All the toys were out this weekend for the Ffestiniog Railway’s vintage festival. Much of Wales was mourning the World Cup loss to France but brightly coloured steam trains can be good therapy. Here are some of my favourite bits:
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Sunday, 2 October 2011
October in Costa del Stiniog
Winter might be round the corner but the strawberries have been conned into a second crop. Nasturtiums sprouting everywhere and bees legs are jam-packed with pollen. A bottle of San Miguel and a passing steam train on Campbell’s Platform – what more could one ask for?
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Trolls Houses in the Celtic Rainforest
As the equinox approaches summer rains drift into autumn rains ... those springtime fires in the tinder dry undergrowth seem years ago. But it does get very atmospheric in the misty Celtic Rainforest especially when the sun warms the sodden ground. If the showers get too much you can always shelter in a Troll’s House.
Friday, 19 August 2011
Vale of Ffestiniog to top of Snowdon and back
From Plas y Dduallt to the top of Snowdon seemed quite achievable and on 24th July 2011 the conditions were just right. Off we set with provisions and the GPS zeroised. I’d estimated 1 hour to Stwlan, 1 hour to Llyn Adar and a further hour to the start of the Watkin Path. Each leg was under-estimated and it took almost 3.5 hours to cover those 8.8 miles.
Despite being a fine and sunny Sunday at the start of school holidays the path was quiet. A few bathers splashing in the turquoise crystal pools above Hafod y Llan. The view across Llyn Llydaw was superb. For the first time in several years I approached the top free of cloud – on previous occasions it had been a scramble steeply through the mist but this time I was able to follow the more gentle angle to the ridge then turn right to the summit.
French, Welsh, English, German, walkers, train passengers, all shapes, sizes and ages... it was really cosmopolitan and busy, busy. By the time I squeezed my way onto the compass at the top it had been 5 hours and 51 minutes since leaving home 13.2 miles away and an estimated 1,600m altitude gain.
A drink and some jelly babies before descending the ridge overlooking the Watkin Path towards Y Garn then into Caffi Gwynant (brilliant community cafe) for ice lolly and ‘Powerade’. Heavy legs plodded up the narrow lane then through meadows alongside streams to Llyn Llagi and up to the plateau between Snowdon and home.
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| Evening sunshine Cwmorthin |
Kayaking Borth y Gest to Maentwrog
Launching from the slippery mud of Borth y Gest we paddled in a wide arc around the receding sandbanks on the corner to Portmeirion. Probably following in the wake of ferrymen from before the Cob (1811) and Pont Briwet (1860). Upstream, with Ynys Giftan on our right and Portmeirion to the left, but where had the Dwyryd gone? It looked as though we could have walked the whole way across without wetting our feet.
Setting off 2 hours and 45 minutes before high tide (based on 8.6m high water at Liverpool) was a good hour too early. We bobbed in the shallows being slowly nudged up the estuary. Had we missed a channel? A couple of times we dragged our kayaks, leaving furrows in the soft sand, to intercept newly formed channels. Fish were wriggling in the shadows, their backs breaking the water – were they sea bass?
Salt marsh sheep graze the retreating shoreline. To our left the Gwaith Powdwr nature reserve with the settling shed looking down on us. Reconstructed after an explosion in 1988 in which two people were killed. A little further on to Tyddyn Isaf, the largest of the slate quays, completed in 1828 at a cost of £289. At either end are 2 magazines for storing incoming black powder.
By now it was high tide at Borth y Gest with perfect paddling conditions up the river, smooth and mirror like. More slate quays and up the S bend scenically crafted by the Oakeleys to improve the view from Plas Tan y Bwlch. Towards the mouth of the Llenerch, which flows down from the lake at Trawsfynydd, paddling suddenly got harder as we battled the surge of water released to generate electricity.
Himalayan Balsam and Japanese Knotweed galore. Is this going to be with us forever? Occasional jumping fish. Dragonfly. Family of young ducks. Squadron of swallows above. Couple of ponies. By the time Maentwrog church came into view the tide was definitely not helping us with the last couple of hundred metres a hard paddle over shallow fast flowing waters until a bit exhausted we pulled out the kayaks at the bridge.
11.7 miles, 4 hours and 24 minutes after setting off from Borth y Gest. Next time we’ll probably go downstream on a spring tide.
Saturday, 23 July 2011
Double Hunslet and Gravity Train
There’s never a dull moment on the Ffestiniog Railway. Today, 23rd July, we saw Linda and Blanche, fresh from the Boston Lodge paint shop, in lined FR Green livery. This is the first time the two ‘ladies’, which date from 1893, have appeared together in pristine matching livery. As if that wasn’t enough excitement for one day we were treated to an exceptionally long gravity train!
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Official opening of The Pengwern
Friday, July the 8th, sees the official reopening of The Pengwern in Llan Ffestiniog.
After the Pengwern Arms Hotel closed its doors, in February 2009, Pengwern Cymunedol was set up as a community enterprise to buy, reopen and develop the pub and hotel. Since the end of March 2011 the community owns and runs The Pengwern. A large number of volunteers have worked to renovate and improve parts of the building so that by now the pub and function room have been reopened.
The programme for the evening will start shortly after 6.00pm. The local Welsh Assembly Member, Dafydd Elis Thomas, will perform the opening ceremony at around 7.00pm. Representatives will be present from Gwynedd and Ffestiniog councils and from other agencies which have been supportive of the venture as well as local shareholders, volunteers and supporters of Pengwern Cymunedol.
A variety of local talents will perform during the evening followed by a jamming session with local musicians.
For further details about the Pengwern social enterprise see the Pengwern Cymunedol Information Sheet.
CONTACT Sel Williams sel@bangor.ac.uk Ffôn: 0776 049 0081
Y Pengwern, Sgwar yr Eglwys, Llan Ffestiniog, Gwynedd. LL41 4PB
E mail: pengwerncymunedol@googlemail.com
Website: www.pengwerncymunedol.btik.com
Pub Website: www.pengwern.org.uk
Pengwern Tel: 01766 762200
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