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We were heading back into Wales again today and our first stop was near the town of Llangollen. An iconic site, the Pontcysylite Aqueduct on the Llangollen Canal was designed by Thomas Telford and carries the canal waters and boats on the Llangollen canal across the River Dee, high above it, 38 metres in fact at its highest point. Construction began in 1795 and it is still in operation today.
A narrow pedestrian path runs along the length of the aqueduct. We had arrived early and some of the “day trip” canal boats were gearing up but there was initially no activity so we set off along the path. As we got about half way we saw the first boat coming from the opposite direction. We stopped to watch it pass by – we could have probably walked across faster than it was going !.
Across and back, we then walked a path to the viewpoint of the side of the aqueduct – not a great view as the trees have obviously grown up over the years. When we arrived back at the visitor centre, the first crowds had arrived, there were a lot more canal boats arriving to queue to get across and there were a few getting lessons for their day hire adventures. By the time we left we were glad we had been early !
From here we drove toward the south to Harlech Castle. Edward I of England was pretty keen on making a presence in North Wales and this is one of four he built. It is on a rocky peak high above what would likely have been the ocean shore at the time and has stunning views across what is now the Snowdonia National Park. The castle itself is quite well preserved. We were able to walk up into the towers and along the battlements to take in the vast views on another sunny day. Afterwards, we had lunch in the visitor centre cafe – giving a Welsh Rarebit a try – three kinds of welsh cheese blended with local Welsh craft ale and spread over malted toast and grilled, a fancy cheese toastie!
Next on the list was the village of Portmeirion. It’s the most weird place. It took over 50 years to complete and is a bit of every colour, possibly a bit Disney-esque without the rides, with the buildings mainly Mediterranean style and the grounds include fountains, gardens and pools on a hillside overlooking the river estuary. There are two hotels and a number of other buildings which are available as self contained cottages – I have enough trouble getting all our luggage up two flights of stairs when there is no list and I can’t imagine what would be involved here !
The last part of our drive for the day included getting into Snowdonia National Park. The road climbs up and over Pen-Y-Pass which was spectacular – it reminded me somewhat of driving over Bealach na ba in Scotland however the weather ws much better on this drive.
We are in Llanberis for the night staying at the Royal Victoria Hotel. It goes back over 100 years when the Snowdon Mountain Railway came to the area. We had dinner in the bar then walked down to the nearby railway station where we were to board our steam train trip to the summit of Mt Snowdon tomorrow – should be fun !