Postman's Pass - Abergynolwyn - Wales

Yesterday afternoon here in Wales we had glorious autumnal sunshine, a perfect day for me to join a Tywyn based walking group for the first time.  The walk was a three and a half mile round trip that started from the centre of the nearby village of Abergynolwyn.  Abergynolwyn is located at the confluence of the Nant Gwernol and Afon Dysynni and it was following the course of the rivers that our walk along the 'Postman's Pass' took us.

Parking in the car park in the centre of the village, we then walked down to the river, passing the village pub, The Railway Inn, on our right, turning right off the main road before the bridge, passing cottages on your right, then taking the path on the left, as in my first photo.

Looking back to the cottages from path.

Having crossed the river follow the paving stones across the marshy field, at the top of the hill follow the track as it opens up into a bracken covered hillside. Following the track along the riverside, take great care as the banks down to the fast flowing river below are extremely steep, although the sure footed sheep seem to cope.

                     As you round a corner this next photo is of the picturesque view that greets you in all its glory.

A little further along the path you encounter a rocky outcrop with small iron rings embedded into the rock. Curious I stopped to take photos and was told by one of my walking companions that they were put there by local farmers to tether the cows whilst they were milked and fed.

                               One of the rocks has even been chiselled out to make a feeding trough for the cattle.

I could not resist taking some photos looking back towards Abergynolwyn through the eye of one of the iron rings. I do not suppose I am the first to do so, but I am pleased with the results. 

As the river begins to widen out there are some lovely wooded areas before the trail opens up to the next valley, eventually one come across a stone house with a wall that I just had to photograph.

A little beyond here cross over the stone bridge at Pont Ystumanner, turn right on to the narrow lane and walk to the crossroads. 

Pont Ystumanner above followed by two photos taken from the bridge.

                                                  It was here we came across some friendly shire horses.

At this crossroads we turned right and followed the signs for Abergynolwyn and Tal-y-llyn, heading towards the impressive farmhouse 'Caerberllan', as the footpath passes through the farmyard I took the opportunity to take a few photos of the house and its environs. love the steps that would have been used for mounting your horse!

Soon after leaving the farmyard and heading uphill again one encounters views of Castell y Bere a Welsh built castle constructed by Llywelyn the Great in the 1220s, intended to maintain his authority over the local people and to defend the south-west part of his princedom of Gwynedd. In 1282 war with Edward I of England the castle fell to English forces. Edward I expanded the castle further and established a small town beside it. In 1294 the Welsh leader Madoc ap Llywelyn mounted a major revolt and the castle was besieged and apparently burnt. Edward did not repair it and it became ruined, today it is a tourist attraction, worthy of a visit on another walk sometime I think. 

Having left the valley behind again the trail has now turned back towards Abergynolwyn and these views are now on the right hand side.

It is not long before the village once again comes into view in the distance, as one begins the descent. Finally crossing the river again, carry straight on along the road and you will find yourself back at the car park.

I hope my photos have enabled you to enjoy a virtual walk of the 'The Postman's Pass' 
NB: For larger view just click on individual photo.

For those planning a visit.
OS Grid Reference: SH 679070 ( approx start of walk - car park in centre of village)

The following website links may also be of interest. Also with thanks to these sources for information that helped me with compiling this post.

Tywyn Travel Guide  Tywyn  Abergynolwyn  Abergynolwyn Official Website  Castell y Bere


If you enjoyed this virtual walk you may also enjoy the blog post entitled The Cascade Trail

All photos are my own taken October 2013. 

  All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection 

The full set of photos may also be viewed individually in my album entitled  

Postman's Pass - Abergynolwyn - Wales at  My Flickr account.

Talyllyn Railway - Flower Train - August 13th 2013

Yesterday evening a friend and I took the Floral Train on the Talyllyn Railway from Tywyn to Abergynolwyn. This popular annual event which is organised in association with Tywyn Garden Club is an important and popular event on the club's calender. The members of the club had worked very hard in preparing for the event by making buttonholes for the passengers as well as decorating the train. We left Wharf Station, Neptune Road in Tywyn at 7.30pm enjoying the scenery of the Fathew Valley on the around an hour journey to Abergynolwyn.  A stop at Abergnolwyn of an hour with wonderful entertainment by Dyfi Male Voice Choir made this a very enjoyable evening. There were refreshments available and after the singing the raffle was drawn, before the train steamed home in the gathering dusk. It was soon dark but it was lovely to see the lights twinkling around the valley. We were back at the Wharf Station just before 10.30pm having had an evenings entertainment with a difference. 

Thanks to all those concerned with the success of this evening from the Talyllyn Railway and Tywyn Garden Club. 

The photos I have shared will I hope enable you to gain an idea of the camaraderie and atmosphere of the event. I also found a video from a couple of years ago of the choir rehearsing one of the songs they sang yesterday evening which I think you will agree gives you a good idea of the talent of this choir.

          Clicking on the individual photos will give you the opportunity to view them in a larger format.


A video of one of the weekly rehearsals of the Dyfi Male Voice Choir.

Video is courtesy ofgeology26

The following links may also be of interest if you are planning a visit to the Talyllyn Railway or are interested in learning more about this historic narrow gauge steam railway in the Welsh countryside.


Talyllyn Railway   Facebook Page - Talyllyn Railway  Talyllyn Railway - Wikipedia

All photos are my own taken in August 2013. 

  All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection 

The full set of photos may also be viewed individually in my album entitled  

  Talyllyn Railway Flower Train - August 13th 2013at  My Flickr account.

Cascade Trail - Abergynolwyn - Wales

It is time for me to start blogging again but no longer will News From Italy be my main platform for posts because as regular readers know my life has changed dramatically during the course of this year.  I know that David wanted me to continue blogging because when he was ill I told him that I was going to give up completely to spend all my time with him. He was in fact upset by this suggestion as he felt I enjoyed the virtual interaction with people from all over the world that shared our passion for Italy. He was right of course so I intend to try and make Travel Tales as successful as News From Italy had become because this was his wish. I think it will be hard at times as I still have lots of  posts to share from our travels together over the last year of his life.

However I hope that your support and encouragement will continue to motivate me. Easing myself in gently I will start with some of the lovely places I am discovering in the vicinity of my base here in Wales, starting today with a recent walk I took with my sister, The Cascade Trail.  We started our walk from Abergynolwyn village having driven there from Tywyn. Leaving the car in the car park by the Village Community Centre and Cafe we took the short steep walk up to the trail. It is also possible though to catch the train from the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn and join the trail from one of the stations as there is a Stations Link walk between Abergynolwyn and Nant Gwernol stations.

The trail follows a rocky river gorge with cascading waterfalls and beautiful woodland surroundings. The Cascade Trail is a short one ascending the valley close to the riverside, a longer route the Quarryman's trail takes one higher above the Tal-y-llyn valley to the ruined mine workings of Bryn Eglwys. No time for the longer walk this time so we instead took the bridge across the valley and descended the valley again via the old mine tramway, ruins of the mine's drumhouse and the station before making our way further down to the village again.

I hope my photos have enabled you to enjoy a virtual walk of the 'Cascade Trail' 
NB: For larger view just click on individual photo.

For those planning a visit.
OS Grid Reference: SH 681 067

The following website links may also be of interest:
Forestry Commission - Wales     Natural Resources - Wales

Snowdonia National Park   Talyllyn Railway

All photos are my own taken in July 2013. 

  All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection 

The full set of photos may also be viewed individually in my album entitled  

  Cascade Trail - Abergnowlyn at  My Flickr account.