Snowdonia Weekend - 15-17th August 2025

Starring Andy, Clare, Daniel, Denise, Jack, Jenny, Neil and Sarah plus David and Di from Merseyside and Eryri ranger Lewis.

For our first weekend away of the year we went to Snowdonia - this time in the summer not at Christmas.  A last minute change to accommodation arrangements meant we stayed at the Glan Dwr Mountain Lodge in Capel Curig not Hendre Isaf.  Glan Dwr is the Eryri base of the New Forest Climbing Club and is beside the Avon Llugwy.  After weeks of drought the water was still churning past so it'd be a spectacular sight after heavy rain.

The weather both days was glorious - sunny and warm with a cool breeze.  The contrast with Storm Darragh last December could not have been more stark.  Both mornings there were terrific views of Snowdon from Capel and each night the sky was inky black and you could see thousands of stars and the Milky Way.

Both days we worked in the valley a few miles south of Hendre Isaf:

On Saturday we  worked in woodland south of the road (red square on map).  We travelled there by minibus (Lewis picked us up at Glan Dwr) and met Andy and Clare at Hendre Isaf because they were staying near there in an NT cottage (chosen because the rest of us were staying at Hendre Isaf - only we didn't!).  Lewis explained that the aim is to open up the wood to the public by creating a footpath through the wood.  He and a previous group had marked out the footpath and we filled in holes in the path to make the surface more level and slashed bracken to extend the path in one section.  The conifer plantation above the wood had recently been felled and replanted with hardwood (alder, birch, oak, etc).

Jack took some remarkable photos with his 360º camera:

On Saturday evening, Daniel, Jenny and Denise cooked up a hearty dinner of spaghetti bolognese with garlic bread followed by apple & blueberry crumble with custard.

After dinner David set us all a quiz.  We did it in two teams (girls v boys) and tied with 37 points each.  The most fun part was picture 2 in the Faces round - David as a 12-year-old schoolboy.  None of us guessed him!

On Sunday we worked in the same valley but in woodland to the north of the road (red chevron on map).  We drove our cars there so that we could go home directly from the worksite and anyone who needed to leave early could.  Across the valley you could see Saturday's worksite:

We did two tasks.  Half the group slashed and cleared bracken to make a switchback footpath on a very steep slope ...

... and the others with Lewis made a stepover stile.  The stile is tightly screwed together and anchored in the ground and should give many years of use when the footpath is opened.

All told it was a super weekend full of enjoyment and good company.  Thanks to Lewis for having us to stay and giving us satisfying jobs to do.

When we are next at Hendre Isaf it will be interesting to go up the valley and see how both worksites look months later.

Daniel

Christmas in Cymru ... not quite the weekend we were expecting ... 7th/8th December 2024

It's becoming a tradition ... the first full weekend in December is our Christmas meet - once again in Snowdonia because the bunkhouse is free!

Six of us travelled across to Hendre Isaf on Friday evening, all glad to arrive before Storm Darragh hit.  We all received the Government red alert message as we drove - saying the red alert began at 3am on Saturday and giving advice about how to prepare for loss of power/electricity and generally keep safe.

Sure enough, the gales blew all night and it was no surprise that Saturday's workday was cancelled because of the danger of working near trees, flying debris and it being unsafe to be out and about.

What to do now ... well, Denise and Martin both reached for jigsaws of which the bunkhouse had several and we set to work solving them.  We had this 500 piece one done by 11am.  Neil was given the honour of putting in the last piece!

On several occasions the lights all went out, only to (thankfully!) come back on seconds later.  The rain hammered down and the wind blew - at times shaking the road sign outside the bunkhouse!

After lunch the weather had calmed down a little and the rain had stopped.  Five of us went on a safely-away-from-trees walk on the road up the valley to the tiny hamlet of Ysbyty Ifan.  The river was in spate and was thundering under the bridge.  We looked round the church then headed back.  Denise used the privvy of a widow who at 86 years old is still farming sheep!

