Tan-y-Bryn Farm, Bryn Pydew, Llandudno Junction, Conwy

The Chauffeur was keen to spend the first day near Llandudno Junction driving back into the Snowdonia area; he was conscious that the forecasted weather may well spoil sight-seeing or at least of the type that relies on distant mountain and valley views. It was a good decision because we covered a lot of miles today, enjoying wonderful countryside and mountainous landscapes, and were still back home mid-afternoon before the rain arrived and still in time for that ever important cycle racing in the Pyrenees.

We headed off early, not hampered by school traffic (one good aspect of school holidays) and headed south down the western bank of the River Conwy, through the beautiful Vale of Conwy. As we approached Dolgarrog, we noticed a memorial beside the road; I caught the words “dam disaster”. We turned back and parked up to read the inscription; a list of ten adults, including two couples, and six children lost all losing their lives in 1925. There was little detail so I looked it up on-line and learned that two dams failed, flooding the village killing those listed in the memorial. The relatively small number of victims was due to the fact that other vulnerable residents were at the local movie theatre at the time.

The first dam to fail was the gravity Eigau Dam owned by the Aluminium Corporation, which in turn blasted through the embankment Coedty Dam. The disaster led the British government to pass the 1930 Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act, since updated in 1975, however I imagine this was little consolation to the families who lost their loved ones.

A little way on we pulled into what is left of Dolgarrog, and were drawn to the sight of more recent development, something unlike we had ever seen before.

Here is an artificial wave pool, Surf Snowdonia, the world’s first commercial artificial surfing lake and the UK’s only artificial surfing lake. It cost a staggering £12 million, opening in 2015. It’s built on the site of Dolgarrog Aluminium, that involved in the dam disaster, which closed in 2007. The construction required massive decontamination work after century long industrial site use, and over 25,000 cubic metres of on-site material, including 400 tonnes of steel, cast iron and copper,  was crushed and reused.

We stood with our faces pressed against the exterior fence watching the set-up; dozens of hopeful surfers in wet-suits, even in this heat wave we are currently experiencing here in the UK, waiting for the regular pattern of waves. We thought it quite marvellous but not so much that we felt bound to try it for ourselves, although I have to say I would rather try surfing here than out in the shark infested salty sea. Needless to say neither of us are keen seaside swimmers.

Apparently Surf Snowdonia  now want to add a £10 expansion which will include a 106 bedroom hotel and spa and indoor adventure attraction with stuntman obstacles, extreme slides and climbing walls. All power to them I say, but sort out the access roads and other infrastructure.

We drove on still following the banks of the River Conwy, the B5106 a lovely quiet road often through wooded sections. At Betws-y-Coed (pronounced “betoos-er-coyd”) we joined the hundreds of other tourists checking this very charming township with almost an alpine feel.  We drove through the town three years ago in the motorhome, and had trouble finding a park, but were left with a desire to return. Today tourists had arrived by car as we had, motorhome, coach or by rail; the tourist rail from Conwy through to Porthmadog on the south coast is very popular. We paid for an hour’s parking believing it would be enough, but as always this spoils the spontaneity of travel; had we not had a time limit we might have walked up into the forest on one of the shorter trails, or followed the town trail around at leisure.

We did manage to walk through the retail and hospitality areas, the smart hotels and boutiques and outdoor regalia shops all very picturesque. We crossed over the Afon Llugwy and admired the stone bridge and pretty waterway, then back to the railway station, crossed the rail on the footbridge and found St Michael’s 14^th century church and the swing bridge over the River Conwy, but this was all done with too much haste. We had initially rejected a car park that offered two and a half hours parking for £2.50; this had been a mistake.

Betws-y-Coed was founded in the 5^th or 6^th century when a monastic cell earned the settlement the moniker of the “oratory in the forest”.  Apart from some lead mining, the town remained a backwater until 1815 when Thomas Telford, that ever busy well-celebrated engineer, built the Waterloo Bridge to carry the A5 road across the River Conwy. The village became a major centre for the mail coaches, which would stop here on their route from London to Holyhead. But the biggest change came in 1868, after the railway station was built. The trains brought in the tourists in their droves, and Betws-y-Coed became one of the most popular holiday resorts in Wales.

Betws-y-Coed lies at the confluence of four beautiful forested valleys. The Gwydyr forest surrounds the town and it is these that draw the outdoor crowds, to either stroll quietly by the river or climb energetically up the hillside for views of the Snowdonia National Park. As I said, the town itself with its fine Victorian stone buildings is attraction enough.

St Michaels’ Church, the oldest building in the town lies almost hidden amongst yew trees, some apparently one thousand years old. During the Victorian expansion of the town, this little church proved too small to cater for the needs of the growing population and the tourists who apparently did not put their churchgoing on hold when on holiday. A new larger church, St Mary’s, was built in the middle of the town however I suspect there were some of the old parishioners who never forgave the London & North Western Railway who built the railway line into Betws cutting off access to the church from the west of the village and right through the cemetery.

