Bala Lake (Welsh: Llyn Tegid) is a large lake in Gwynedd, Wales. It was the largest natural body of water in Wales prior to the level being raised by Thomas Telford to help support the flow of the Ellesmere Canal. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) long by 1 mile (1.6 km) wide and is subject to sudden and dangerous floods. The River Dee runs through it and the waters of the lake are famously deep and clear. The town of Bala sits at its northern end and the n...
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Bala Lake (Welsh: Llyn Tegid) is a large lake in Gwynedd, Wales. It was the largest natural body of water in Wales prior to the level being raised by Thomas Telford to help support the flow of the Ellesmere Canal. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) long by 1 mile (1.6 km) wide and is subject to sudden and dangerous floods. The River Dee runs through it and the waters of the lake are famously deep and clear. The town of Bala sits at its northern end and the narrow gauge Bala Lake Railway runs for several kilometres along the lake's southern shore.
George Borrow wrote of the lake in Wild Wales in 1856 ; "The lake has certainly not its name, which signifies 'Lake of Beauty', for nothing".
Bala Lake has abundant pike, perch, trout, eel and gwyniad. It also contains the very rare mollusc Myxas glutinosa - the glutinous snail. According to legend, whilst the Dee itself flows through the lake, the waters never mix. However this was not confirmed by the detailed limnological work undertaken from the...
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