Back at base we freshened up and after a couple of hours were tucking into a scrumptious Christmas dinner of turkey (nut roast for Tim) with all the trimmings followed by Mary's homemade Christmas pudding with brandy sauce.  That was a good meal!

Secret Santa then called and everyone received a gift:

We were determined to complete the 1000 piece jigsaw that Martin had started in the morning, and got it done by 10:15pm.  Trees and sky held us up for quite a long time at the end.  Neil again fitted the last piece!  Three pieces were missing and Daniel noted this on the inside of the box lid.  It was eight months to the day since the puzzle was last completed and on that date there were two missing pieces!

On Sunday the wind had died down a lot and Lewis confirmed by phone that the workday was on.  He met us at Hendre Isaf at 9:30 and we drove in his pickup and Neil's car to the worksite near Ty Mawr.  We passed last year's worksite on the way!  The task was to remove tree guards from oaks that had not been tended to for years and cut down any invasives like birch.  The ground was very steep in places and we had to work and tread carefully.  The old guards were bagged up and dragged down the slope to the carpark.

Lewis is the TWIG (The Woodland Investment Grant) ranger and will be with the Trust for about 2 years to oversee planting of 100,000 saplings across Snowdonia.

We finished the workday at 12:30, had lunch at Hendre Isaf, tidied and swept up then left for home.  All in all it was an excellent weekend, and more sociable than ever because of the enforced day indoors on Saturday.

Happy Christmas everyone!

Daniel

Christmas in Cymru, 8th - 10th December 2023

Christmas in Cymru 2023 
Wet Wet Wet feat. Santa

 

Thursday 7th December 

With plans for our annual Christmas Weekend set to be in Snowdonia in 2020 we were all looking forward to it but with the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the UK it was postponed indefinitely.  It's now December 2023 and we are finally having a long awaited Christmas weekend and our first weekend in four years.  I'm currently sat on a train heading for Manchester, tinsel in hand trying to brighten my mood and the weather.  Planning the weekend has taken time and patience but it's finally here.  I'm staying with Jenny tonight so tomorrow we can travel together at leisure to the Hendre Isaf basecamp in the Snowdonia National Park.  Hendre Isaf is a popular basecamp and with 11 people signed up it's going to be a great weekend.  I'll let you know how it goes...

Before the weekend took place, Hazel let us know that unfortunately she would not be joining us as she is not well.  Hazel - we hope you are feeling better soon.

 

Friday 8th December 

Friday dawned a little damp but we headed for Snowdonia via Chirk Castle which had some of its rooms decorated for Christmas.  Once we had consumed some lunch and looked at the animal-inspired decorations we headed to our basecamp for the weekend.  Hendre Isaf sits just in the Snowdonia National Park, at the junction of the A5 and B4407 and so is quite easy to find.  Jenny and I were first to arrive, just behind us were Mary and Neil.  On his journey to Snowdonia Neil had come across a closed road at Ruthin.  He handily let me know and I let as many people as I could know.  After he arrived he made himself at home in the “leaders” room.  He is a loud snorer!! 

We were also joined by Sarah and later Tim arrived having transported himself by pedal power from Llandudno Junction.  He'd travelled there by ferry from Dublin to Holyhead, then on a train to Llandudno Junction.  Whilst waiting for Tim and the late arrivers we decorated the basecamp with tinsel, lights and Mary's excellent crocheted snowflakes and angels. 

That evening the assembled company dined on a delicious spiced winter vegetable soup with bread and cheese.  Later, Martin and Denise, upon arrival, tucked into the soup provided.  We played a game of Who Am I? and we were joined by Adrian and Daniel having travelled together later in the day.  Having emptied Adrian's car we sorted the shopping, swapped stories and then headed to bed.

