Listed wooden toll bridge run by mother and son in scenic estuary on the …

Posted on by Listify Me

  • Bridge attracts tourists from around the world and has featured in a BBC TV series
  • The 134-year-old structure comes with a beautifully renovated keeper’s cottage
  • The bridge is
    currently operated on a day-to-day basis by small group of toll
    keepers

By
Sam Adams


PUBLISHED:

14:19 GMT, 21 February 2013


|

UPDATED:

18:11 GMT, 21 February 2013

It might not be everyone’s idea of the perfect country retreat.

But those looking for a quirky home with a difference could do worse than take a look at this 134-year-old toll bridge and keeper’s cottage in Penmaenpool, near Dolgellau in Gwynedd, Wales.

The eye-catching bridge, which is on sale with the cottage for £350,000, spans one of the most scenic estuaries in Britain and has featured in a number of TV programmes.

Quirky: The keepers' cottage comes with its own Grade II listed toll bridge spanning the River Mawddach, in Snowdonia

Quirky: The keeper’s cottage comes with its own Grade II listed toll bridge spanning the River Mawddach, in Snowdonia

Stunning: The keepers' cottage enjoys sweeping views of the beautiful Welsh countryside

Stunning: The two bedroom keepers’ cottage boasts sweeping views of the beautiful Welsh countryside

Link: The toll bridge is believed to have been built in 1879 to replace the ferry and now provides a well-used short-cut for motorists and pedestrians over the river

Link: The toll bridge is believed to have been built in 1879 to replace the ferry and now provides a well-used short-cut for motorists and pedestrians over the river

The Grade II listed wooden toll bridge,
run by a mother and son, which spans the Mawddach river, was built in 1879 by the Pernmaenpool Bridge Company to
replace a ferry across the river. The cottage was added about a
century ago.

The structure recently featured in the BBC Four series Discovering Snowdonia with Julia Bradbury. Motorists pay 60p to cross, pedestrians 20p, but children go free. Ferry rights at £20 a year are included in the sale – with 867 years remaining on the lease.

In 1966 the bridge was the scene of one of the country’s worst ever pleasure boat disasters, when a day trip from Barmouth ended in tragedy when it clipped a stanchion on the bridge and overturned, with the loss of 15 lives.

Believed to date from 1919, the two-bedroom keeper’s cottage has been
extensively improved over the years and boasts a modern shower room with a wood burner in the lounge.

The bridge is
currently operated on a day to day basis by a small group of toll
keepers. In addition to the cottage, there is a toll booth, office and
store, together with the section of road from the northern end of the
bridge.

Nature: The toll house boasts modern amenities despite its remote location. The building borders scenic hills and forests

Nature: The keeper’s cottage boasts modern amenities despite its remote location. The building borders scenic hills and forests

The cottage's next owner will enjoy a range of home comforts, including a top of the range shower room

Cozy lounge in the keepers cottage

Attractive: The cottage’s next owner will not be short of home comforts. The building boasts an attractive interior with a modern shower room and cozy lounge with  a wood burner

Eryl Jones-Williams, a Gwynedd councillor, said he was writing to the chief executive of the Snowdonia National Park Authority to suggest that they should buy the bridge and cottage.

He said: ‘They own the footpath and cycle track along the former railway which runs alongside the bridge – the Mawddach Trail – which is highly popular. There is a public footpath on the other side and there are plans to create an osprey nesting site.

‘It would be an ideal purchase for the authority.’ A spokeswoman for the estate agents Strutt and Parker said at their Chester office : ‘It’s an unusual sale.’

The comments below have not been moderated.



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Fantastic spot, and a pub near too (George III).

martyng
,

Chester England,
21/2/2013 19:18

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Have rented many Cottages over the years in Snowdonia but it has always rained !! I wouldn’t personally buy a house there though !! Bit too dismal !!

Mary H
,

Aylesbury,
21/2/2013 19:08

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Nice and secluded! And surprised how nice it looks inside too. Every now and then a stranger popping over the bridge to have a chat to. Sounds like a nice place to retire to me!

– C.W. Fox, London, United Kingdom, 21/02/2013 16:54——– secluded it isn’t an average of 150 cars a day used to go over there a few years back!

Roger
,

Wales,
21/2/2013 18:57

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You would always have spare change for the meter if you lived there.

Tinky Winky
,

Brazil, United Kingdom,
21/2/2013 18:57

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Can the DM find another verb instead of ‘boasts’ to use when describing real estate?

Zippity Doo Dah
,

Zippity Day, United Kingdom,
21/2/2013 18:51

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Do you get to keep the tolls?

Francis S. Key
,

San Francisco, United States,
21/2/2013 18:43

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So lovely!

DragonFly
,

Vancouver B.C.,
21/2/2013 18:32

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Please please let me win the lottery this weekend……..what a glorious place 🙂

Rant-on
,

Rural Utopia, United Kingdom,
21/2/2013 18:26

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This is my favourite place in the whole world to be. Pint outside the George III on a summers evening, heaven

Tingaling
,

London UK,
21/2/2013 18:23

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I’m just six numbers away from it………..i can dream.

ilovemaryjane
,

watford, United Kingdom,
21/2/2013 18:11

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