Around and about the Llyn Peninsula, North Wales

[lugg]

A little more of my few days in North Wales . I have already posted about Portmeirion separately as I thought it deserved its own thread.

anyportinastorm.proboards.com/thread/9310/portmeirion-north-wales

The Llyn peninsula is sometimes known as Snowden's arm - maybe this image will help to explain, ..the Llyn is just below the cheery sun. We stayed in Nefyn on the north coast of the Llyn which you can see on the map on the map below .

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My sis and I stayed in a little cottage , perfectly formed and potentially a romantic retreat for a couple .. unfortunately the hot tub was kaput but we soldiered on . The house is next to a deconsecrated church which is now a maritime museum and has some great views from the rear. It is not difficult to imagine the volcanic activity that sculptured the landscapes / geology today .

landscapesforlife.org.uk/about-aonbs/aonbs/llyn

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We spent some time exploring the Lynn , mainly its beaches...
The Llyn has become a holiday destination for many, particularly for those from NW England, indeed we had holidays there as children so actually it is nothing new. One memorable holiday was in a Butlins camp . The reason it was memorable is not in this info below but this gives an insight into its history. I can quite understand why this particular memory was omitted from Wiki.
During World War II the Admiralty, who had already taken over his camp at Filey, asked Billy Butlin to construct two new camps; one in North Wales and the other in Scotland. Butlin found 150 acres of farm land on the Llŷn Peninsula in Wales. The camp opened in 1940 as HMS ''Glendower'', an overflow training camp to HMS Royal Establishment.[2] The Admiralty contracted with Butlin's to extend the camp in 1942. In 1946, after the war, Butlin took back ownership of the camp from the Admiralty and Butlins Pwllheli was opened to the public after some reconstruction work. The holiday camp expanded during the 1950s and 1960s with additional chalet lines and facilities. At the peak in the late 1960s it could accommodate 12,000 campers, serviced by 1,500 staff. On 9 August 1963 Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh paid an official visit to the holiday camp. Pwllheli holiday camp contained established Butlins ingredients: the Butlins Redcoats, funfair, early morning wake up, dining hall (with the cheers going up when a waitress drops a plate), indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a ballroom, a boating lake, tennis courts, a sports field (for the three legged and egg & spoon races and the donkey derby), table tennis and snooker tables, an amusement arcade, a medical centre, a theatre, arcades of shops, a chairlift system and a miniature railway. There were many bars and coffee bars. A £1 million entertainment complex at the camp, constructed in 1962, was destroyed by fire in the early hours of 9 August 1973. No one died, although some campers suffered minor injuries. The cause was identified as faulty electrical wiring. During the 1989 summer season, chalets were damaged by a tornado, and the 3,500 guests present had to leave. The estimated £2 million damage was a contributing factor in the later transfer of the camp to the Haven brand.
Abersoch is one of the main touristic holiday sites but the increase in people buying second homes, just for the Summer, has taken its toll on the permanent population.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/12/abersoch-second-homes-holiday-wales

Anyway there is much more to see beyond the seaside” idyll” that is Abersoch. We only drove through – it was very busy , full of trendy bars and eateries and the type of shopes you would expect in such a location.

The beaches of Nefyn and Morfa Nefyn are much less visited ,
Looking out from Morfa Nefyn towards the Ty Coch Inn at Porthdinllaen,– apparently one of the best seaside pubs in the UK. I really wanted to visit but there is no vehicular access. Another time.

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Nefyn beach ..
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We spent a few hours enjoying the sun and dipping our toes into the sea at Llanbedrog –a really pretty and sheltered beach, which was very busy. The beach is managed by the National Trust.

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Plenty of shade where we sat from these oaks that reach right down to the beach.