Saturday 9th December 

The day dawned wet, very wet.  Whilst we were all snug in bed, Daniel went for a run, leaving at 6.30am to be back in time for 7.30am.  We were breakfasted and ready to be met by the rangers at 9am.  Rangers Dylan and Gwilym told us that our task would be chopping down conifers in a plantation that the Trust have recently taken over.  It was a short drive over to the worksite near Penmachno then up a steep hill over to Ty Mawr Wybrnant known locally as Ty Mawr.  Some parts of the worksite were a little wet underfoot but with bowsaws, loppers, pruning saws and an axe we set to work.  The conifers were spaced out with some in groups and some on their own.  Some were not easy to get to as they were surrounded by brambles or other plants.  Morning break was called and we used the back of the rangers' pickup truck as a table to put the cake on.  After break we got back to our chopping and it started to rain more.  At the start of the day Dylan said if anyone found a tree they liked they could take it home to decorate.  I decided I would look a bit odd on the train with a Christmas tree so declined, but Denise took up the option and managed to squeeze a tree into her car.

When lunch time came it was raining A LOT so Dylan suggested we went undercover for lunch which was gratefully received by us all.  To get undercover we had to drive down to Ty Mawr.  We were very thankful for the cover whilst eating lunch.  Jenny and I surprised the group and Dylan too with leftover soup for lunch.  It was decided that working in the afternoon would be a mistake.  Dylan offered to open up Ty Mawr so we could have a look.  Ty Mawr is famous for being the place were Bishop William Morgan, known as the Saviour of the Welsh language, was born in 1545. He was the person who translated the bible from Latin into the Welsh language, which is one of the reasons the Welsh language is still very much used today. 

If you would like to know more about Ty Mawr then please see https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wales/ty-mawr- 

Whilst the majority of the group looked around Ty Mawr, Jenny and Denise headed back to base to get a head start on the showers as they had kindly offered to cook Christmas dinner.  Before the weekend I had persuaded Daniel to make it easier for the cooks by buying pre-cut potatoes, carrots, sprouts. etc.  We all agreed it would be a lot easier.  Jenny and Denise were about half an hour in front of the rest of the group. As the rest of the group headed back up the steep hill from Ty Mawr, I was contacted by Jenny to tell me that the key was in the basecamp and both she and Denise were outside.  Somehow the door had closed leaving them on the outside with no way to get in.  One group headed to basecamp with rangers in tow and the other to Betws-y-Coed to pick up a few provisions and take some photos as it has been a while since we have been there.  With a little help from Dylan and Gwilym a spare key was located and we were able to let ourselves in.  Once we were all back at basecamp and had enjoyed a hot shower mince pies and mulled wine were enjoyed and Santa paid a visit.  Santa's gifts included chocolates, games, a Venus fly trap and a Christmas pudding bauble.  Everyone was pleased with their gifts.

After more chatting, dinner was called.  It was delicious!  With there being not quite so many vegetables as normal we ate up all the food.  For dessert we enjoyed Mary's Christmas pudding or leftover Lemon Meringue Pie.  Once the washing up was done we moved to the comfier chairs and partook in crochet chat or reading books and magazines.  Bedtime was called at about 10.30pm.

Sunday 10th December

Sunday dawned wet.  Daniel did his 10km run (same route as yesterday but in reverse direction).  Breakfast (bacon and baked beans) was cooked expertly by Neil.  Looking at the weather forecast the morning wasn't looking great.  We took down the decorations, waged war with our sleeping bags and threw those boots that had been drying on the radiator into the car.  Some headed straight home but others who studied the rain radar realised that the rain wasn't sticking around for very long so four of us made a trip to Bodnant Garden.  Whilst in the garden although the Labernum Arch was not in flower we did enjoy some excellent colour from the Dogwood in the winter garden and we got some stunning views of the Carneddau Mountains.  The sun also made a brief appearance.  We gave our custom to the coffee kiosk at the bottom of the garden, of course using our volunteer cards.

