/Bethesda%2C_Gwynedd).

## Geography

Nant Ffrancon itself is a steep-sided glacial valley dropping to Bethesda between the [Glyderau](/source/Glyderau) and the [Carneddau](/source/Carneddau). The valley starts in [Cwm Idwal](/source/Cwm_Idwal), carrying water from Llyn-y-Cwn through Twll Du and [Llyn Idwal](/source/Llyn_Idwal) to join the [Ogwen Valley](/source/Ogwen_Valley) below the Ogwen Falls on [Afon Ogwen](/source/Afon_Ogwen).

## Road

The [A5 road](/source/A5_road_(Great_Britain)) makes a long steady climb between [Bethesda, Gwynedd](/source/Bethesda%2C_Gwynedd), and [Llyn Ogwen](/source/Llyn_Ogwen) in [Conwy](/source/Conwy_(county_borough)). From here the road descends through Nant y Benglog to [Capel Curig](/source/Capel_Curig) and through to [Betws-y-Coed](/source/Betws-y-Coed).

The A5 is the [Holyhead](/source/Holyhead) to London trunk road. The original road through the Nant Ffrancon was constructed by [Lord Penrhyn](/source/Richard_Pennant%2C_1st_Baron_Penrhyn) in the late 18th century. Lord Penrhyn's road, largely followed the valley floor, and at Capel Curig in 1801 he built a [coaching inn](/source/Coaching_inn), which is now [Plas y Brenin](/source/Plas_y_Brenin), the UK National Mountaineering Centre.

[Thomas Telford](/source/Thomas_Telford) re-engineered it between 1810 and 1826. Telford carved much of his road out of the north-eastern slopes of the Nant Ffrancon, thereby encountering difficulties in construction and future maintenance. But this enabled him to observe a maximum grade of 1 in 14 along the whole route from London to Holyhead in order to facilitate horse drawn mail coaches throughout.

## In popular culture

It has been used as a filming location for British film-makers, including

- the [Carry On film](/source/Carry_On_film) *[Carry On up the Khyber](/source/Carry_On_up_the_Khyber)* doubling for the [Khyber Pass](/source/Khyber_Pass)

- the *[Doctor Who](/source/Doctor_Who)* serial *[The Abominable Snowmen](/source/The_Abominable_Snowmen)* doubling for the Himalayas

- the 1950s film *[The Inn of the Sixth Happiness](/source/The_Inn_of_the_Sixth_Happiness)*.

Nant Ffrancon Golf Club (now defunct) appeared in the late 1920s/30s. The club was wound up in 1936.[1]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Nant Ffrancon Golf Club, Gwynedd"](http://www.golfsmissinglinks.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1066), "Golf’s Missing Links".

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nant Ffrancon Pass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nant_Ffrancon_Pass) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nant_Ffrancon_Pass?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.