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I was not familiar with this type of oak and had to look it up … Turkey Oak

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A glimpse of Snowdonia in the distance48_525e2945e4_c.jpg

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I could have been alone on the beach if this was the only photo to judge by, well apart from the dog

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We have our eye on this holiday let for a family gathering at some point ( out of season)

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Lovely blues and Vitamin Sea – good for the soul

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Next we stopped by at Aberdaron almost at the tip of the peninsula – not quite as pretty but less busy . There is a video on this link which is a bit twee but there are some great views of the coast here ,

www.visitsnowdonia.info/aberdaron

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The village itself is quite picturesque, in the main

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This poem by SIr Albert (Cynan) Evans-Jones is carved into a pavement outside the National Trust Porth y Swnt centre.

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Moving away from the beaches …the inland areas on the Llyn are often stunning

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We also spent a day on Newborough beach , Anglesey which is one of my favourite beaches in Wales. I am not going to post here as I covered it in a previous post here..

anyportinastorm.proboards.com/thread/8587/anglesey-holy-island-north-wales

But I will post just this one as it gives a view of the Llyn across the sea

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Ok beached out ? next up – a journey by train into Snowdonia

[bjd]

I can't say the beaches are what would attract me to the area but the countryside is really nice and is certainly good walking country. The water is probably freezing too.

Given that the map you posted has so many names in Welsh, how many people actually speak Welsh on a daily basis? Is it taught in schools as a required subject? Are most of the visitors local (Wales and northwestern England) or are there people from all over?

[mossie]

Typically wild and wooly Wales. Some nice views here, thanks Lugg

[htmb]

Very nice views, Lugg. Looks like a coast I’d also enjoy visiting.

[lugg]

Aug 28, 2022 4:50:15 GMT bjd said:

Given that the map you posted has so many names in Welsh, how many people actually speak Welsh on a daily basis? Is it taught in schools as a required subject?

Here is the most recent census info Bjd - you will se that the area I was in has one of the highest numbers of Welsh speakers. (Gwynedd) We heard it spoken there very frequently . The area of Wales which borders my home county has far fewer Welsh speakers.

Info re Welsh in schools here below , essentially all children are taught Welsh from year 3 to GCSE - diffrent schools have different strategies---
www.theschoolrun.com/welsh-language-teaching-wales

But the aimn of the government is to increase the % of Welsh speakers through schools,

research.senedd.wales/research-articles/what-is-the-education-workforce-s-role-in-meeting-the-welsh-government-cymraeg-2050-targets/

There is mixed support for this with mid and north more supportive than the south ( as a geralisation)

[lugg]

Thanks all . It is beautiful , yes some lovely walks - next time hopefully Ill be doing some of them .

[bixaorellana]

Finally getting uninterrupted time to sit and enjoy this beautiful report -- definitely worth the wait!

Thanks for the orientation information at the beginning. I know pretty much nothing about Wales, so it was most interesting and useful.

Then I started looking at the pictures ... pretty ... very nice ... lovely ... WHOA! That first shot of Nefyn beach and the towering clouds is breathtaking! Just wonderful sea & sky views, culminating in the "purple mountains' majesty" one with the family and their dog -- another stunner.

When you said you & your sister were staying in a little cottage, I envisioned something rustic where you have to duck your head in the doorways. Not quite! It looks so comfortable. I hope you all are able to score that stone house later for a family gathering.

I can almost smell the ozone rolling in from the sea and off your pictures. Thanks for showing all this.

pee ess ~ Can I assume all those names on the map just roll effortlessly off your tongue?

[kerouac2]

Really nice to see unsullied coastlines. However, the beaches do not appeal to me at all, so it is definitely a public service for you to have shown them to us.

[lugg]

Sept 4, 2022 4:21:56 GMT bixaorellana said:

pee ess ~ Can I assume all those names on the map just roll effortlessly off your tongue?

Haha but no ...I do however have a few Welsh friends who help me out.

Sept 4, 2022 5:43:41 GMT kerouac2 said:

Really nice to see unsullied coastlines. However, the beaches do not appeal to me at all, so it is definitely a public service for you to have shown them to us.

Maybe not the most beautiful beaches for sure.