     

 

The garden was very quiet.  As Adrian noted, where were all the people who owned all the cars in the carpark?  At about 2.30pm Jenny, Daniel, Adrian and I parted company and headed for home.

It's Monday now and I'm currently on the train home to Edinburgh.  It's looking awfully grey as I head north.  There look to be some flooded fields.  I've asked Dylan to book Snowdonia for Christmas in Cymru in 2024 and am hoping it won't be quite as wet as this year.

Denise has also sent in a picture of her tree decorated.

My thanks must go to Jenny for her hospitality and driving before and after the weekend, Daniel for being weekend leader, Adrian and Martin for driving to and from the worksite, Denise and Jenny for cooking Christmas dinner, Neil for cooking breakfast, Dylan and Gwilym for hosting us despite the wet weather and finally for everyone else who came to the weekend.  To everyone else - where were you?

Ally

Summer in Snowdonia , 12-14th July 2019

Starring: Daniel, Ally, Neil, Martin, Jenny and introducing weekend virgin Sarah

Guest Starring: Rangers Rhydian and Geraint 

On Friday 12 July, six of us made our way to North Wales for our annual Snowdonia weekend.  This year however we had Summer in Snowdonia rather than our traditional Spring weekend – traditions are there to be changed!  Four of us met at the luxurious (compared to some) Hendre Isaf basecamp at around 6pm and enjoyed Jenny’s Chilli with enough rice to feed the whole of the estate. Once Martin and Daniel had arrived at 9 and 10pm respectively we emptied Daniel's electric (!!) car of food and the stores box then swapped stories and headed for bed.

Saturday dawned cloudy and cool and Daniel went for his morning run whilst the rest of us slept soundly.  We were met by Ryhdian at about 9am at the basecamp and drove for a few mins round to Pant Glas farm and our worksite for the day. Our task was to clear the ground around four or five year old oak and pine trees.  To clear around them we used loppers and bow saws to cut down brambles, raspberries (which Jenny kept tasting before cutting them down), rosebay willowherb and birch trees.  We left some of the birches in place if there wasn't a pine or oak nearby.  The hope is that in years to come it will the plantation will become an oak wood.  The pines are there to encourage the oaks to grow.  Some of the pines and oaks were easy to spot but others were playing hide and seek, being hidden by brambles, rosebay willowherb and birch.

Elevenses was at 11 and it was back up to the vehicles where we had left our bags for the day.  We sat in a row on an old drystone wall which had been built using smaller stones and slates than we had expected.  We enjoyed Jenny's Chocolate Chilli Brownies and Lemon Drizzle Cake - Thank You Jenny.  I took the weekend off from baking.

From our position on the wall Daniel pointed out the higher mountains of Snowdonia including Moel Siabod, the Carneddau and part of Snowdon itself.  It was at this stage Rhydian informed us that Wales has more castles / hill forts per square kilometre than any other country in the world!  After our break it was back to the plantation to carry on our work.  It was a bit of a walk and you could see the dying brown birch cuttings from previous groups' work which will hopefully be what our cuttings look like in a few weeks.

Lunch was called at 1pm and as it was a large area Jenny blew her whistle so we could all hear it.  We headed back to our drystone wall and six of us faced the same way as we had for elevenses but Neil decided he would be different and face the other way, thus being in the direction of the approaching weather.  Luckily it never got as far as us.  Part way through lunch Neil suddenly proclaimed “That sheep hasn’t stopped chewing since we sat down”.  There were sheep near where we were having lunch and so he proceeded to partake in a “Did you know sheep chew?” survey.  We never got his conclusions so if you are out on a workday with him and he gives you an update, do let me know.  After lunch it was back to the hard work.  In the end it turned out to be a very warm day and we got a lot done.  Some of the young trees were surrounded by other plants and you couldn’t see them. Sarah was working on an area so thick with rosebay willowherb that they looked like curtains and when she pulled them apart to look for an oak she looked like she was looking out of the curtains at the theatre on the opening night of a play.

