Ynysmaengwyn - A Spring Walk - Tywyn - Wales

From the late medieval period until the twentieth century, Ynysymaengwyn, situated about a mile from Tywyn beside the road to Bryn-crug, was the most powerful estate in the parish.

The estate was eventually gifted to the people of Tywyn sadly funds were unable to be found to fund the necessary repairs. The house was used for firefighting practice and army training and soon tragically had to be demolished, although a dovecote and a walled garden still survives. Ynysymaengwyn is now a Trust run by the trustees, with part of the land used as a caravan and camping park.

The history of Ynysymaengwyn is fascinating and I have included some links below if you are interested in reading more about the estate.  The purpose of my post today is not however to write up a potted history but to share with you photographs taken by me on a recent walk around the estate.

In doing so I hope to encourage those of you that are ever in this beautiful area to include Ynysymaengwyn in your explorations of the area.

I hope you enjoyed your virtual stroll around Ynysmaengwyn.  Photographs used are all my own, please ask if you wish to use any of them. I will be happy for you to do as long as you credit them to me LindyLouMac.

The following links may be informative if you are interested in reading more about the Ynysmaengwyn Estate in Tywyn. 

Wikipedia - Ynysmaengwyn    Ynysymaengwyn Camping, Caravan & Woodlands Park

Jellyfish - Tywyn - Wales

Some of the jellyfish that have been stranded on Tywyn beach recently have been enormous as you can see against my size 4/37 foot!

My regular followers will probably have noticed that I have not been blogging recently as I have been busy living my life.

As my heading says Life is an Adventure and I do not want to spend too much time in front of a computer.

However as I am still taking lots of photos, I do want to post sometimes as this is an online scrapbook of my travels, which is why I have incorporated my Photography Blog into this one.

I hope you will continue to enjoy my photographs which I will endeavour to post more often than I have been doing so recently.

With thanks for your continuing support.

Ynysymaengwyn - Snowdrop Time - Tywyn - Wales

On Sunday afternoon I took my camera on a walk to the local beauty spot of  Ynysymaengwyn as I wanted to photograph the last of the snowdrops.
From the late medieval period until the twentieth century, Ynysymaengwyn, situated roughly a mile from Tywyn by the road to Bryn-crug, was by far the most powerful estate in the parish. The family's wealth is revealed in official records and also in the Welsh poetry composed to its leading members.

The glorious beauty of the carpet of snowdrops are well worth seeing and lifts the spirit. Nature is wonderful.

You can find out more about Ynysymaengwyn  on the following websites.

Wikipedia    Ynysymaengwyn - Caravan and Camping Park   Facebook Page

Travel Tales - Blogging Break - Seasonal Greetings and Best Wishes For 2016

I am taking a break from blogging for the next few weeks, until after Twelfth Night. I will however continue to post as often as I can on my Instagram account.

I look forward to returning next year to share many more Travel Tales with you all. Thankyou so much to my followers here for your continuing support.

Wishing you all Seasonal Greetings and Very Best Wishes For 2016

Photos in this collage are all taken by me in Tywyn, Wales - Featuring The White Hall Hotel,  Wendy's News and the Tywyn Christmas Tree and Lights.

Race The Train 2015 - Tywyn - Wales

Yesterday was an important one in the social calender for Tywyn when the Rotary Club of Tywyn organise an annual major event.

Race The Train. This year was the thirty second Annual Race.


As you will have probably  realised from this post, I am back in Wales! Apologies all my good intentions of posting on a regular basis during the last six weeks whilst I have been travelling never materialised, One was as far as I got, it was not just a lack of time that thwarted my efforts but also that I just do not seem to get on well with the publishing programme that I have on my ipad. Before I go away again I will try and find one that maybe I can cope with.
Anyway I have lots of hopefully interesting posts and photos to share with you over the coming months, yes months I think it will take that long to catch up.

Race The Train 2013 - Tywyn - Wales

Yesterday, August 17th 2013 'Race The Train' in Tywyn celebrated its thirtieth year.  I thought the event deserved a post on Travel Tales as runners had travelled from far and wide to take part in this fun series of races against a steam train from theTalyllyn Railway.

Organised by Tywyn Rotary Club the race raises money for charity and this year it was for Action for Children a national charity that supports vulnerable and neglected children in communities across the UK. The original idea that local dentist Godfrey Worsey had for the race has gone from strength to strength, since that first event thirty years ago with just about 48 runners. This year the main race of 14 miles (23km) had a field of at least 1,000 runners, with a total number of entries overall for the day touching 1600 it was a record year for entries, a number which I think is pretty impressive.

The full race of 14 miles (23 km) is from Tywyn to Abergynolwyn and back. The course is mostly over public footpaths and local privately owned farmland, with the permission of the landowners, though the first and last sections are on public roads. 

Additionally, there are shorter races in the morning, as follows:

• Quarry Challenge - 6.2 miles (10.0 km) from Quarry Siding Halt to Tywyn.
• Dolgoch Challenge - 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from Dolgoch to Tywyn.
• Tynllwynhen Challenge - 3.5 miles (5.6 km) from Tynllwynhen Halt to Tywyn

A video of the start of the race can be viewed on the Love Tywyn - Facebook Page

As a newcomer to Tywyn it was great fun to be able to help at Race The Train yesterday. Unfortunately the weather did get progressively worse during the day and by the end of the afternoon everyone was absolutely drenched.

I would like to extend my Congratulations to everyone that took part. I was helping on the finish line and it was a real pleasure to meet all the amazing people. In the morning I was one of a team giving out the goody bags that every runner receives at the end of the race containing their souvenir t-shirts and medals for taking part. In the afternoon for the main event I was even closer to the finish giving out water and directing the runners to the collection point for their goody bags. I have great admiration for each and every one of those runners that crossed the finish line yesterday. Well Done.

As I was helping at the event I did not have much opportunity for photography! During my lunch break I did take a few general ones, including managing to catch the start of the main race. Also whipped my camera out to capture the first man home, I think I am correct in saying it was Andy Jones, full results and times if interested can be viewed on the Website - Race Results 2013 page.

I have shared a selection of the photos I managed to capture with the little Panasonic I had in my pocket, just to give you an idea of the atmosphere as generally rather disappointing. Plenty of great shots all over the web though if you follow some of the links listed below.

The start of the main race.

Activities for non- runners.

First man home  - Andy Jones - Crosses The Finish Line

Commemorative T-Shirts I was privileged to be given one to wear while helping at the event.

The Medal Received by the Runners

This link will take you to a   Video of Start of Race The Train 2013

                                          Map of Talyllyn railway courtesy of Wikipedia


With thanks to the following links for information contained in this post.

Tywyn Rotary Club - Facebook Page     Love Tywyn - Facebook Page    Wikipedia - Race the Train

Talyllyn Railway   Race The Train - Official Website

Entry for 'Race The Train ' 2014 is already open, details can be found here

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  

  Race The Train - Tywyn - 2013 at  My Flickr account.