We had another full day in Wales before heading to Liverpool and York, England. Our last day in Wales proved to be a magical day of beauty and whimsy.
Let’s talk about Eryri National Park (Snowdonia) in north Wales. Covering a total of 823 square miles, Eryri is Wales’ largest National Park. Globally renowned geology, species of international importance and a rich history and heritage are just some of the things that make Eryri so special. Eryri is dotted with communities across the landscape where culture, language and history intertwine to create a unique and lively identity.
Fun facts about Eyrie National Park:
— 9 mountain ranges
— 74 miles of coastline
— 11,000 hectares of native woodland
— 1497 miles of route to explore
— As well as being the largest National Park in Wales, Eryri (Snowdonia) boasts the highest mountain in England and Wales.
And we only had part of one day! Ideally, we would have had several days, but we had planned for this UK/Ireland trip to be a total of 30ish days, and we weren’t spending a lot of time in any one place. If we ever return, we will spend more time in this beautiful park!
Since we were clearly going to see very little of the park, we decided to go to the top of Snowdon, the tallest peak. The Welsh name of this mountain is Yr Wyddfa. Although there are several mountains over 3,000 feet in the National Park, the popularity of this famous mountain is far and above the rest.
Here is a guide on how to pronounce Yr Wyddfa:
- “Yr” is pronounced “Uhr
- “Wydd” is pronounced “With”
- “Fa” is pronounced, “Va.”
Legend has it that Yr Wyddfa is the final resting place of Rhita Gawr. Rhita Gawr was a fearsome giant who wore a cloak made of men’s beards. He challenged King Arthur to combat, but Arthur defeated him and cut off his head. According to legend, the cairn on the summit of Yr Wyddfa marks the final resting place of Rhita Gawr’s head. Yr Wyddfa roughly translates to ‘tomb’ or ‘cairn.’
There are several ways to summit Snowdon. There are six hiking routes to the summit. All are challenging, but some are more challenging than others. Or, you can take the Snowdon Mountain Railway.
I’d planned to hike the The Llanberis Path, the most popular path to the summit of Yr Wyddfa. It is a 9-mile challenging hike with an ascent of over 3,000 feet. While the Llanberis Path has the most gradual ascent to the summit, it is not considered an ‘easy’ hike. Due to Michael’s heart condition, he was going to take the railway.
The main thing I was concerned about was the weather. There is an app that shows weather conditions at the summit 24 hours in advance. When I checked about midday the day before, the weather prediction looked bad at the summit (rainy) and the railway tickets were selling out fast. All of the morning tickets (what we’d planned to buy) were sold out. So, I kind of panicked and purchased two railway tickets for 2:00 p.m.
Naturally, the next day dawned sunny and beautiful. But we took the railway to the top anyway. On the way up I decided to at least walk down. Better than nothing! It is reportedly a 2.5 hour walk down, but I planned to run wherever possible so I could get down the same time Michael would on the railway (a one-hour journey). Since the railway spent 30 minutes at the top, it seemed like a fine plan. And both the railway and the route I was taking began and ended at Llanberis Station, in the little town of Llanberis.
Most railways use simple adhesion of rail wheels on the rails to move a train along a track. In the case of mountain railways, the gradient of the track means that simple adhesion does not work.
The solution is to mount a toothed rack between the running rails and provide a cog (pinion) on the locomotive. In this way, the locomotive can crawl up steep gradients.
There are seven different types of railway rack and pinion systems but by far the most popular worldwide is the Abt system, as used at Snowdon Mountain Railway. The system was invented by Dr. Roman Abt, a Swiss railway engineer, in 1885. The system is cheaper to manufacture and install than other systems as it uses less steel.
A diesel locomotive is used (they also have steam locomotives but there were no tickets available) to push the carriage up the mountain.
I am glad I hiked down, as it provided more opportunities for photos and was a beautiful place to jog (except when the rocks were tripping hazards). Speaking of pictures. . .
Going up!
At the top!
A memorial to Gwenllian is located just beneath the summit of Snowdon. If you are having trouble reading it, the English translation reads as follows:
“A tribute to the princess Gwenllian (1282-1337), only child of prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Lord of Snowdonia, Prince of Wales.”
Llywelyn was the last native prince of Wales.
Gwenllian’s story is actually rather sad. Her mother died in childbirth and her father was killed shortly after her birth. If you would like to read more about her, here is a good source: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofWales/Gwenllian-Lost-Princess-Of-Wales/
Walking/Jogging down!
I reached the bottom station about 10 minutes before Michael and the train. I was uber thirsty so we both had a beer before walking the short distance to Llyn Padarn to see and photograph The Lone Tree. Llyn Padarn, a glacial-formed lake, is one of two in the village of Llanberis and is home to one of the most iconic sights in the national park. The lone tree stands on its own, jutted out into the lake on a mini island.
Here is The Lone Tree:
We walked back to our rental car and drove to our next destination. On the way to the car:
Portmeirion
This is what I’d read about Portmeirion from someone’s blog: “Step into a Mediterranean-inspired village nestled within Snowdonia. Portmeirion, designed by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, is a whimsical and colorful destination offering gardens, shops, and cafes against the stunning backdrop of the Welsh coast.”
That is all I knew about it, but the people we’d ridden up the mountain on the railway had just visited and said it was wonderful. That just confirmed that the plan to visit was a good one.
Because I hadn’t done any research about the place beyond what I shared above, I was surprised when we were told that there was an entrance fee. We paid it, and I don’t regret it. Here’s what I can tell you about it now:
Portmeirion is a hotel resort and popular visitor attraction. It is owned by a registered charity called Ymddiriedolaeth Clough Williams-Ellis Foundation. Portmeirion cannot be bought or sold, all its buildings have listed building status and the grounds are a designated Conservation Area.
Portmeirion was built to show how you could develop a naturally beautiful setting without spoiling it and that with sufficient skill and care architectural good manners can actually enhance the natural environment. I love this: “architectural good manners” 🙂
Okay, now we all know! 🙂 The village looks like a setting from a Disney movie. The grounds outside of the village are gorgeous!
We were both quite hungry and were glad to eat some excellent food at one of the village’s restaurants.
Then it was time for a walk on the grounds.
We circled back to the village – after getting a bit lost on the trails (ha!) – and visited another section of it, including Hercules.
It was time to leave Wales. 🙁 🙁 I hadn’t initially planned to include Wales in our UK/Ireland trip, but I am sure glad that I did!!
We said good-bye to our fabulous hotel with a nice view the morning of June 17th.
Liverpool, here we come! The main (pretty much the only) plan in Liverpool was to take the The Magical Mystery Tour then go to the world famous Cavern Club on Mathew Street.
Magical Mystery Tour time!
There were other sights as well, but the pictures aren’t interesting (a picture of a grade school, for example).
The tour ended near Mathew Street, so that was the next stop. At number 10 Mathew Street is the venue described as the “birthplace of the Beatles.” The Cavern Club started life as a jazz club in the 1950s before switching to a rock ‘n’ roll venue. After returning from Hamburg in 1931, the Beatles played their first of 292 shows at the Cavern Club. Sgt. Peppers is also there.
The Cavern Club has had many star attractions, not just the Beatles. Their walls are adorned by pictures of famous people and their accouterments. I got the impression that there is always live music there, but that could be wrong. There are two rooms with live musicians.
So what does one do when in the Cavern Club for a couple of hours? Have a couple of pints, listen to music, and buy a T-shirt!
We drove to York that same day. Check out the next post for info!