Archive for 2013

North Wales 2013 – Wednesday – To Hell and back

Posted by on July 29th 2013 in Great Escapes, Summer Holidays
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Wednesday was set to be another roasting-hot day. Ready before the others as usual, I grabbed some time with the camera:

Carneddau

 

Siabod Holiday Cottages

Inside the cottage #1

Inside the cottage #2

 

Typhoon pic #1

Typhoon pic #2

Typhoon pic #3

It was a day for something, well, different (for us at least). Ella had been texting a friend and had discovered that said friend and his family were holidaying in Pwllheli, not a million miles away from us. We were due for a day at the seaside so I suggested a meet-up and we got an invitation in return - if we made our way to their caravan we could have a trip out on their boat. The kids were understandable excited at the prospect so we accepted and after several miles of proper driving and several more miles of detours due to roadworks we eventually found the site.

I was expecting a standard holiday-site rental-caravan and a dinghy, what we found was a plush residential static palace and a huge Chaparral, not dissimilar to this thing. We were duly impressed with the caravan, with the boat and with Ella's choice of friends! After intros and cuppas we hatched a cunning plan acceptable to all: the kids would go out on the boat with the other family, me and Chris would take our leave and do a mini-tour of some of the Lleyn Peninsula's beaches, later we'd meet at the caravan for a BBQ.

We waved goodbye to the kids and made for the beach north of Abersoch. The weather was scorching and I expected the sands to be alive with factor-50-lathered revellers but the beach was hardly populated at all -  I had forgotten that Leicestershire schools' summer holidays start a week earlier than most of the rest of the country. We spent a quiet hour or so catching some rays and having a paddle.

Towards Abersoch

 

Towards Llanbedrog

From there we drove to Pentowyn Dunes, parked up and spent some time on Porth Neigwl (Hell's Mouth) beach, not far from where Belly plays with and tests the hand-made cedar sea-kayaks that he designs and builds:

Towards Mynydd Gilan

Towards Mynydd Penarfynydd and Mynydd y Graig

 

Some stones

 Bird 1 #1

 Bird 1 #2

Closer to Mynydd y Graig

Bird 2 #1

Some more stones

Even more stones!

OK, it's getting a tad silly now

Bird 2 #2

After a stroll up and down the beach it was time to get back to the others to reclaim our kids. They'd been around the coast as far as we had and they'd really enjoyed their day. We had a great evening with BBQ food, beers (for the others) and chat while the kids went off to explore the shore:

The kids on Carreg yr Imbill (Gimblet Rock)

Eventually we had to thank our hosts, say our farewells and drive back to the cottage.

On the way, there was fanciful talk of getting a boat...

North Wales 2013 – Tuesday – The hill at the end of the garden

Posted by on July 26th 2013 in Great Escapes, Summer Holidays
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Tuesday. Forecast: dry, hot and sunny again. Early morning saw a fine inversion filling the valleys, usually a good sign in these parts. It was a day to get the boots on and visit an old friend.

Inversion below basecamp

 

A wider view

After a hearty breakfast we were off up the track that passes the cottages. Moel Siabod was looking good under blue skies and the occasional light cloud:

The track to Moel Siabod

At the first reservoir one of the subsidiary summits comes into view

 

At the first reservoir

 A bit further on

 Nearing the first quarry, a lone shapely conifer clings to a spoil-fan.
Could this be the celebrated Lonesome Pine?

First quarry

Angles and reflections

Plenty of derelict quarry buildings

Just past the quarry the Daear Ddu edge comes fully into view.
You can argue all you like but it isn't a ridge, if you don't believe me, look at the contours on the map.
And while I'm being pedantic, the geology maps/books say it's made of dolerite (diabase) but there's gabbro in there too.
Look, here's a bit that Ella brought home:

Gabbro.
For those not familiar with pre-decimalisation coinage, the 1907 penny included for scale is 1.22" (31mm) in diameter

Just over the rise there's a fine view of the lie of the land.
As an aside, dodgy photo-stitching seems to have doubled my quota of daughters  😯

Private beach at Llyn y Foel - a perfect place to stop for lunch, and the last water-source for several hours

 

Walkers on the ridge edge

This critter was busy collecting grubs and flies at the waterside.
It's some sort of Pipit but we can't decide which flavour - Tree, Rock or Meadow.
Any ideas?

Ella & Anna enjoying a break

Another of Anna's intriguing pics

On the way again after lunch

Proof that Aliens exist - Ella finds the remains of a dead facehugger

Llyn y Foel from Daear Ddu

Chris and Anna a bit further up the ridge edge

 

That's gabbro, that is. Note the characteristic weathered pitted/knobbly texture.
Child included for scale.

About half-way up

The view over to Dolwyddelan

Ella and Chris on one of the steeper bits

Anna and Ella nearing at the top of the Daear Ddu

The trig point on Carnedd Moel Siabod is right at the top of the Daear Ddu,
or a longish stone's throw away if you keep to the edge as we did.
Basically, to miss the top you'd have to be a special kind of idiot.

Pano from the top.
In theory it's possible to see 13 of the 14/15/16 Welsh 3000s on a clear day.

