Day Six

Our final day of our Holiday started in Caernarfon - we headed straight for the Castle. It's an absolute beast of a fortification. It's really quite intimidating and dominates Caernarfon. We walked around the Castle and along the bank of the Menai Straights and there was barely a sole around. To be fair it was very early in the day, but by the time we got back to the centre some Coaches had arrived and there was lots and lots of people. We aimed for the old town for more meandering and enjoyed the eclectic buildings all jostled together - so pretty.

We then went down the coast towards Llithfaen to visit the Welsh Language Centre at Nant Gwrtheyrn. The Road down to the Centre was somewhat steep! Nant Gwrtheyrn was abandoned in the 1970s following the closure of the quarries. In it's heyday over 2000 men worked there quarrying the Granite. A trust was formed, by Dr Carl Clowes, the local GP and others and eventually they bought the village and set about renovating the old buildings and developed a centre to teach Welsh. Inside one of the buildings was the most amazing knitted village complete with fields of crops and animals. We went inside one of the Quarryman's Cottage which was built in 1878 and Meinirs Tree - all about the tragic love story of Rhys and Meinir.

So, seeing it was our last day, there was only one place that I wanted to spend our last afternoon. So it was back off to Anglesey. We headed towards Amwlch and went first to The Copper Kingdom to learn about the areas industrial heritage. We then went for a very long walk around the worlds biggest copper mine at Parys Mountain. It is the most other worldly landscape that I've ever been to.  The lack of vegetation, although understandably because of the toxicity, was unnerving. But the colours, of the colours! Pinks, Yellows, Greens, Greys, Browns and Blues. It was such an amazing place to walk around. We even got to see an incredibly fast Hare bolt away from us.

There was only one thing I wanted to go after this mammoth walk and that was to walk a little more so we could see the sunset over the sea again. We headed for Rhoscolyn and walked across the bay, round lots of houses and across several fields to get to the jagged cliffs with twenty minutes to spare. We were greeted by this beautiful little one;

We nestled in the rocks to get out of the wind and were treated to the most beautiful display. I don't think I'll ever get bored of seeing the sun set over the sea - it feels like such a treat. Our last stop was Menai Bridge to pick up some dinner which we ate in the Car overlooking the Straights which sparkled in from the lights and the Bridge. We both slept so well that night, all the walking zonked us out. Boy do I love Anglesey.

Day Five

Our fifth day away was bright and full of Sunshine and our first stop was Inigo Jones, a Slate Works.  They were  founded in 1861 primarily to make school writing Slates but now they make all manner of things with what I believe is one of the very best natural materials in the world. They do a self guided tour and you get to see all the elements and processes of working with Slate. But the very best bit was the Carving Studio where we spent a while having a go at hand carving the pieces of Slate we'd been given. I will confess my piece had a dubious outcome, but it was incredibly fun.

We then followed the Welsh Highland Railway route, stopping off at the phenomenal views of Rhyd Ddu - such a peaceful place complete with quietly waiting train passengers and a man asleep under a Tree.

We continued along to Beddgelert - it's another place that has stolen my heart. It's in a Valley and the views are amazing - completely surrounded by Snow capped Mountains. Breathtaking. The village is beautiful and had a rather popular Ice Cream Parlour - I've never seen so many flavours. We had a wander around the Village, pottered in and out of the shops and went to Tourist Information Office and bought a Learn Welsh CD to listen to in the Car. We then made for the River and took the walk towards Gelerts Grave. According to legend, the stone monument in the field marks the resting place of 'Gelert', the faithful hound of the medieval Welsh Prince Llewelyn the Great. The story, as written on the tombstone reads:

"In the 13th century Llewelyn, prince of North Wales, had a palace at Beddgelert. One day he went hunting without Gelert, "The Faithful Hound", who was unaccountably absent. On Llewelyn's return the truant, stained and smeared with blood, joyfully sprang to meet his master. The prince alarmed hastened to find his son, and saw the infant's cot empty, the bedclothes and floor covered with blood. The frantic father plunged his sword into the hound's side, thinking it had killed his heir. The dog's dying yell was answered by a child's cry. Llewelyn searched and discovered his boy unharmed, but near by lay the body of a mighty wolf which Gelert had slain. The prince filled with remorse is said never to have smiled again. He buried Gelert here".

