New hopes for old market hall disused for decades

Blaenau Ffestiniog Market Hall in Gwynedd has had no main purpose since the 1970s

There is renewed hope a historic building can be restored for community use.

Blaenau Ffestiniog Market Hall in Gwynedd has had no main purpose since the 1970s.

It is believed to have been used for the first political speech of David Lloyd George, prime minister from 1916 to 1922.

Built in 1861, the market hall would have been a hive of activity when 12,000 people lived in the town in the 1880s.

Many had been attracted by the quarries which exported 150,000 tonnes of slate annually all over the world from Ffestiniog Railway, a stone's throw from the hall.

But use of the Grade II-listed building waned with the demise of the slate industry and it has become largely unused since the 1970s.

Plans to turn it into an entertainment and community centre about 20 years ago failed due to lack of funds.

The hall's believed to have been used for the first political speech of David Lloyd George

The new owner wants to put the building back into public use

A company also made a bid to develop it into flats which prompted a 1,000-name petition.

It has since changed hands with the new owner hoping to re-establish it as a market.

In fact, a Christmas fair took place last Thursday.

Vincent Frostick, an accountant and local guesthouse owner, said he also wanted to rebuild the stage where Lloyd George made his speech in February 1886 at the age of 23.

"I've always had a passion for toys, model railways and things like that, and I thought it would be lovely to have an exhibition or a museum of some kind," the new owner said.

"So I started looking for a building and, when this came on the market about a year ago, I decided to go for it."

Owner Vincent Frostick: "I thought it would be lovely to have an exhibition or a museum of some kind"

Susan Roberts, from the Blaenau Bendigedig community group which turned a local chapel into a play centre, said reviving the hall was "exactly what the town needs".

"There is no large centre for the town to come together," she said.

Nia Roberts from Llan Ffestiniog, who runs a catering business, added that she was "100% supportive of reopening the hall".

"It's a terribly important building, here for many years, and I think it's great to open it up because of the history," she said.

Nia Roberts and Susan Roberts support the plan to get the building back into community use