About

Bro’r Llynnoedd, the “land of the lakes,” brings together the communities of Valley, Caergeiliog, Bodedern and Llanfair-yn-Neubwll in a landscape of open skies, quiet lanes and wide, water-edged meadows. The area is served by three Community Councils - Bodedern, Llanfair-yn-Neubwll and Valley - which reflects the way decisions are made close to home and the care people take over the places they share. Daily life feels unhurried and grounded. You can step from a village street to a footpath in minutes, with farmland and hedgerows giving way to still water and big horizons.

History is never far away here. Anglesey’s story runs back thousands of years, and Bro’r Llynnoedd sits within that wider tapestry of prehistoric sites and early farming. The nearby discovery at Llyn Cerrig Bach during the 1940s revealed over 150 Iron Age objects, likely placed as offerings between about 300 BC and AD 100 - one of the most important Celtic hoards found in Wales. Recent survey work linked to RAF Valley has even uncovered further items connected to this tradition. 

This corner truly earns its name. The Valley Wetlands are made up of four main lakes - Llyn Penrhyn, Llyn Dinam, Llyn Treflesg and Llyn Cerrig Bach - a mosaic of reedbeds and open water alive with grebes, ducks and wintering coot. Just beside them sits Llyn Traffwll, a protected SSSI in its own right. Traffwll isn’t only valued for wildlife: it has a special place in Welsh culture. William David Owen set parts of his novel Madam Wen, Arwes yr Ogof by the lake, and local memory also keeps alive the spirit of the late Archdruid Cynan and his poem “Anfon y Nico i Landwr,” written during the First World War and looking back to youthful holidays at Glandŵr by a lakeshore in this area. 

Valley has long been a crossroads. The village grew where travellers crossed between Holy Island and the main island, and its links were transformed by Thomas Telford’s Holyhead road and the Stanley Embankment (the “Cob”), opened in 1823 and later shared with the railway - a bold causeway that helped turn Valley into a small transport hub. 

Modern life adds its own layers without crowding out the quiet. RAF Valley opened in 1941 as a fighter station guarding the Irish Sea and Merseyside, later evolving into the RAF’s fast-jet and basic flying training centre. Today, No. 4 Flying Training School operates Hawk T2 and Texan T1 aircraft here, with RAF Mona near Bodedern acting as the relief landing ground. On clear days you may see training circuits overhead. 

Bodedern brings deep roots of its own. The medieval church of St Edern stands on an early Christian foundation, while just to the north lies Llyn Llywenan, the largest natural lake on Anglesey. Its shores shelter wet meadows and birdlife, and close by are the Presaddfed Neolithic chambered tombs - a quiet reminder of settlement here for millennia. 

Nature gives the whole area much of its character. Lakes and wetland fringes shelter waders and waterfowl, while hedges are busy with finches, warblers and winter thrushes. In summer, swifts stitch the sky over farmyards and village streets. At the edges of fields you find orchids, meadowsweet and rushes where the ground stays damp. For walkers and cyclists there are easy loops between the villages and longer days out that link to the island-wide network of paths and lanes. 

Community spaces keep neighbours connected. Village halls, chapels and sports pitches host coffee mornings, youth activities, classes and seasonal gatherings. Schools are anchors for family life and bring the villages together for concerts, fixtures and fairs. Volunteers look after footpaths, play areas and flowerbeds, and local groups fundraise for improvements that make a visible difference. That habit of pitching in is part of what makes Bro’r Llynnoedd feel like home.

Getting around is simple but never hectic. The A55 puts Bangor and the mainland within easy reach to the east and Holyhead and the ferries to Ireland to the west. Valley railway station links the area with towns along the North Wales coast. Buses connect the villages, and quiet back roads make cycling a pleasure. The ease of travel sits alongside a landscape that still feels rural the moment you turn off the main route.

For visitors, Bro’r Llynnoedd offers an unhurried introduction to Anglesey’s landscapes, language and stories. Lakes, coast and village centres are all close at hand, and there is always a short walk, a view across water, or a friendly place to stop for a chat. For residents, it offers the practical advantages of good connections without losing its local soul. This is a corner of Anglesey where the past is close enough to touch, where community still means something, and where the steady rhythm of rural life sets a calm, confident pace.