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Snowdonia trip
Early on Saturday morning Lady Glencairn and I headed off in our trusty Peugeot towards the dimly glimpsed Welsh hills. It's about a two and a half hour drive from where we live to the seaside resort of Llandudno. The weather forecast was a bit grim so we were pleasantly surprised to have fine (but damn cold weather) that morning. We had coffee at our favourite French-themed cafe (The Moulin Rouge) and braved the stiff sea breezes on the 1234ft (376m) pier. We could see the weather was worse inland, black clouds over our destination, Betws-y-coed in the heart of Snowdonia. Betwys-y-coed translates into English as 'Chapel in the woods'. Sure enough, it started to rain as only it can in that part of Wales, shortly after we checked in to our hotel. It's an old favourite, the Glan Aber, and we've been visiting it for years. We have many happy memories of it when the girls were small. A slight problem with the heating in our room meant we got upgraded to a four-poster room and we were not complaining! We were able to chill out considerably and had dinner in the excellent lounge while Wales thrashed France at rugby and won the Grand Slam competition. You can perhaps imagine the native fervour felt in that room as the widescren tv's showed off the victory to enthusiastic locals! On Sunday the weather was again fine but cold and we took an early morning walk through the village up to the Pont-y-pair bridge over the Afon (river) Lugwy. It was in full flood with all that spring rain and an awesome site. The local authority has created a fabulous arboreal walkway through the trees above the rapids and it was like stepping into the elven forest of Lord of the Rings. What was once a treacherous hike with stones and wet tree roots is now a pleasant stroll amongst the giant trees.
We also discovered a rotting stump which conjured more images of fabulous and mythical creatures. We then headed off for the 40 minute drive through some of the most spectacular scenery in the UK - through Capel Curig and past the entrance to the Llanberris pass, under the shoulder of Snowdon itself, to the village of Beddgelert. The fable of Beddgelert is a sad one. In the 13th century, Llewellyn, Prince of North Wales had a palace there. One day he set off hunting, strangely without his faithful hound Gelert. When he returned home he found the dog covered in blood and his baby son missing. Fearing the worst he killed the dog but then discovered the body of a wolf near to his infant son, who was safe and sound. Llewellyn realised his mistake, the dog had died defending the boy. Filled with grief and remorse he built a shrine to the dog which survives to this day and there is also a new bronze statue of the dog. We count ourselves privileged to live so near to this amazing part of the British history, heritage, and landscape. It's also bustling with life and modernity,. the exceitement of the rugby, the burgeoning Welsh language once more in common use. Visit this part of Wales if ever you get thte chance!
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Glan Aber Hotel, Betws-y-coed
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This intel was contributed by noot54
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May, 2012
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