North Wales

Well, have just returned from a week in North Wales. The most glorious weather we've ever had on a late October holiday, and not a spot of rain until the very last evening, so raincoats and wellies remained clean and dry!



This was a very busy, and very exciting holiday, going to places I'd heard of, but never been to before and visiting as many tourist attractions as we could fit into a week! Stopped off in Oswestrey on the way down - a lovely little Shropshire town - and found a fantastic secondhand bookshop with loads of sheet music. Needless to say, I couldn't resist buying some of it, and trying it out as soon as I got home; some of it is just so beautiful, but not too taxing on small fingers like mine - just the way I like it!



Used the sat-nav to get to Wales, and was getting a bit worried when we were sent down some very steep and narrow lanes, but we did eventually get to our destination - via the beautiful Lake Bala. Found our holiday cottage quite easily, all things considered, and while it was still light we were able to gasp at the view over the Glaswyn estuary.



The cottage we stayed in was of particular interest to me as Bertrand Russell lived there from 1955 until his death in 1970, my interest in him being partly because he was born in Trellech, the same village as some of my great-great grandparents. The cottage was also a very short walk away from Portmeirion, which we visited the next day. Such a beautiful, relaxing place, especially on the walk down to, and across the beach. Couldn't resist buying lots of postcards (despite taking loads of photographs) and managed to get one of another hero of mine, Frank LLoyd Wright, meeting with Clough Williams-Ellis, the creator of Portmeirion.



The following day saw us travel to Barmouth, via the toll road to Harlech. Harlech castle was quite stunning and the village was quiet and quaint, although I suspect in the summer it would be rather bustling with visitors. The land surrounding the castle was flat and covered with loads of green, static caravans!



We had a lovely walk along the beach at Barmouth, before visiting the local library (such a helpful lady there, from whom I should learn a lesson!) and looking in the shops. No identikit high street shops here, all small local traders with interesting stock! Had a lovely meal in a Chinese restaurant, before heading home.



Llechwedd slate mine was our destination for the next day. I confess, I was somewhat bothered by this as, having agreed to go down the tin mine at Geevor in Cornwall, and then rushing out on discovering that the tunnels were so small and claustrophobic, I knew I would fret about being underground! Fortunately, this mine was rather like King Arthur's Labyrinth at Corris, although I do appreciate how awful the conditions were for the miners who worked underground. We did the deep mine tour and the surface tour and really had a very enjoyable time. When we'd finished at the mine we drove to Blaenau Ffestiniog and had a quick look at the railway and the town.



The middle of the week saw us travel to Snowdon. We stopped on several occasions on the way there, to admire the view, like lots of the other travellers! We arrived at about 11 o'clock and headed off to the train station to get tickets to go up on the train, but were put off by the price (63 pounds for all of us), the fact that the train only went 3/4s of the way up, and that the next available train was 3.30 in the afternoon! Obviously, all the other holiday-makers wanted to see from the top of Snowdon on such a beautiful day! So, we walked up! We agreed that wherever we had got to by 3pm (bearing in mind it was about noon by the time we started out, and from quite some way down the road, too, as all the car parks were full) we would then turn around and come back down, as it being autumn, the weather could turn at any time. Well, it was incredibly beautiful, all around, the sky, the lakes, the rocks, the other mountains ... A good time was had by all.



On the way back we called in at Beddgelert, and found Gelert's grave, before heading off to the Union Inn in Tremadog for a super evening supper!



On our penultimate day we visited Criccieth Castle. This is one of the most beautiful castles I've been to; I was stunned by the 360 degree views around the castle, across the beaches and sea! We sat here for a while and absorbed the glorious atmosphere, before moving on to the LLoyd George museum, in Llanystumdwy. A strange coincidence, but on the morning news I heard that a statue of Lloyd George was being unveiled in Parliament Square, London! This was a lovely little museum, with knowledgable staff and an interesting display of fact boards and artefacts. Fascinating, also, to be able to visit the little house in which Lloyd George was brought up.



From here we drove on to Pwllhelli where we walked along the beach and stopped off in a coffee shop in the town.



Our last day saw us ride the Ffestiniog steam train! With about 7 different steam lines to chose from, we couldn't resist taking a ride on one! We walked from the cottage down to the train station in Porthmadog, across the cob and passed a peaceful, but spectacular 3 hours riding through the Welsh countryside. We got off at our local station, Minffordd, and walked home for a late lunch, before setting off for a quick visit to Dolgellau. This was one of those places I'd heard of but never been to, and really I had no idea what to expect! Bought some Welsh gold cufflinks and visited the Quaker museum, upstairs in the tourist informaiton centre. Coming back, we stopped in Porthmadog for tea in an extremely busy little Indian restaurant, before arriving home to pack.



On our final day we stopped off in Porthmadog to buy some postcards and treats for work and to visit the outdoor clothing centre which we'd spotted on one of our trips out. Then, we made our way to Llangollen where we spent ages driving around looking for somewhere to park before watching the canoeing while eating our lunch by the riverside, and watching the Thomas the Tank Engine steam train trundle back and forth. Found an absolutely fantastic bookshop in which we spent hours, before driving the 3 miles to see the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, along which we walked. Pretty scary being so high up, but again, spectacular.

Roll on the next holiday - going to do the last leg of Wales and stay in LLandudno! Can't wait!