We spent some more hours lopping and sawing, sometimes blocking ourselves in but able to get out by stamping down the no longer wanted foliage.  At 3pm we called the day to a close.  Rhydian couldn’t stay with us any longer because he was off to a wedding in the evening in Pwllheli and had to get home and changed.

We headed back to base and one headed for the shower and the other five went to Betws-y-Coed excitedly in Daniel's electric car and to Cadwaladers ice cream parlour.  It has a wide range of flavours from Mango Sorbet to Honeycomb plus dairyfree options.  We tried three flavours between us: Chocolate, Mint Choc Chip and Malteaser.

Once back at base we showered and prepared dinner which this time was meatballs in a tomato and pepper sauce with garlic bread (which got a little over done in the oven) and for pudding the traditional Apple Crumble and Custard.  Daniel commented that this was the first time in a long while that there had been no vegetarians on one of his weekends.  After dinner someone decided it was time to play Ally’s Five Second Game, a version not quite as the rules said but great fun was had.  After this it was getting late so we drifted off to bed - everyone slept well that night.

Sunday again dawned cloudy and cool and Daniel went for his morning jog - he's one dedicated man.  Breakfast was cereal and toast plus bacon, baked beans and eggs all expertly cooked by Neil.  Geraint met us at the basecamp and we headed to the same worksite as yesterday, but this time took our bags down to the worksite so no sheep survey for Neil.  We worked away finding and clearing around the trees.  Some stayed a short distance from the bags and others worked further away.  After cake at 11 we went back to our trees and looking round the worksite whilst others were working it was funny seeing trees tremor and disappear, sometimes revealing a different tree.  After lunch and a bit more work we called it a day at 2pm.  We had done a lot and felt like we had worked a lot.  We picked up our tools and bags, headed for the vehicles and back to basecamp.  After waging war with our sleeping bags and taking what we wanted from the leftover food we reluctantly headed home whilst listening to the Cricket World Cup final (England v New Zealand) on the radio.

We will be returning to Snowdonia at some stage in 2020.  When?  I’m not sure at the moment.  The weather may not have been as sunny as our previous visits to Snowdonia but the company was just as good.

My thanks to Neil and Daniel for my lifts to and from Manchester and thanks to Jenny for providing dinner on Friday and the delicious cakes.  MNTV you rock, but where were the rest of you?

Summer in Snowdonia 2019 – Done!

Here's to next time MNTV!

Ally

Five go to Snowdonia: Fires, Frogs and a whole lot of Fun (13-15th April 2018)

Daniel, Ally, Hazel, Neil and introducing Weekend Newbie Laura

Guest starring Rangers Andy and Geraint

My journey south started with a bus ride into Edinburgh in rather Scottish weather.  I boarded my train bound for Manchester and realised as I departed Waverley that Edinburgh Castle was not visible due to the mist surrounding it.  The weather did not really improve as I headed south.  I was to be met by Neil who, as in previous years, had offered to pick me up from Manchester Piccadilly station.  My thanks to Neil for this.

We wended our way towards North Wales for the annual "Spring in Snowdonia" weekend.  As we got further towards our destination I noticed that the Scottish mist had finally caught up with me and hoped it was not going to stick around for the whole weekend.  Once Hazel, Neil and I had settled in for the evening Hazel decided that a jigsaw was called for so ignoring the advice of NT Volunteers from “All over the place” in the visitors’ book to "Don't bother with the flower jigsaw" she chose the flower jigsaw (!)  Daniel and Laura arrived at 9.30pm and we received news that Pip and Mick would not be joining us for the weekend.

