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Slap bang in the middle of Snowdonia this is the heart of the national park. Rugged
mountains on three sides and sandy beaches along the shore. Slate from Blaenau was
the cutting edge of lightweight, roofing technology - grey gold. For years it came
down by packhorse to the quays on the Afon Dwyryd and was rowed out on the tide past
Portmeirion to waiting ships.
Victorian ingenuity marks the mountain with what look like enormous ski jumps which
pairs of tramways operated with the weight of a downhill wagon hauling an empty one
back up. These connected to the Ffestiniog Railway which opened in 1836 as a gravity
train with horses pulling the empty wagons back to Blaenau. The final mile of the
railway runs along The Cob, an embankment built by William Madocks to hold back the
sea. A natural by-product of this was a deep water port at the northern end, hence
Madocks's Port became Porthmadog, where boats and yachts now bob at their moorings.
In the 1860s the railway was modernised to steam and nowadays the area is a popular
place to relax or have fun: the walking is superb with everything from upland hikes
and long views to evening strolls on the beach as the sun sinks behind a castle into
the sea. Llan Ffestiniog was the original and ancient settlement, rooted deep in
Welsh history, whilst Blaenau, which means uplands, is the modern town built during
the booming slate industry. Half way down the Vale is Plas Tan y Bwlch - stately
home of the Oakeley family, owners of the largest quarry, but now the study centre
for the national park. It provides a diverse range of courses from bird watching
to harvesting (and frying!) wild mushrooms.
Our landscape has a familiarity and dreamlike quality, probably due to being used
as a location for so many films such as First Knight. It looks like the landscape
of a bygone era, how things should be before being spoilt and overcrowded. Space
to breathe fresh air blown in across 3,000 miles of the Atlantic. The Romans built
a fort by Trawsfynydd and one of the original stones, commemorating the troops of
Marcus completing their section of the walls, is now built into the door of the pub
in Maentwrog. 'I'm just off to do some archaeology!'
It's been a highly rated destination for many years. Lord Lyttelton's blog in 1776
....'Nothing remarkable occurred in our ride, until we came to Ffestiniog, the Vale
before which is the most perfectly beautiful of all we had seen ..... with the woman
one loves, with the friend of one's heart, and a good study of books, one might pass
an age there, and think it but a day.'
There’s lots more to know about Snowdonia. Click right for the official tourism site.
Here is another take from Wandering Aengus Treks...
Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon is the highest peak in Wales and highest point of
the United Kingdom south of the Scottish Border. The mountain and the area round
about are steeped in Arthurian legend. Its name means 'The Barrow' (a burial mound)
and legend has it that a giant named Rhita Fawr who was slain by King Arthur lies
buried beneath. Later the Anglo Saxons named it Snow-dun meaning 'hill of snow' which
before the days of global warming, was exactly what it was from November to March.
Yr Wyddfa is unique among mountains of Britain in that its summit can be reached
almost without any physical effort. A railway line built in 1896 climbs the long
north ridge from Llanberis to within 67 feet of the top. Many hill walkers have a
love-hate relationship with the Snowdon Mountain Railway. Mostly they hate the crowds
it brings to the summit and the intrusive summit station buildings, once described
by the Prince of Wales as the country's "highest slum", but on a wild day when the
cloud is down and the wind is blowing it provides great shelter and on these occasions
a hot cup of tea is hard to resist.
The old summit buildings which drew such approbation from the Prince and walkers
alike have now been replaced by a new visitor centre cum cafe known as Hafod Eyri.
Following a feasibility study in 2001 and planning permission in 2004, the old buildings
were demolished towards the end of 2006. The new summit station was originally due
to open in the summer of 2008 but the top of Snowdon is not the easiest place for
a construction project and bad weather hampered work to such an extent that the project
was delayed for a whole year. The new building is now complete and this time greater
emphasis has been placed on blending in using local stone, curved and scabbled roof,
non-reflective glass etc and is generally considered to be an improvement. The cafe
cum visitor centre was officially opened on June 12 2009. The love-hate relationship
is expected to continue unchanged.
This mountain has a character far greater than its altitude suggests and its several
ridges hide lakes and cwms which can only be properly explored on foot. The ridges
and the valleys between also provide routes of ascent of differing character and
scenery which together with a wide variety of weather, means that no matter how many
times it is climbed the experience is never the same twice.
All about Snowdonia.
