Contested Landscapes: Responses to the Siting of Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station, 1957-1958

Abstract

This thesis uses a case study from north Wales to examine various interpretations of the Welsh countryside, and demonstrates how these different, and subjective readings of its landscape could engender conflict between different groups, contributing to the sense of rural north Wales being an inherently “contested landscape”. Exploring the dichotomic discussions surrounding the siting of a nuclear power station in Trawsfynydd, Meirionnydd in the late 1950s, the debate focuses on the disjunction of dualistic preservation: that of Welsh culture, society and the gwerin, against British ‘wilderness’, visual culture and Snowdonia National Park’s seemingly raw, untameable landscape. Utilising a number of theoretical foundations, and using a variety of primary sources from both sides of the dispute, this thesis surveys how differing attitudes towards Welsh politics, economics, culture, society, and in particular nationhood had a profound effect on how people viewed its countryside, and consequently were crucial in determining their position on the siting of the Trawsfynydd nuclear power station.

Date of Award	11 Feb 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Bangor University
Supervisor	Gary Robinson (Supervisor) & Robin Mann (Supervisor)