Ella and Anna triumphant on Moel Siabod's top-most rock

Subsidiary summits from the shelter

 

Tryfan through the heat-haze

Birds of a feather ...

... stuck together

The grass around the summit was studded with vivid Harebells

A look over the edge of the cwm

 Looking down the gully before the rise to the first subsidiary summit

 Looking back to the main summit

Another gully, the one between the two subsidiary summits

 Stitch that!

Rest & Rehydration on outcrops of distinctive rhyolitic tuff

 Awkward ground - too steep to walk down, not steep enough to go scree-sliding

Back on the main the track, Ella took a shine to this tree

Back at the cottage it was boots off, feet-up and rehydrate. Despite the mainly overcast skies after leaving the ridge, the temperatures had still been pushing 30C and there had been hardly any breeze, so we were fairly dried-out. After baths/showers and a cooked meal we crashed out where we sat. The cider helped, of course. It counts towards your 5-a-day, allegedly.

It's a classic walk which provides varied terrain, a superb scramble, a fine ridge-walk and a summit-view that is, arguably, the best in Wales. If you've not done it, do it. If you've already done it, do it again!

North Wales 2013 – Monday – Zip it, Shrimpy!

Posted by on July 24th 2013 in Celebrations, Great Escapes, My vids, Summer Holidays, Video (YouTube, Vimeo etc.)
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So, what do you arrange for a thrill-seeking girl's 18th-birthday treat? That's an easy one... you dress her up in red overalls, stick her in a harness and chuck her off the side of a mountain :mrgreen:

The venue for the day was Zip World near Bethesda. Here's the web-page blurb:

"Zip World has the longest zip line in Europe and is NOW OPEN at Penrhyn Quarry, Bethesda – “The Nearest Thing to Flying”!!

The Zip World site contains two specially constructed and spectacular zip lines, the first will take you down to the bottom of the quarry where you will pick up your specialised vehicle for a magnificent quarry tour, before zip lining back for a mile to the start.

You will be reaching speeds of up to 100 mph and you will be travelling 500ft above the mountain lake so be ready for a ride of a lifetime!"

Me and Chris took the quarry tour and stayed away from anything dangerous, Anna did the tour and the Little Zipper, Ella got the full works. I'll let the pics and captions tell the story. Don't forget to max the volume when playing the movie.

 

Folk on the Little Zipper

 

Little Zipper end-zone

 

Suiting-up

 

Suited and booted

 

Waiting for the safety lecture

 

Concentrating hard on not looking nervous

 

Up at the Little Zipper end-zone we could see the Big Zipper launch area

 

Zooming in on the Big Zipper launch area

 

The RAF provided a fly-by

 

Ella and Anna wired-up at the Little Zipper launch-pad

 

On the move

 

Approaching the fastest bit

 

Ella approaching the bungee-brake

 

Anna hitting the bungee-brake

 

Just hanging around

 

Happy Ella

 

Happy Anna

 

So alike and yet so different

Ella looking apprehensive up at the Big Zipper launch area

 

Still trying to keep it together

 

The launch pad. The end-zone is the light patch on the spoil-mound the other side of the quarry.

 

Penrhyn Quarry from the Big Zipper launch area

 

Busy at the top - a Beeb crew were there filming Davina Wave of CBBC's DNN fame

 

Anna playing it cool.
Every time I see this pic it reminds me of this.

 

Click here to see the video in fullscreen HD on Vimeo

 

After the truck-ride back down to meet Ella the omnivores in our party filled up with excellent cholesterol-burgers from the van down at the site office. Sadly, the party's veggie had to go without.

Verdict: Top day out. Highly recommended. Great burger-van.

North Wales 2013 – Sunday – Lazing in Llanberis

Posted by on July 23rd 2013 in Great Escapes, Summer Holidays
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Sunday was hot from the start. We weren't feeling sufficiently energetic for a mountain-walk and it was too hot for a beach-trip. We decided that we'd head for Llanberis for ice-creams and a trip on the Llanberis Lake Railway. The prospect of ice-cream was sufficient incentive for a cottage-evacuation and we were soon on the road, stopping only for a quick pic of Snowdon etc. from Llynnau Mymbyr:

Obligatory Snowdon pic

After much cursing about many inconsiderately-parked (and often apparently just dumped in the carriageway) cars around Pen-y-pass we hauled-up at the car-park near Dolbadarn Castle. After buying the rail tickets we scoffed sarnies on the station platform until the train arrived. Lots of pics were taken during the journey, Anna shared my camera and managed to take some intriguing images (I've credited her shots accordingly):

Mind the gap... twixt loco and carriages

The other Tryfan

Dolbadarn Castle below Derlwyn

 

Snowdon group beyond Llyn Padarn

 Shaken, not stirred
(Pic by Anna)

 The end really is nigh

Cliff and Shadows not singing "Summer Holiday"
(Pic by Anna)

Those Ents can't half shift when they're angry
(Pic by Anna)

A fine display of dodgy shorts
(Pic by Anna)

Totally barking

On track

Provisional driver

 

Techs-mechs

Footplate poser

Some of us were a tad more reserved

Going round the bend

After the train journey we made for the castle. The route over the river, through the trees and up the small hill was delightful:

A rise

A Brownie

Afon

Aligned. Mostly.

