  bethesda is a town on the river ogwen and the a5 road on the edge of snowdonia, in gwynedd, north-west wales, colloquially called pesda by the locals. == history == it all started when the 'bethesda chapel' or (capel bethesda) was created in the 1800s and that chapel was created where arafa don on the bethesda high street (a5) and a lot of buildings and civilization grew around it. the town grew around the slate and stone quarrying industries: the largest of the local quarries is the penrhyn quarry. at its peak, it was exporting its purple slate all over the world, and in so doing it gained a reputation for being the world's best. the town was the site of a three-year strike led by the north wales quarrymen's union from 1900. this led to the creation of the nearby village of tregarth, built by the quarry owners, which housed the families of the workers who did not strike. most of the town is to the east and north east of the a5 road, with housing packed onto the hillside in irregular rows. this was due to the a5 marking the border between lord penrhyn's land, and the freehold land. this can still be seen in the layout of the current high street, where all the public houses are found on one side of the road. ==modern bethesda== in its heyday, the population of bethesda peaked at 10,000, but it is currently around 4,327 people (2001 census). current opportunities for employment in the town are limited: there are a few manufacturing businesses; most businesses are in the low-paid service sector and hospitality industry. for employment with higher earning potential, residents tend to commute to towns along the north wales coast. bangor is the most popular destination, but some will commute daily as far as cheshire. because of the lack of degree-based employment opportunities, many young people move out of the area to places such as cardiff and manchester as soon as they are qualified. also the zip wire can be found by the quarry which is giving the town hundreds of visitors ==architecture== the architecture and layout of the town is largely utilitarian. most of the buildings are constructed of stone with slate roofs. some are constructed wholly of slate blocks, although such buildings tend to suffer from damp and structural slippage because the very flat and smooth surfaces of slate do not bi
Bethesda,_Gwynedd Towns_in_Gwynedd