Ruins of Bryn Coch Farm, Cwm Brwynog, near Llanberis
Bryn Coch was a working farm for centuries, until a quarry injury forced the last farmer and his family to move. The ruins are a short distance below the Llanberis Path to the summit of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon). There’s no public access – please stay on the path.
This valley was home to a community of farmers, some working part-time as copper or slate quarrymen, as you can read on our page about the ruined Capel Hebron downhill from Bryn Coch.
One of Bryn Coch’s first recorded farmers was William Jones (1767-1839), who helped establish Capel Hebron. His family also had roots at Helfa Fain, higher on the slopes of Yr Wyddfa, and Tyn-yr-Ardd, further down.
After William, Bryn Coch passed to John and Alice Williams, who died in 1879 and 1888 respectively. Two of their three sons, Thomas and Willliam, died in quarry accidents in their 20s. The third was Hugh (Huw Peris), who led Capel Hebron’s choir. The Rev HD Hughes recalled in 1960: “It was a blessing to listen and watch him praise god with all his soul in the small unadorned chapel on the slopes of Snowdon.”
So Bryn Coch was eventually inherited by John and Alice’s grandson John Roberts, known as Johnnie Bryn Coch. He was born in 1892 to Gaenor Williams (1852-1919) and Richard Roberts (1857-1925) at Tyn-yr-Ardd. He married Lucy Pritchard (1896-1990) in 1918; the first black and white photo shows their wedding, Johnnie and Lucy standing. They lived and worked on the farm with their three children (Hugh Alun, Gaenor, and Thomas).
Their sheep lived in the fields around Bryn Coch in summer and were moved down the mountain for winter. They would raise two pigs each year, one for selling to the butcher and one to feed the family. The house was warmed with local peat, which the family dried and stored in a large hut.
Johnnie endured a severe leg injury while working at the Dinorwig slate quarry. Lucy walked to the quarry hospital from Bryn Coch every day, returning in darkness. His injury prevented a return to farming. The family moved to Llanberis c.1930, when Hugh was beginning grammar school. They were the last to live at Bryn Coch, shown in the c.1960s photos above.
The lowest photo shows Johnnie with his daughter and granddaughter. He died suddenly in 1957. Lucy continued tending her beautiful garden on Charlotte Street until she died aged 94.
With thanks to Dr Jessica Roberts, daughter of John Richard Roberts, granddaughter of Hugh Alun and great granddaughter of Johnnie Bryn Coch