WALES

MONTGOMERY, BALA AND DOLGELLAU

OCTOBER 2018

During this year's expedition I intended to revisit the happy hunting grounds of my youth and early career by visiting Snowdonia and Anglesey but calling on the way at three other places having special associations.

Near Montgomery

The nearest of these was near Montgomery where friends from University College days have lived for many years.

I started my mountaineering and climbing career as a teen-aged boy by cycle camping from Weston-super Mare to Llanberis in Snowdonia passing through the countryside I was now crossing so easily in a car and caravan. 

That enthusiasm was continued at University when I joined London  University College's Climbing Club and as a result first met Bill and Pam Towlson who married several years later.     

Bill was a leading member of the club and a far better climber so I was pleased frequently to be chosen as a partner during "Welsh Weekends" and New Year "Camps in the Barn" at Wastdale Head in the Lake District - not forgetting illicit routes up the buildings and dome of University College itself.

I had known Pam too in those days, not least for the notorious occasion when she and Rose (see Grandpa'sVoyages - Vanuatu and other posts) floated easily up Little Tryfan but had difficulty in the chimney on "Gashed Crag" leading to the three of us being ignominiously rescued in the dark by other members of the club - despite my vociferous protest that we'd prefer to remain where we were until daylight!

Bill and Pam's house has a huge garden but is situated in a narrow lane and I drove straight past it on a first approach.      That resulted in a tricky multi-point turn further up the lane that I could make only by unhitching the van and using the motor-mover.    

But Bill came up in his car and guided me into a mini-field at the bottom of their garden to which he ran a power cable thus providing me with a private campsite in which I could sleep in the van, run the fridge etc.

I very happily stayed with them for three or four days during which we went out for pub lunches and dinners, reminisced about the old days, and enjoyed a couple of local expeditions.

One of the latter was to Powys Castle near Welshpool in the Upper Severn Valley.        The valley is quite wide here and was used as a major route for invading Anglo-Norman armies, and no doubt for Welsh guerilla raids in the opposite direction, so it has many castles along its length.

Wales developed more or less independently of the Saxons and Danes after the Romans left Britain and evolved into three separate kingdoms - Dyfed in the South, Gwynedd in the North and West, and Powys in the centre and east, including a fair proportion of the land that became Mercia under Danish rule.  

So, Powys was a really important place in those days and the site of the present castle was fortified from an early date.    But, in the closing years of the 13th century the last King of Powys acknowledged Edward I of England as his overlord, renounced his kingly title and became the "Baron de la Pole" (a reference to the pool after which Welshpool is named).

The castle was captured by Parliamentary forces during the civil war but returned to its family owners during the Restoration and remained in their hands until it was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1952.

During the late 18th century the daughter of the Lord of Powys married the son of Clive of India who was said at the time to be the richest man in Europe as a consequence of all the loot he brought back from Plassey and his other battles.

Much of that cash was spent on improving and maintaining the Castle and Gardens and equipping it with famous paintings and Indian artefacts now displayed within.

Here is a photo of Bill and Pam enjoying refreshments in the courtyard with  the foot of the castle in the background.

Bala

Bala is notable for being at one end of Llyn Tegid which is the largest natural lake in Wales - other larger bodies of water being man-made reservoirs.

Northern End of Llyn Tegid

Looking North West 

Lake Vyrnwy is one of those and lies about 10 miles south east of Bala on the far side of the Berwyn mountains, a range of sparsely populated moorland rising to about 800 metres above sea level.

There are two minor roads traversing this range and the drive across them between Bala and Rhiwargor at the head of Lake Vyrnwy is interesting in fine weather - I wouldn't want to try towing a caravan along it in bad weather though as its very narrow with sharp hairpins and steep drops to one side - nor did I during this visit though the weather was fine.

A Valley in the Berwyn Range

Bala town is little more than a single street with buildings on each side but is conveniently located between Bettws-y-Coed to the north east and Dolgellau to the south west.

I remembered it principally as a place of screaming winds and horizontal rain experienced during a cycle-touring and Youth Hostel trip with my father in 1950 when I was fourteen years old.       

By 2018 there were obviously some changes but remarkably few in comparison with other Towns and Cities in the United Kingdom.

Dolgellau

Dollgellau was first established as a human settlement in the 12th century and lies near the head of the Mawddach Estuary that penetrates about 10 miles inland from Borth Sands and the seaside town of Barmouth on the West Coast.

In the 17th Century many inhabitants became Quakers and were so persecuted for their beliefs they emigrated to the United States under the leadership of Rowland Ellis, a local gentleman owner of a farm called Bryn Mawr.        Unsurprisingly they named the Pennsylvanian Town they founded after the farm and many years later the prestigious Ladies College established there took the same name and became the Alma Mater of many famous American women.

By the mid-1800s Dolgellau was the western terminus of a railway line via Llangollen connected to the rapidly expanding national network.

Railway Station and Private Toll Bridge at Penmaenpool

 In the second half of the century the line was extended along the southern shore of the Mawddach estuary which it crossed to Barmouth via a massive and still extant wooden bridge.

But in the 1960s the extension was closed during the "Beeching Cuts" and the route converted to a walking and cycling track known as the "Mawddach Trail" along which I naturally rode my own bike.


Here are some photos I took along the way.

Mud Flats in the Mawddach

Extensive Salt Marshes

Moel Cynwch across the Estuary

Barmouth Town and Harbour