After a quick lunch we went to the Llechwedd Slate Caverns and got on a little yellow Train complete with hard hats and taken half a mile into the Mine.  Our guide told us all about how Slate was mined 150 years ago - I just can't imagine how tough it must have been to work by just candlelight; the noise and sheer danger. We also had a walk around the Village with the Old Quarry Office, The Pub and the Victorian Sweetshop. There were lots of lovely Slate items for sale and we bought three Canape Trays which are absolutely lovely.

It was getting late in the day but still a little early for dinner but it was still light. I love the first few weeks after the clocks go forward as it just seems you have so much more time to do stuff in the evening. We made a stop at Dolwyddelan Castle. It's an absolutely massive Keep and really thick walls - it completely dominates the landscape, so very imposing.

After our walk around the Castle our tummies were starting to rumble so we started to make our way to Betws-y-Coed but spied these and just had to stop to take a photo. I've never seen anything like it.

We had a wander through Betws-y-Coed and eventually chose to eat at The Grill Room. The Boy had a Trio of locally made Sausages; Pork and Apple, Dragon and Lamb and Leek. I am completely fascinated as to what Dragon actually was! I went for the Lamb and it was divine.

We ended up back at the campsite around 9pm and whilst the Boy was boiling water, oh so slowly because it was so cold, I thought it was funny to turn down his sleeping bag and put a Chocolate on his pillow. It was almost like being a fancy hotel just very cold and half way up a Mountain!

Day Four

On our fourth day of our holiday, we stopped again for Breakfast in Betws-y-Coed and picked up some freshly cooked Welsh Cakes for later that day before heading up the Conwy Valley. It's so different from Snowdonia - it seemed greener, less windswept more undulating.

We had a wander around the walled town - the dark castle dominates the place. It looked amazing against the brilliant blue sky and in places seems carved into the landscape. The small narrow winding streets took us down towards the Seafront where we came across the Smallest House in Great Britain. It's teeny tiny at just 10 by 6 feet with a height of about 10 feet. Even I had to duck to get inside and I'm only 5"3!

We spent quite some time wandering around Conwy, meandering, stopping in shops etc. We bought some lunch and had a walk up the absolutely massive town walls which climb so very high over the town. We also visited the tourist information centre which gave us our next destination of The Welsh Food Centre. It was such a wonderful selection of all manner of things - we bought our first Bara Brith, a Bodie Oggie, some Rapeseed Oil and Sloe Lemonade. Boy was the Bara Brith good - so, so good!

When then headed to Rowen, labelled one of the prettiest villages in Wales and indeed it is very lovely too.  The views above the village were spectacular - the higher we went the more snow covered the land. We got up to about 850ft and you could see for miles. We were thwarted in our adventure when the path became completely impassable from all the snow, so back down we went!

Because it had been so very cold, we went to a camping shop in Llandudno to buy the boy a four seasons sleeping bag to hopefully keep him warmer. Sleeping bag purchased we wended our merry way for a walk around Aber Falls - with it being late in the day at this point, we didn't fancy a long walk upwards so we kept to the lower stream which was very pretty in itself.

At this point it was about 6.30pm and our hearts were calling to Anglesey as neither of us had ever seen the sun set over the Sea. It just has to be done and there was only one place I wanted to see it happen - Porth Trecastel. We walked towards the Burial Chamber and nestle ourselves in the craggy cliffs. We watched the sun dip towards the horizon and slowly, oh so slowly, disappear - and it was quite simply perfect. It really was one the most beautiful things I have ever seen and it just sealed the deal on Porth Trecastel being one of my favourite places in the world. 