[lugg]

Ok beached out ? next up – a journey by train into Snowdonia
Map of rail tracks
www.festrail.co.uk/map/
We journeyed from Portmadoc to Blanau Ffestiniog on Mountain Spirit which is about 13 .5 miles (21.7 km). I am just going to show you a little of the journey ..
More about the railway here ,
www.festrail.co.uk/
The Festiniog Railway Company, which owns the railway, is the oldest surviving railway company in the world.
Some history ,
In the 1700s, when Porthmadog and Blaenau Ffestiniog did not exist, this part of Wales was a remote mountain area. In the last few years of that century, W.A. Madocks had acquired land and soon afterwards carried out land reclamation projects culminating in the great embankment – ‘The Cob’ – right across the Glaslyn estuary, literally creating a new harbour, called Port Madoc, known today as Porthmadog.
At a similar time, high up in the mountains around Blaenau Ffestiniog, slate deposits were being exploited in small quantities and laboriously taken by pack animal and farm carts over rough roads down to the River Dwyryd. Here the slate was loaded into river boats for transport downstream where it was loaded yet again, this time into sea-going sailing ships. This long-winded system was expensive both in the time taken and the quantity of broken slates during transport.
In 1830, shortly after Madock’s death, Samuel Holland, who was quarrying slate at Rhiw, joined Henry Archer, a young businessman from Dublin, to promote the Festiniog Railway, incorporated by Act of Parliament on 23 May 1832. The route, whose final mile crossed the Cob, enabled loaded slate trains to run down by gravity while the horses that were used to haul the empty wagons back up the line could ride, feed and rest in ‘dandy’ wagons.
The 23.5 inch gauge (just short of 2 feet), corresponding to that being used in the quarries, was wide enough to allow the horses to work efficiently when pulling the empty wagons and narrow enough to enable the Railway to negotiate the sharp curves made necessary by the mountainous terrain. The wagons were small enough to be loaded easily and man-handled in the quarry and at the port.

As slate traffic increased, the horse and gravity system of operation came under strain and thoughts turned to the form of power then making such an impact on transport elsewhere – the steam engine. But in the 1840’s, steam locomotives on so narrow a gauge were thought impracticable; in fact carrying passengers was illegal on new railways of less than the British standard gauge of 4 feet 8.5 inches.These factors delayed the introduction of steam and it was only after Charles Easton Spooner (James’ son) took control of the Railway in 1856 that he looked more closely into the question of steam locomotives and eventually contracts were signed with George England and Co., London, for four small locomotives. In July 1863 ‘The Princess’ and ‘Mountaineer’ were delivered and they entered service in October. The other two, ‘The Prince’ and ‘Palmerston’, arrived in 1864.
In the same year, the Board of Trade gave the Railway permission to run passenger trains, the first on a narrow gauge in Britain.
As traffic increased two more, slightly more powerful engines, ‘Welsh Pony’ and ‘Little Giant’, arrived in 1867. By then the limitations of a single line were also becoming restrictive due to the sheer quantities of slate being transported and in 1869 an Act was passed permitting the line to be doubled.
Today the line is a tourist attraction having survived many adversities which include some remarkable engineering and is kept going by an army of approx. 1000 volunteers whose enthusiasm was apparent to us as we travelled. It was great to see some young people also helping out, the future seems to be bright. The conversion to rstore and retain the tracks began in the 1950s long after slate mining had declined.
So here we are in Portmadog, we almost regretted having to leave ..
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The trains are steam driven and of course need to re-fuel with water and coal..
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Off we go ..
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Travelling across The Cob
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Some views of Snowden in the distance,
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This is a holiday let – the people alighted here – it’s the only way to access it other than walking …maybe nice for a couple of nights ?
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Initially flat but climbing higher steadily and past stations that elsewhere in the UK would be no longer in use,
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The heather was blooming lovely in the hills
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Glimpses of the industrial past
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and remembrance to the people who were part of it..some more recently than others.
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Higher and higher . For those that remember their geography – a hanging valley,
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We had seen this large building several times in the distance , some industry replaces others,
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And on until we reached our destination, I guess we saw it at its best with the sun shining – imagine how bleak it could appear at other times maybe ?
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Piles and piles of slate,
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I wonder if the locals were pleased that their council spent money on this ?
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when the town itself needed some tlc in many places.
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Anyway the area is a draw to adventure seekers and walkers and those that just like to enjoy the views. Certainly the antithesis to Portneirion.

