B4412

Lôn Pen-rhos in Morfa Nefyn

The B4412 is a short B-road on the northern side of the Lleyn Peninsula. However, it was originally a much longer road, running from Pwllheli to Morfa Nefyn. The expansion of the A497 from Pwllheli to Nefyn in the 1940s took over much of this route, leaving just the section from the Bryncynan Inn roundabout to the golf club access road.

We start beside the Bryncynan Inn at a roundabout junction with the A497 and the unclassified road to Dinas. The road strikes out in a northwesterly direction, undulating in a straight line, until it reaches the edge of Morfa Nefyn where it bends to the left and the speed limit drops to 30 mph.

Passing a chip shop (Bryn Golau) on our left, and an old garage on the right (still bearing a defunct telephone number incorporating the former English spelling Nevin), after half a mile we reach an acute-angled crossroads with the B4417, which has priority.

Beyond the crossroads the route continues straight for another half-mile, before ending where it meets a steep unclassified road running down to the beach. Straight ahead an unclassified road provides access to Nefyn Golf Club and (via a paved track through its grounds) to Porthdinllaen.

This road and the nearby B4354 are unusually straight for a reason: in the early part of the 19th century they were part of a bid to capture the London to Dublin mail route. Porthdinllaen and Holyhead were contenders to be the eastern terminus of the sea crossing; Holyhead won. One wonders what this area would have been like had the decision gone the other way.