We finished the day in a lovely pub, with warm food and the very best service we've ever had. Once we'd told our waiter we were camping in Llanberis I think he took pity on us and told us to stay until closing and made us sit by the fire with after dinner drinks. Completely wonderful!

Day Three

Sunday night, Monday morning was a cold one - the wind blew and we did shiver a little. We had planned on making breakfast in the morning, but it was so cold - even the Olive Oil solidified! We headed to Betws-y-Coed for Breakfast on the Village Green and a potter around the village. The boy bought some Thermal Gloves - which the lady in the shop even warmed for him after a discussion about our camping exploits!

Our next stop was the Wool Mill at Trefriw where they make traditional Welsh blankets, Tweeds and other lovely woven things. We got to see the hydro electric turbines and weaving in action. The best bit thought was the Hand Spinners studio - there was the nicest and most knowledgeable lady who spent quite some time talking to us about how to Spin and different types of fibres. We learnt so much and came away with several bags of Fibres.

Then our hearts called us back to Anglessey as we fancied seeing some of the ancient monuments - first up was Bryn Celli Ddu at Llanddaniel. This monument is one of the most intact burial chambers I've ever been too.

After our this, we wanted to see another one so we headed towards Aberffraw to visit Barclodiad y Gawres. It dates from circa 2500 BC which is the same age as the building of the Pyramids and it houses five original carved stones. Because of vandalism, it was unfortunately locked but we did just about see one them.

The coastline here is amazing - high craggy cliffs and the wide open sea. I think Porth Trecastell might have just become one of my favourite places in the world. In English, it's called Cable Bay because its the place where the telegraph cables linked Britain with Ireland and America. It's such a wonderful peaceful place and we spent an hour sitting nestled in the cliffs watching the sea.

Towards the end of the day we headed to the south of Anglesey towards Beamaris. We had a walk along the Pier and around the town - the old jail was a proper fortress! The view of the mainland and the snow covered mountains.

We carried on further up the Coast to Penmon to see the Priory, Dovecot and St Seiriol's Well. The Dovecot was built around 1600 and had room for nearly 1000 birds. The inside was completely beautiful - rows upon rows of individual bird roosts and a circular stairwell in the middle. I've never seen anything like it.  The well skirted the medieval Monks fish pond and seems to come out of the cliff. The spring water was crystal clear. I cannot express my love for Anglesey enough - it's going to be a place that stays with my for a long time and I can't wait to go back for a whole holiday on the Isle.

We ended the day with Fish and Chips in Caernarfon - completely yummy and warming which prepared us for our next night of camping!

Day Two

We had a lazy morning on our first whole day in North Wales, sitting at the camp site drinking tea, starring at the Mountains and attempting to cook breakfast. It was so cold the gas canisters just weren't working - so the little hot water bottle came to the rescue and lashings of tin foil to cocoon the hob. We got there in the end. There really is something about cooking and eating outside.

Our first port of call was to get a proper view of Snowdon - so off back across Pen-y-Pass and we were greated with this glorious, glorious view. It's officially the highest mountain I have ever seen. The thing I like most about it is that Snowdon in Old English means Snow Hill - it certainly was that!

Our next stop was Anglesey - seeing as it was our first day of holiday we thought it would be in the spirit of ease and laziness and somewhat fun to take in the Island by driving all the way around it. It was a route of about 70 miles and we made stops along the way such as Moelfre, Amlwch, Cemaes Bay and Aberffraw. Angelsey really is the most diverse landscape - Mountains, Cliffs, Beaches, Marshes, Coastal Heath and Forests. I am glad we took the drive just to take in as much as possible and it turned out to be a bit of a recce for the rest of our week.

We had a long walk at South Stack Cliffs, an RSPB reserve which is the most beautiful Cliff and Heathland Seascape. We ambled slowly around the landscape, slowly getting higher and higher. It was so peaceful and quite warm out of the wind. There were Seabirds crammed on the narrow ledges and we sat for sometime nestled in the rocks watching the waves.

The day ended with a beautiful sunset and a plan to return to Anglesey to see the Sun set over the Sea.