Saturday 18 November 2006
We were on the way at 8.15am. The sun was actually peeping through. We have decided that November is definitely not the time to travel in Great Britain. It was 46º Fahrenheit and overcast.
For the first time Dick had to turn on the main engine in the morning to recharge the campervan batteries. Possibly this was because of the cold weather, and we had left the inverter on all night to charge Pip’s camera – not that the camera would take much current, but the inverter probably has a standing current which uses up the power.
No doubt everyone would like to know where the name Betws-y-Coed came from. It’s actually pronounced “betoos-y-koyd” and it means “Chapel in the Wood.” It is sort of like the Welsh version of Katoomba, except instead of being on a mountain ridge; Betws-y-Coed is in a valley. It is only 12 miles from Mount Snowdon and it is sort of the headquarters town for the Snowdonia National Park.
We headed south towards Blaenau Ffestiniog. Dick, being the train enthusiast he is, wanted to see the famous light railway.
On the way, we passed Dolwyddelan Castle. This is close to where the standard railway line goes under the mountain range.
As we passed over the mountain range (which extends from Mount Snowdon, down the valley towards the coast) we came across the town. It consists of a huge open cut of slate. If you could call it ‘open cut’ – it was more like just cutting out the side of the valley. In fact, it looks as if you drive through a huge slate quarry.
This town was the centre of the slate mining industry of North Wales, and during the 19th century the town was responsible for roofing much of England. It goes to say that all of the buildings are roofed with slate. There is much rubble around, because 9 tons of rubble remained for every ton of decent slate that could be used on roofs.
We drove into the town and stopped at the main railway station for the railway line. There is a magnificent narrow gauge line that runs to the coast at Porthmadog. It is world famous. Originally the trains would run to the coast by gravity, with the slate on board, so the slate could be shipped all around the United Kingdom. Nowadays it is a tourist railway but we were out of luck. It runs up to 8 times daily, but just between Easter and October.
We parked the Earthroamer in a car park at the railway station and went for a quick walk. We say “quick” because it was absolutely freezing – yes, windy too. The vehicle thermometer said it was 41º Fahrenheit, but with the 20 to 30 knot wind the chill factor would have been well below freezing.
This area is quite a contrast to the rest of Wales, which is beautifully green and pristine. Just to the south, hidden behind some hills (but with the condensation clearly apparent) was the huge Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station. No doubt it has been operating for decades. Some people don’t like nuclear, but imagine having a coal power station in this area – even worse!
We left the railway station and headed to the west, following the road to the ocean.
We passed quaint houses and picturesque farms in Rhyd Ddu.
We stopped at the termination of the railway line – shortly after the line had crossed a long causeway in the harbour at Porthmadog.
Rather than following the A47 (the good highway through to Caernarfon), we decided to drive through the pass of Aberglasslyn – as Dick reckoned there was another railway line that covered this route. Sure enough, as we reached the top of the pass we could see the tracks. Once again, they were narrow gauge.
We dropped down to the north west until we ended up driving right to Caernarfon Castle. The Prince of Wales did not seem to be in attendance. We were following the Welsh Highland Railway to this point.
We turned to the east and drove up the magnificent Llanberis valley to Llanberis. This is a quaint town. It is described this way by Lonely Planet:
“Cheerful LLanberis is the base town for Mount Snowdon and a magnet for all manner of climbers and walkers, from alpinists to day-trippers. The Snowdon Mountain Railway starts its puffing ascent here, and the two town lakes Llyn Padarn and Llyn Peris provide water sports and country walks.”
Not today of course – even the steam trains were not operating – it was too cold.
We parked the Earthroamer and wandered through the town. We bought lunch at the Visitors’ Centre, which is also the headquarters for a display on the “Electric Mountain”, an underground hydro-electric power station.
The famous rack and pinion railway, which goes to the top of Mount Snowdon, was not operating. It has been going since 1896 and takes a 5 mile, one hour, 900 metre climb to the summit. Dick was disappointed that the train wasn’t going because he had climbed Mount Snowdon in 1966. We looked up to the top and could see that the summit was in cloud and snow – so we decided to keep driving!
We drove to the top of the pass on the way to Capel Curig – what quaint names. At the pass itself we tried to park in the parking area, but it was completely chock-a-block with cars – obviously all walkers and climbers. What hardy souls! It was absolutely freezing, and now starting to snow. However the scenery was magnificent.
We dropped down to Capel Curig, the home of one of the top climbers’ hotels. Famous climbers have stopped to drink at the bar at the Bryn Tyrch Hotel – everyone from Ed Hillary to Greg Mortimer.
Just past Capel Curig were the beautiful Swallow Falls. In Australia you would simply stop there, walk down and have a look at the falls – but not in North Wales. We walked down the beautiful track and were suddenly affronted with a huge steel fence, a steel turntable, and a coin slot machine! We had to pay £1 each (i.e. about AUD $2.50) to go through the gate, walk another 100 metres and actually see the falls.
We were soon through Betws-y-Coed again, and then headed north towards the ocean. The sun was out at last, shining on beautiful farms and sheep. Obviously the farmers must be subsidised or protected in some way, as there is no way they could compete with the large properties in other countries such as the USA and Australia.
We pulled off the road and had lunch in the sun.
We got going again at 1.45pm. Ahead was a beautiful rainbow. We then turned to the east on the A55 towards Chester and Liverpool. Dick had planned to see Danny Fyne, the operator of the Professional Pilots Rumour Network, and he had said that he would be near Liverpool in the evening.
At 2.45pm there was glorious sunshine at last. We drove back into England on the M56. A quick arrangement was made with Danny Fyne and his wife, to meet at the Marriott Hotel at the old Liverpool Airport. In the old days, this would have been almost impossible to find, but now there are no problems. We keyed the address into the GPS and it took us right to the door.
After a friendly chat and a few cups of coffee we were on our way again – not too far, just to the large shopping centre. Pip went to Marks and Spencer for bread and milk, and Dick purchased a file so the toilet door would close. It appears that the door had warped somehow on the way across the Atlantic.
We decided we would stay the night in the shopping centre car park, but at about 8.30pm a man came along and said he was locking the car park. He didn’t actually say we couldn’t stay there, but we decided to drive on as we were keen to see the Anderton Boat Lift. This is a device which uses hydraulics to vertically lift canal boats from one canal to the other. We keyed the details of the Anderton Boat Lift into the GPS, and at night, in pitch darkness, we drove the 45 minutes or so (via the M56 and the A49) to the entrance. Remember, Dick is still driving a left hand drive vehicle on the left hand side of the road – not too easy.
283kms Today 14,247kms Total
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