A relatively gentle 8 mile trek on the Cambrian way with images inspired by David Nash and on which ice cream was consumed.

Date walked:  June 25th 2022

Distance: About 8 miles

Maps used:  OS Explorer OL 17 Snowdon (or Yr Wyddfa as a new campaign would have us exclusively name it)

Guide used: Walking the Cambrian Way by George Todd and Richard Tyler (Cicerone Press)

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Paul and I got back to our Air BnB last night with just enough time to change (unwashed) and to drive down to Y Pengwern – a community owned pub at Llan Ffestiniog (if this was England it would be known as The Penguin). A large a friendly place, the beer was fine but  we weren’t too impressed by our food so resolved tonight to drop further down the valley to eat at The Grapes at Maentwrog – a place I have stayed in and eaten at several times.

It felt a little odd to be doing this walk after our strenuous leg yesterday but on reflection it made sense as it was far easier terrain for our tired legs; the forecast was for heavy showers, too. But first we had to drive back to Plas Gwynant, leave a car there and then drive to the Cnicht Car Park, passing Plas Brondanw garden – a place I loved when I first visited and photographed for The English Garden Magazine 20 years ago but which has suffered from much “improvement” since.

20 year old detail of a gate in the garden with Cnicht in the background

From the (free!) car park we crossed a footbridge over the stream and made our way up the road of the little hamlet of Croesor.

Thanks to Paul for this pic – as you can see I’m dressed for rain

The road reaches the brow of the hill and then drops down to a rough stone track which we took, passing through a lovely little wood with moss covered boulders.

Someone had dropped  what seemed like a perfectly serviceable waterproof here which someone else had clearly laid out carefully.

I’m a great scavenger of dropped items on paths but to my credit I didn’t even check the pockets.

At the far side of the wood we joined the Cambrian Way as the path comes down from Cnicht and heads towards Beddgelert.

It was rocky and undulating countryside, quite wet underfoot and covered in thick bracken and reedy grasses.

Looking towards the Lleyn peninsular

Underfoot the path was sometimes grassy, sometimes gravelly and often slippery.

I think Paul took a minor tumble quite early on

It was a complete contrast to yesterdays rocky clamber, though, and I think both of us were grateful for that.

After a couple of miles of this bumpy landscape we reached a road at Bwlchgwernog and road-walked through the woods for the next mile or so. Yesterdays glimpse of David Nash‘s studio must have lodged his aesthetic in our minds as we both thought of his work when we passed this fallen branch.

Paul’s pic of David Nash’s studio – see what I mean (piece on the right)?

As road walking goes this was pretty pleasant, though Paul made heavy weather of it.

A pair of boots on a wall had us wondering if there was another artist at work in the area.

OK that’s not true but this was a bit weird

The wood continued to provide all sorts of visual stimuli  as we passed a see-through tree……

…..another Nash inspired composition…

… and a fine Pennywort-topped slate wall.

Entering the village of Nantmor, the chapel still seemed yet to be re-purposed.

The village/hamlet boasts a station of the Welsh Highland Railway which we crossed before briefly joining the A4085.

Just before we joined the main road we encountered a group of girls/young women trudging up the hill with huge backpacks. I made some friendly/witty remark at which Paul reckoned they would think that I was a sad perv; at least I didn’t take a picture. After 100 yards on the main road we left it to go through the Pass of Aberglaslyn car park.

It seems from this photo that Paul was struck dumb by this event

A little scramble through the woods brought us to the River Glaslyn. Those who have been closely following this blog will know that I had been here 9 years earlier with Bob (what, no one remembers!). Here’s a link (you’ll need to scroll to get to the river section).

The path follows this wild, boulder strewn river for the next mile and is very popular but you need to keep your eyes firmly on the path as it is very uneven.

As it nears Beddgelert the river quietens and is crossed by the Welsh Highland Railway.

From here the level footpath goes to Beddgelert (we forgot to cross the river to visit Gelerts Grave  which  apparently  is the grave of a dog called Gelert  and the story seems to be a lot of nonsense designed to drive up the  tourist trade).

I like Beddgelert a lot and so do lots of other people. It was the prefect place to stop and have an ice cream…..

Appalling pic by Paul

… which we followed with a pot of tea. The route out of the village follows a riverside path for a bit…

… and then takes a quiet little lane …..

… which is the access road if you were to visit the Sygun Copper Mine. I haven’t done this so can’t comment on its merits.

Below the mine we watched a bald-headed man deprive his child of the play swing.

The footpath continues to follow the river (at some distance) …

… until it reaches Llyn Dinas.

A very pleasant walk which frustratingly does not follow the lake shore….

….brings you to a property called Lindy Isaf where I persuaded an elaborately horned sheep to pose.

From here our path crossed the river….

… and ran next to the A498 for a couple of hundred yards….

Refreshment opportunity

… to reach the car park. Huzzah!

Very sadly, less than a month after this Paul suffered a bad heart attack requiring emergency surgery and the fitting of two stents. I found this difficult to take in as you will have seen over many many walks how Paul races up the hills relative to me and whilst I climb panting like a dog, Paul hardly ever gets out of breath. Its a bit devastating really. He is recovering but for obvious reasons we will need to modify our walking aspirations for a while.