A Glimpse Of Wales

Our official summer holidays begin this week with our first meander over the Scottish border.

With excitement not experienced since childhood we wake up to the tune of a youthful Cliff Richard’s ‘Summer Holiday’. Imagine if you can, two grown adults dancing to the strains of Sir Cliffs’ cheesy anthem at 6am and you have a near vision of the surreal episode that Emma’s near neighbours are encountering as we prepare for our expedition to Wales and Eric’s quest to ‘Race the Train’. It should be mentioned at this point that the train in question is not an ‘Inter City’ but a more sedate method of locomotion which still prevails in Wales, the narrow gauge steam loco.

Setting off early to avoid the morning Glasgow rush hour we make great speed and reach our first port of call; Portmeirion, North Wales in 6 hours.
Portmeirion is an Italianate resort village in Gwynedd, on the coast of Snowdonia in Wales. The village is located in the community of Penrhyndeudraeth, on the estuary of the River Dwyryd, 2 miles south east of Porthmadog. Portmeirion has served as a location for several films and television shows, most famously serving as The Village in The Prisoner.

Built as a tribute to the atmosphere of the Mediterranean by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis the design of the village resembles the Italian resort of Portofino. Taking 50 years to construct Williams-Ellis constructed the village between 1925 and 1975. He incorporated fragments of demolished buildings, including works by a number of other architects. Portmeirion's architectural bricolage and deliberately fanciful nostalgia have been noted as an influence on the development of postmodernism in architecture in the late twentieth century.

The obvious Italian/Roman/European architecture and the many oddities which abound on every corner radiates an eerie feel as the human mind convulses with mixed signals as it struggles to compute the knowledge of being on a Welsh estuary whilst being surrounded by extreme foreign influences.

The village, estuary and adjoining gardens prove to be photographic manna from heaven despite the overcast conditions but sadly we have to cut or visit short and move on down the coast to our weekender stopover at the seaside resort of Barmouth.

In Barmouth, we find the quintessential seaside resort, backed by jagged crags, fronted by ash-blonde sands and bordered by the dramatic Mawddach estuary. Like so many Victorian seaside resorts Barmouth has been sadly neglected over the past thirty years or so as it has failed to move on with the times. Still in situ exist the prehistoric amusement arcades and tacky gift shops with their double-entendre post cards and humour that should have passed away with the death of Benny Hill and the tedious ‘Carry On’ ensemble.Sadly in the modern time, these resorts are now used as a haven for waifs, strays and runaways and are best avoided because of there presence. Also the proliferation of: the stag night, the hen night, the pub day out, all hell-bent on consuming as much alcohol as possible with little consideration given for others make these once family friendly resorts a place to avoid if a quiet drink in good company is your prime consideration.

Our guest house which lies on the outskirts of town and slightly beyond the drunken hordes is fancifully titled ‘Harbour View’, admittedly the premises does possess an impressive vista of the harbour and the renowned single-track wooden railway viaduct that crosses the estuary but sadly we are placed in a room that overlooks a neighbors back door. Otherwise the house is in good condition and the landlady of a type which makes the British seaside resort famous/infamous.

Following a hearty Welsh breakfast the next morning we board a local train which takes us over the impressive Barmouth Bridge and along the scenic Cardigan Bay to the race start point at Tywyn.

Race the Train takes place alongside as far as practicable the route taken by the Talyllyn Railway on its journey to Abergynolwyn and back. In order to do this the course uses a mixture of public roads, lanes, un-metalled roads, tracks, agricultural land, and rough grazing pastures. The terrain varies all the time and is very wet & muddy in places; the route also ascends and descends quite steep terrain and runs on narrow footpaths with little chance of overtaking. On the plus side, the course does offer the chance for the viewing public who have boarded the train the chance to catch the runners at various vantage points along the hazardous route. Studded footwear is a prime consideration for this race; subsequently the well worn studs on Eric’s old gutties prove to be less than adequate for the task as he skates around the muddy course in a gingerly fashion, eventually completing the 15 miles in a painfully slow, 2 hours and 14 minutes.

On returning to Barmouth we dine in a plastic Thai restaurant which serves us an instantly forgettable meal but fortunately the night is redeemed when we find the pub next door to our B&B: ‘The Last Inn’ offers a friendly ambience in unusual surroundings exampled by a unique well where the mountain at the side of the establishment forms part of the pub wall and where fresh spring water forms a pond within the pub itself.

After a brisk walk along Barmouths endless beach the next morning to walk off the fried breakfast we head north along the Cardigan coast to Caernarfon which is dominated by its majestic castle. The castle's majestic persona is no architectural accident: it was designed to echo the walls of Constantinople, the imperial power of Rome and the dream castle, 'the fairest that ever man saw', of Welsh myth and legend. The location of the town creates a lovely view across the Afon Menai towards the south of Anglesey and we spend a couple of hours there soaking up its rich history and stunning backdrop before moving on to Snowdon the highest mountain in Wales.

Described ‘as probably the busiest mountain in Britain’, we find on our arrival at Llanberis at the foot of the mountain that the description lives up to the hype. We witness an unbelievable collection of people hanging around waiting to board the numerous rack railway trains hording the masses up the mountain. On investigation we find that the price for this sedentary lift through the clouds (£25) is pitched to suit the punter with big wallets and low aspirations. Time constraints on the day restrict us from ascending the summit in a more self-rewarding manner and we resolve to come back at a later date to claim the mountain by foot.

Driving back up the M6 in a sprightly 5 hours brings an end to the first part of our summer holidays as we rest up for a week in preparation for part 2 of our vacation with an epic cycle around the Western Isles of Scotland.

Link to 'A Glimpse of Wales' video