In the 1800's this little spit of land at the mouth of the Mawdach estuary was bought by a Mr Arthur McDougal of 'McDougals Flour' fame. His intention was to build a holiday resort to rival Barmouth.
One of the first things McDougal did was to build a railway station. He was approached by local people requesting the station be called 'Ynysfaig, the origianal name for the area. Unfortunately, McDougal had already decided on the name for his new holiday resort and had painted a sign for the station. Thus 'Fairbourne was born.
What is now Friog and Fairbourne village hall is one of McDougals earliest buildings and started life as a chapel. As time went by it was used as the village school until the early sixties when a new school was built in Friog. It was then that the community clubbed together to buy the building as a centre for village activities. Since that time the building has undergone several renovations, the latest being in 2016/17. This was funded by the National Lottery grant.
The Village hall
in 1900s
Taken in the 1930s
village hall
is the building
on your left
The class of 1967 was the last to be taught at Fairbourne School before becoming the Village Hall we know today