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.

Barmouth on a Sunny Sunday

Barmouth is on the west coast of North Wales and lying between a mountain range and the sea on the mouth of the river Mawddach it is a beautiful location. Resting just within the south west corner of Snowdonia National Park it is seeped in a history rich with connections to the shipping and slate industries.

View across the Estuary from Toll Bridge.

On a sunny Sunday back in July, the 14th, to be exact I went to Barmouth with my sister and brother-in-law. It was the weekend of the Barmouth Paddle and Kite Festival so knowing in advance that it was going to be extremely busy and therefore very difficult to park, we decided to walk across the Toll Bridge that spans Barmouth Estuary and has spectacular views.

Views of Barmouth from the Toll Bridge.

There was a great deal of activity going on in Barmouth that day as the following photos will show. The Paddle Sports and Kite Festivals seemed to be very popular. I have included a link to the Rotary Club web page at the end of the post if you are interested in finding out more about this event.

Barmouth has many quaint and delightful corners to explore and this visit we mainly spent our time in the area around the harbour, then a walk along the promenade to see the kites, before cutting back through the town to return across the bridge. A town steeped in history I will certainly be back to explore further another time.

Harbour-side Sculpture by local sculptor Frank Cocksey

Ty Gwyn Museum

The first record of Barmouth as a small port on the Welsh Coast was in 1565 in a survey commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I. During the 18C and 19C it was a major shipbuilding centre within Wales.  The Ty Gwyn  now a museum was built in 1460 and contains many interesting artefacts, including those found in The Bronze Bell Wreck which was discovered by local sub-aqua club members just off the coast in the summer of 1978. It is thought the ship sunk whilst carrying a cargo of Carrara marble from Genoa. The sculpture shown above is carved from marble found in the wreckage and depicts three generations of fishermen hauling in their catch. Situated just behind the Ty Gwyn is Ty Crwn, The Round House which was built as a jail, one half for women, the other for men.

    Ty Crwn, The Round House Jail

The next group of photos were taken in the Harbour area, which was busy with people enjoying the sunshine.

Our stroll around Barmouth then took us along the promenade where Barmouth Kite Festival was taking place.

Video courtesy of YouTubedsr150

Heading away from the beach we cut back through the town where I took a few random shots as we headed back to the Toll Bridge.

I hope you have enjoyed sharing our stroll around Barmouth, a town well worth a visit if you ever visit Wales.

Please note that as I have included rather a lot of photos in this post, I have not posted the largest size. To view in a larger format, just click on any photo for a slide show to enjoy a better view.  The full album of photos I took that day can be viewed on my Flickr Account in the Album entitled  Barmouth on a Sunny Sunday

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

Barmouth Wales    Welcome to Barmouth   Paddle Wales  The Bronze Bell Wreck  Barmouth Kite Festival

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  

  Barmouth on a Sunny Sunday at  My Flickr account.

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.