Tal-y-sarn (ⓘ) is a village in the slate quarrying Nantlle Valley in Gwynedd, Wales, next to Penygroes. It is part of the community of Llanllyfni and includes some of Llandwrog.[1] The ward had a population of 1,930 at the 2011 census, the built-up area having a population of 1,086.[2]
The Welsh language poet Robert Williams Parry was born in 37, Station Road, Tal-y-sarn, where a plaque designed by R. L. Gapper commemorates the connection.[3] Other persons connected with the village were Annant, quarryman, preacher and bard, Gwilym R. Jones, bard and journalist, Idwal Jones author of the Welsh-language radio series SOS, Galw Gari Tryfan and Dame Elan Closs Stephens DBE (born 1948) a Welsh educator and Wales' representative on the BBC Board.
The 19th century methodist preacher John Jones, Tal-y-sarn, is also connected with the village, not by birth but because he settled here, becoming a shopkeeper and quarry owner as a sideline to his main vocation.[4]
The song "Ciosg Talysarn" by the Welsh folk singer Dafydd Iwan was written after two secret agents were found bugging a public telephone in Tal-y-sarn in 1982.[5]
Tal-y-sarn is covered by a Neighbourhood Policing Team based in the nearby village of Pen-y-groes.[citation needed]
According to the United Kingdom Census 2021, 72.3 per cent of all usual residents aged 3+ in Talysarn can speak Welsh.[6] 79.2 per cent of the population noted that they could speak, read, write or understand Welsh.[7] The 2011 census noted 70.7 per cent of all usual residents aged 3 years and older in the village could speak Welsh.