 

Dolbadarn Castle

Ditto

Fair enough

Peek-a-boo

Llyn Peris Power Station below Elidirs Fawr and Fach

Hole in the wall

We broke the journey back to the cottage with another short stop beside Llynnau Mymbyr:

Snowdon etc, again

Perched

Angled

 

We were back at the cottage quite early and weren't ready for a cooked meal. Me and Chris left the kids in front of the telly while we went for a short stroll around nearby Rhôs Quarry. The buildings have gone downhill (not literally) since I was last there (Summer 1983). I assume that the buildings' materials have been plundered recycled for restoration projects (such as the cottages in which we were staying), as there were few of the original roofing-slates left. Nevertheless it's still an interesting site with the quarry itself now hidden behind trees that weren't there 30 years ago:

 

More derelicts for restoration?

The old and the new. Progress isn't always good.

Angles

Rhôs Quarry

Ditto

Later that evening the skies above the cottage were interesting - despite the low-level calm, high-level winds were whisking and shearing clouds and contrails into fantastic shapes, and the darkening background went through many colours before setting on a deep blue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We turned in relatively early  - Monday was going to be interesting - we'd set up the final instalment of Ella's 18th birthday pressie :mrgreen:

North Wales 2013 – Friday/Saturday – The day we went to Bangor

Posted by on July 22nd 2013 in Great Escapes, Summer Holidays
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Given the task of finding a place to stay in Snowdonia looked like it was going to be a bit of an ordeal. The remit was: cottage, quiet, remote yet close to sufficient activities to keep the kids happy, close to some interesting mountain walks, within a couple of hours' drive of a beach, and fairly close to Bangor and Menai Bridge where Chris was a Maths undergrad.

In the end the task was a doddle. Choose a mountain (Moel Siabod), use Google to find a nearby cottage (Siabod Holiday Cottages near Pont Cyfyng), all sorted in ten minutes. I passed the details to Chris and let her do the rest.

Why Moel Siabod? Well, it's the best mountain in Wales, bar none. And I know it fairly well - I spent over eight weeks mapping it in the minutest detail for my B.Sc. Geology thesis.

Why Siabod Holiday Cottages? Apart from the fact that the price was right, it looked like the place had everything we'd ever need. Oh, and at about 850ft we'd have a significant altitude-advantage over the valley-starters when we got go up the mountain. We chose Ty Llewelyn, the middle one of three in a row that was derelict the last time I walked past. The recent restoration and renovation of these cottages has been done to a very high standard and the facilities and welcome were second to none. I'd recommend the cottages to anyone, the place is exceptional.

Rather than sit in a roasting car jammed in with all of the other holiday traffic on the A5 on Saturday, we chose to book an extra night and execute our getaway plan straight after school-time on Friday. It turned out to be a good idea, the traffic was light and driving in the evening was much better than braving the midday weekend sun. We were greeted by the owners on arrival, and soon we were installed after making inroads into the welcome-pack (tea, coffee, chocolate, Bara Brith, Welsh Cakes, cookies, shortcakes, sweets...) We had a chill-out night with much moderately-loud music, taking advantage of the fact that the other two cottages were unoccupied that night.

Saturday was hot and clear from the start. The others had a lie-in, I went outside for a mooch around the grounds and a play with the camera:

360+ pano: cottage-to-cottage via Carneddau and Llugwy

The same view in a temperamental scrolly-thing

The track to Moel Siabod

Hawthorn and Foxgloves

Foxgloves

 

A lonely cloud over Carnedd Llewelyn

 Dôl-gam campsite

 Between a rock and a hard place?

Standing stone

The cottages use renewable energy technology (but NOT wind-power!) Heat for underfloor heating, radiators and all of the hot water is generated by Air to Water Heat Pumps. I soon learned that standing in front of the units' exhaust fans was a good thing - the strong flow of heat-depleted air was better than any air-con unit.

When the others surfaced we decided to have a drive out to get some supplies. We headed off up the A5, stopping briefly to take in the views:

Tryfan. I told the kids that we would be going up the clearly-visible Heather Terrace. They weren't amused.

We pushed on through Bethesda and Bangor and over the Straits to Menai Bridge. After parking up we went for a snack followed by a stroll to Church Island's St. Tysilio's Church where Luke was christened:

St. Tysilio's Church

 

 

Up on the hill is the war-memorial from where there are fine views of the bridges and The Swellies:

Menai Suspension Bridge

 

Pont Britannia

Strong current in The Swellies

After doing a supermarket-sweep in Bangor we got back to the cottage just before sundown. After the evening meal it was camera-time again:

Carneddau evening

Moon and Moel Siabod

After that we retired in good cheer, mainly due to the lashings of cider that we'd brought back from Bangor  😎

Pin the tail #7

Posted by on July 20th 2013 in Great Escapes, Just for fun

Friday's pic:

 

Wildcamp walk-out - early-morning reflections in the Llyn.
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