Tuearts right boot
Well-Known Member
So we're back now from our 12 day sabbatical to northern Wales, that so detracted from our childhood memories of Llandudno and Rhyl, and really really glad that we made the effort to diverge into the wilderness.
We aimed to travel off the beaten track by choosing a different coastline to the Welsh Costas, and in doing so met up with some fabulous people on route including a college professor lecturer originally from London who was on a solo walking tour. Apparently a travel company planed all his digs/places to visit on route and all he had to do was hit his rendezvous points.
A cracking old chap in his seventies with not a single piece of flesh to his bone from all the kcal burn, and just shows what a little exercise can do for the mind body and soul. After he had held us up for at least 30 mins, we set off on our final leg increasing our fat lad pace to that of a steady trot
One morning we got lost on a non pronounceable mountain hillock on route to Criccieth Castle, and if it hadn't been for the miracle intervention of some "special" sheep to led us out of that wilderness, I dread to think of the outcome. An uncanny tale this one and like something out of Roald Dahl's Tales Of The Unexpected
From all our travels and all of our encounters, I never once came across any locals that did not interact or offer the hand of friendship to a weary traveler. Before we left we read a few snippets in the national press saying how unfriendly the Welsh hill people can be, and how they have a tendency to switch off and babble in their own tongue if strangers walk bye.
Apparently and recently, a group of walkers had expressed dissatisfaction of their treatment in the northern villages. The seven hikers whose complaints focused on Llanberis, had claimed they experienced an astounding' anti english attitude from local residents on their walking trip. The gaggle of women, aged between 55 and 70, had travelled from Clitheroe, lancs, on a four-day walking holiday but were met with anti-english jibes in the street. They also said they were snubbed in pubs and restaurants and found it hard to get served.
'Hatred for English in North Wales astounding,' walkers claim
They say they did not receive a croeso cynnes on a visit to Eryriwww.dailypost.co.uk
I can only say that all the locals that we met treated us with the utmost of friendliness and camaraderie, and everyone encountered on our trip engaged us in jovial banter and pleasantries. Its true that a lot of northern Welsh towns do speak Welsh as their first language including the school children we met in Harlech and Cricieth, that happily chuddered away in the mother tongue as they waited for their bus trip home.
We covered a lot in our short stay but were disappointed not to get to Snowdonia national park as we struggled to even find the place, probably owing to the Welsh locals changing its name to Enryi : /
Here's a few pictures for your kind perusal:
North Wales coastal path a few cliks south of pwthwellie
Rural walk to pwthwelli
Pwthwellie beach in distance
Two and a half mile yomp toward Pwthwelli harbour
Pthwellie harbour and town complete with a Wetherspoon for a subtle reenactment of Ice Cold In Alex.
They just came from out of nowhere!
Leading us across barren fields to the railway line and safety of the coastal path
Stranger things.
Ringed by dark cliffs and impressive sand dunes, morpha bycan beach near Porthmadog has a heavenly two miles of sand and rockpools to explore. If you're into nature spotting, the sand dunes are a site of special scientific intrest.
The best bit? You can drive straight onto the beach.
Porthmaddock narrow gauge station. We were going to travel to Canaervon that takes 2.5 hours each way with a couple of hours to explore the castle etc. However they wanted £66 each to complete the adventure and a bridge too far for our working class pockets. A tip for the future if anyone is listening in. Join the festiniog railway on line and its £41 for the year. You then receive 10 free trips on the line and also quarterly train mags and further incentives to your door. Somehow £9 return to Carnarvon as opposed to £66 is becoming viable once more.
Ffestiniog Railway Society :: Join the Ffestiniog Railway Society
Membership details for Ffestiniog Railway Societyffestiniograilway.org.uk
Train Services - Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways
Train Services - Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railwayswww.festrail.co.uk
Harlech across the bay in the far distance. Made famous of course by Zulu and Stanley Baker in the defence of the missionary station at Rorkes Drift. Fact of the matter is it was an English regiment and not many serving Welsh men in it .. having said that I thoroughly enjoyed the film and thought that their singing was pitch perfect.
It's a small world... a client came in to work yesterday, from Harlech, she looks nothing like anyone on that photo though.