Well that’s all ..just one last photo taken on the way back down.
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[lugg]

Thank you all for your comments ...as ever.

[htmb]

Lovely photos! You did a nice job of capturing the atmosphere, and I got a laugh out of seeing your train conductor who looks to be about 14.

[bjd]

What a pleasant train ride, especially in an old train like that.

Just another language question -- are the double consonants pronounced differently than single ones?

[mickthecactus]

This has been really useful lugg - thanks.

I have a cactus friend who lives on the Peninsula and we are intending to visit and stay there for a week or so once I have stopped paying the few thousand bills that all seem to have come at once.

[kerouac2]

That must have been a fantastic train ride.

[cheerypeabrain]

Ooh that looks just my sort of holiday. Scrummy photos medear x

[lugg]

Thank you all

Sept 5, 2022 8:17:57 GMT bjd said:

Just another language question -- are the double consonants pronounced differently than single ones?

Yes and single ones too sometimes.



Other videos available by the same person that delve deeper into pronunciation.

Sept 5, 2022 8:58:22 GMT mickthecactus said:

have a cactus friend who lives on the Peninsula and we are intending to visit and stay there for a week or so once I have stopped paying the few thousand bills that all seem to have come at once.

I hope those bills are paid off soon Mick. One place I did not get too I think you would also enjoy seeing is..

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/plas-yn-rhiw

[mickthecactus]

Thanks lugg. That does look good.

I really want to see the trains in particular.

[bixaorellana]

Well! I almost missed the train, so to speak. Somehow I hadn't realized this wonderful thread had been updated -- and with some really different stuff, too.

I can see why you say you all were almost regretful to be leaving Portmadog ~ gorgeous vista!

The history is fascinating all by itself, then really brought home by getting to see the terrain in question. What a treat to be able to ride through a countryside empty of billboards, strip malls, etc. Speaking of which, what are those two women doing in the photo beneath the caption, the town itself needed some tlc? They might be having a shouting match or playing some kind of arcane game.

Your fourth photo is this section is a knockout -- fantastic composition with the red, red train & the tracks curving into that slightly forbidding gray-blue landscape. From there it got more and more dazzling with the beautiful wide nature views. The scenes of the houses overtopped by the mine waste is sobering, though. Imagine if all that stuff shifted. It's great that you got to ride back the same way, as the ride up must have seemed over too soon. I have to say, I am quite jealous.

Thanks so much for this!

[lugg]

Thanks as ever both.

[Rita]

We’ve lived on Anglesey 3 times, in Rhosneigr to be precise, my husband did his flying training there at RAF Valley, the first time we were there. Our daughter was born in St. David’s hospital in Bangor in 1977. We had 2 further tours there, my hubby became a flying instructor, one tour for 4 years. I loved the place, the beaches and the views of Snowdonia from our married quarter.

The first language is Welsh… our daughter learned Welsh in school, some local children learned English by the way. Road signs in Welsh, utility bills and driving license in Welsh and English. There is a Welsh TV channel S4C…

North west Wales is very Welsh and the locals are determined to keep it that way. I couldn’t get a job there because I couldn’t speak Welsh…

Hubby’s sister has lived on the Llyn for many years… she’s bilingual now…

[lugg]

Oct 7, 2022 9:47:05 GMT Rita said:

We’ve lived on Anglesey 3 times, in Rhosneigr to be precise

Small world Rita ; I love Rhosneigr and of course Valley is famous due to Kate and William.

[Rita]

Indeed.