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The Cob (Porthmadog)

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The Cob (Porthmadog)
Location Map ( geo)
The Cob A487.jpg
Cameraicon.png View gallery (5)
From:  Porthmadog
To:  Minffordd
Location
SH577381
County
Caernarfonshire • Merionethshire
Highway Authority
Gwynedd
Opening Date
1808–1811
Toll
Formerly 5p
On road(s)
A497
Crossings related to the A497

The Cob is a man-made causeway built across the Afon Glaslyn by William Alexander Madocks and opened in 1811. The mile-long causeway carries the A497, together with the Lôn Las Cymru cycleway (since being widened in 2001) and the Ffestiniog Railway.

Until the Porthmadog, Minffordd and Tremadog Bypass was opened in October 2011, the road along the Cob was the A487 trunk road.

The maximum toll was fixed by an Act of Parliament in 1807 as one shilling, and until 2003 its decimal equivalent, 5p, was collected by the Rebecca Trust (a charity who bought the cob on 28 April 1978). The Welsh Assembly Government then bought the structure and abolished the toll. The last 5p toll was collected at 3pm on Saturday 29 March 2003.

At the west end of the Cob, linking it to Porthmadog High Street, is a bridge known as Britannia Bridge.

The cob, along with the A498 and the B4354, were parts of the failed bid for the London–Dublin route to go through a new port at Porth Dinllaen. Telford's route via Holyhead (using the present A5 through North Wales) was selected instead.

Currently (2012) a section of the Cob at the town end is being further widened on the seaward side, without alteration to the road layout, to allow the expansion of Harbour Station to better accommodate the Welsh Highland Railway.

Links




The Cob (Porthmadog)
Related Pictures
View gallery (5)
The Cob A487.jpgThe Cob, Porthmadog, Ffestiniog Station - Geograph - 1626603.jpgThe Old Toll Road - Geograph - 450164.jpgY Cob - Geograph - 372999.jpgThe Cob Rudi Winter cc-by-sa-2.0 - Geograph - 926646.jpg

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