From here we carried on down the A 470 toward Dolgellau, a route linking up with those journeys taken as we travelled north. We travelled up the Lledr Valley, the Afon Lledr being one of those river valleys Betws-y-Coed lays claim to. This too was a lovely drive; we pulled into the car park at the Dolwyddelan Castle.

Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, Prince of Gwynedd, was born here around the year 1172, although the exact location is unknown. It is thought it might have been in the Tomen Castell, which stood on a tree covered mound across the road from the car park; an unimpressive spot these days. He returned to build a stone castle in the 1220s, by which time most of Wales had acknowledged him as their Prince.

From the age of twelve he was already forging his identity in battle. He grew up to be fiercely ambitious but also a skilful diplomat. He rose to lead his family, form alliances with other Welsh lords and marry into the English royal family.  The Treaty of Worcester with Henry III in 1218 acknowledged his as undisputed Welsh leader, ushering in more than twenty years of relative stability.

There is not a lot of information about the long term history of the castle, however it was explained that by the 19^th century the castle had become a romantic ruin, its Victorian owner, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, restored the tower for his rich guests to visit. As a result it is now slightly taller than it was in Llywelyn’s time.

In 1930 the building was placed under the guardianship of the Ministry of Works. It is now under the protection of CADW, but is free to enter for all-comers.

We walked up to the castle, a relatively steep route and better in sensible shoes than not. There is little that could be attributed to modern Health & Safety regulations here: the exterior staircase is exposed, one climbs the interior long dark stair case glad to have a heavy rope to hold and the barriers at the top of the tower are not particularly suited to hypo-active children. But the views down the valley and up toward the pass are spectacular.

Back at the car park we dined before heading further south, now on through Blaenau Ffestinog, that visited just a week or so ago, and just as hideously spectacular as then. This time we descended from the north, down passed the tourist attraction where you can sign up to enter the slate tunnels. There is a kind of beauty about the place, a horrible beauty, if that makes sense. I suspect however if I were to travel through here in the middle of winter I would struggle to find the attraction, or at least from a human perspective. It must have been a hellhole to pass the winters in; even nowadays.

At the village of Ffestinog, a little to the south, we turned back up into the mountains on the B4391 then the B4407, passing through boggy moors, a desolate but beautiful landscape. Here the roads are narrow, although sealed as always. The edges are often a bit dodgy for pulling off onto, and the road should be avoided by the holidaying Landrover driving Sloane brigade, as well as the smart big European car driving set; what a pain they were on the road today!

We dropped down into the valley in which the River Conwy rises, then turned back toward Betws-y-Coed before heading north up the eastern bank of the River Conwy on the A470.

This road should have been short and sweet, we were certainly counting on it to be so as we discussed the state of the fuel tank. The mileage to our preferred fuel station would easily be covered by the puddles left in the tank, but this did not allow for idling in traffic jams.

This was not the first of the day. Soon after leaving Betws-y-Coed, we spent ten minutes or more waiting for a couple of coaches manoeuvre their way across a narrow stretch of the A470 and a stone bridge over the Afon Lledr. But the last frustrating episode was as we travelled through Llanrwst, where the roads we took either side of the River Conwy are joined by a bridge. This fact coupled with road works in the middle of the village, and two very narrow sections through the main street, does not bode well for car and caravan units, vans and hundreds of the holidaying public. 

I made reference earlier to my hope that the infrastructure would be upgraded to cope with the extra traffic that will surely exist if Surf Snowdonia gets the green light for its expansion. Hopefully there will be some kind of clause to suggest Llanrst gets a helping hand with a bypass or even a flyover.

Back on the north coast we found our way to Tesco and filled with diesel before the indicator touched the E sign. The gods were obviously on our side because it was the biggest fill we have had since keeping our 2018 fuel records. The superstore proved to be an excellent provider of everything on our grocery list, even those items that have been moved from one list to the next for want of availability.

Back home, we were met with the splendid view as we pulled into the gates, welcoming especially without a rather long caravan in tow. Today we noted all the windmills out off the coast. This is Gwynt Mor, a one hundred and sixty turbine wind farm, apparently the fourth largest operating offshore wind farm in the world. Planning consent was granted in 2008 and final commissioning occurred in 2015. The output of 1,950 GWh per year is capable of powering around 400,000 homes or 30% of the homes in Wales. That is quite impressive.

A better view tonight would be the longest total eclipse of the moon for the century but the clouds are such that this is highly unlikely.  Rain storms have swept across since I started to write this and while there is some respite at this very moment, it looks like the rest of our time here near Llandudno Junction is to be all about rain. Interestingly, or shockingly, notification of the eclipse appeared on page 33 in the Daily Mail, after articles about Meghan’s resemblance to Wallis Simpson, whines and whinges about the warm weather that Poms pay heaps to chase on the Mediterranean and evening revellers performing unnatural acts with a nude shaped hedge. How shallow the media have become; perhaps we should stop buying this gossip rag?