Where We Walked #Nantmor to Beddgelert via Bryn Ddu #Wales #walks #climbs #photographs #nostiles #holidays – Part One

Posted on by

‘It’s the longest walk we’ll do,’ said the Photographer, ‘But it’s such a glorious day, and we’ll get some gorgeous views. Better take the walking poles as well.’

I know. I know… ‘walking poles’ should have been the clue!

It was a gentle, if somewhat a rocky start to the walk through the woods.

And then the Afon Glaslyn (Glaslyn River) came into view. ‘We come back to here along the river bank,’ the Photographer said.

‘Oh, lovely, said I!’ And meant it… then

We went through the kissing gate, over the road bridge, turned left on the road, until we saw a National Trust sign for Coed Aberglaslyn (Aberglaslyn Trees) and followed the footpath towards the stream.

So far so good. “Follow the waymarkers up through the woods”. But the waymarkers had long since disappeared. And here I need to say, the following was completely my fault. “Follow the path to the stream”, the directions read. So I did. But you would think, after all these years, the Photographer would know I have no sense of direction.

And here is the stream.

“Turn right,” the directions read. Across the stream? Which was flowing fast and deep. We read, and re-read the directions. We searched for a path.

For half an hour.

Suddenly we were joined by a couple. ‘We have the O.S.map on our mobiles,’ the man announced. ‘We know the way. You can follow us.’

So we did…

For almost an hour we followed them, clambering over boulders, up along boggy paths (sheep trails, they turned out to be), splashed through water, until we reached the top of the hill. To discover it wasn’t the top of the hill. Whereupon the woman turned to us and cheerfully said, ‘We’re not very good at orienteering. I think we’ve gone wrong.’

We went our separate ways. We slipped, negotiated the boulders, slithered through mud, back to the stream. And then back to the bridge. And there we found a waymarker – hanging off a post, pointing to the ground. We looked around – and there, going up through the wood were long narrow indents in the ground… steps!! Of a sort.

‘It says in the directions there should be a stile at the top. Chance it?’ the Photographer asked. ‘Or would you rather give up?’

A stile!! But his words sounded suspiciously like a challenge. I’ve never been able to resist a challenge…

We tackled the way up the hill, winding through the trees. It turned out there were just over a hundred of the so-called steps, which necessitated hanging onto trees and hauling ourselves up branch by branch – or hauling one another up – in places. We had lots of stops for breath. And we needed those walking poles.

Until we were actually on Bryn Ddu. The halfway point to Beddgelert. Finally we were on the right track.

We stopped for a few photographs.

Before setting off again to search out the base of a tower, built on a prominent outcrop at a viewpoint overlooking Aberglaslyn Pass. The whole structure is built on a stone plinth which forms a narrow terrace around the tower. Thought to be a wartime lookout post.

From the lookout point we could see Beddgelert … in the distance. And the narrow trail winding its way down the hill. We stopped for much needed refreshments, and to catch our breath before tackling the next half of the walk.

To be continued…

Discover more from Judith Barrow

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

30 thoughts on “Where We Walked #Nantmor to Beddgelert via Bryn Ddu #Wales #walks #climbs #photographs #nostiles #holidays – Part One”

    • I was so glad of the chance to breathe whenever David stopped for a photo-shoot, Barb. We were actually about a third of the way round at this point… I had wobbly legs!!😄 And we met that couple again on the last part of the walk. They had three very tired dogs with them… they’d got lost twice more – so goodness knows how far they had walked.🙄😊x

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

  5. The next half? Surely you jest. I would have given up at the stream, even with poles.

    The last time we followed a couple, it was on the slopes of Mt. Pilatus in Switzerland. They were mountain goats and we lost them after a while, not that I was complaining.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • Mountain goats, Noelle?! If you followed them I am full of admiration, seeing how nimble they are. This is actually the first third of the walk – we were out for around nine hours that day. I was a little bow-legged when we got back to the cottage. 😄 Thank you so much for dropping by, I always appreciate it. And perhaps your next visit to the UK witll be in Wales? You will be very welcome if you manage to get to Pembrokeshire. 😊

      Like

      Reply ↓

    • I think ‘stubborness’ is more likely to be the real reason I plod on, Rosie. That and the fact that we decided we wanted to take more holidays in the UK, whatever the weather – and see, and do as much as we can… while we can. lol 😊

      Like

      Reply ↓

    • Thanks, Terry. 😘It was a glorious day, so we needed to take advantage of the weather. Not that I knew we’d be walking most of the next nine hours! Fortitude? Not sure, but thanks again. It wasn’t the word I was thinking of when we hauled one another up that mountain. 🤣

      Like

      Reply ↓

    • We do, Hugh, you are right. I often, think, that. IAnd it was one of the hardest walks we did. We did see sheep – I just presumed it was their trails as they scattered before we were anywhere near them. I doubt, the terraine we were on during that hour we blissfully followed the couple was somewhere many humans scrambled over. LOL

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

Leave a reply to Judith Barrow Cancel reply