Good news!  The mist had cleared the next morning and we had a day of warm dry weather with the sun finally making a proper appearance towards the end of the day.  We were up early to meet ranger Andy for our day’s work in the Penmachno Valley.  We followed him in his pickup truck for the short drive there in Neil's Roomster and Hazel’s Yaris.  The brash we were burning were small hazel, oak, willow and hawthorn trees that had been chopped down by contractors who put in a new stock fence last week.  Andy started a fire for us all to burn the lopped trees and we worked away for an hour and a half until Daniel called time for a break at which we ate Ally’s delicious chocolate brownies.

We carried on working and Andy started a second fire because there was another pile of trees further away so we didn’t have to drag them so far.  We ate our lunch in the sunshine, Daniel sitting on his National Trust three-legged stool.  Neil had attempted to sit on his three-legged stool at break time but as he could feel it and himself sinking into the wet ground he did not reattempt to sit on it for his lunch.  After lunch most of us headed to fire number two to work around that.  We worked away until Daniel called the day to a close at 3:30.  We finished the whole area that Andy had wanted to clear and sat enjoying the sunshine until the fires had died down enough for us to leave them. During the day we spotted five frogs on the worksite with Neil spotting the first one.  Also spotted was what ranger Andy presumed was a blackbird’s nest, a wagtail and buzzards.  Hazel told us to look out for celandine and golden saxifrage.

Upon departure from the worksite it was decided that we would stick with tradition and get an ice cream from Cadwalader’s in Betws-y-coed.  We all got ice cream including Hazel who wasn't even there.  Our flavours were Malteser (Neil), Chocolate (Ally) and Daniel (Strawberries & Cream).  Laura got very excited when she found out there was dairy free chocolate ice cream as she is a vegan.  We got Hazel some Strawberries & Cream in a tub and took it back to the basecamp for her (it wasn’t totally melted) as she had left the worksite early to make dinner.

Dinner was Chunky Vegetarian Thai Curry with rice followed by Apple crumble with custard/cream.  It was delicious – a big thank you to Hazel for cooking it.  That evening we did more of the jigsaw, read the newspaper and dozed whilst listening to a selection of Neil's CDs including Cliff Richard, the Cast of Oliver and all time Musical Hits.

Sunday dawned cloudy and cool.  Daniel went for a run at 6:30 while the rest of us slept soundly in our beds.  Once he had returned and the other four of us were up we breakfasted on bacon rolls and left the basecamp at 8:50 to meet ranger Geraint at the worksite which was at the other end of the field from where we had been yesterday.  There was a bit of a steep slope to get down to the worksite so Ally decided the best way to tackle it with bowsaws in one hand and cake in the other without falling over was to slide down it - result!  We spent the morning again lopping the brash and trees.  Geraint got two fires going so that we didn't have to drag the trees and brash quite so far from the other end of the field.  Much to Laura’s amusement, on our lunch break Daniel managed to fall off his three-legged stool.  It was so elegantly executed that he could have won a gymnastics gold medal at the Commonwealth games!  We ate the leftover brownies and Laura told us how much she had enjoyed the weekend.  Afterwards we finished off the dragging and burning and the fire got higher and higher with all the cuttings.  We completed the clearing and burning which is what Geraint wanted so watched the fire start to die back and left Geraint to make sure it didn’t spread and burn the field completely.  Back at the basecamp we tidied up the dorms, washrooms and kitchen, declared war on our sleeping bags and suitcases, divvied up the leftover food.  We headed for home at 3pm trying to avoid getting caught in the traffic coming out of Old Trafford - Manchester United were playing at home (and lost 1-0 to West Brom to hand the Premiership title to Manchester City).

To sum up the weekend I will leave you with these words: although we were a small party we got a lot of work done, much fun was had but not enough sleep was had.

Thank you to Daniel for organising the weekend and thanks to rangers Andy and Geraint for organising the worksite and task.

See you next time, MNTV!

Ally

Twelve go to Spring in Snowdonia 2017: Sunshine, Ice Cream and a pair of odd boots (21-23 April)

S T A R R I N G

From MNTV: Daniel, Ally, Neil, Tim, Martin, Hazel and introducing weekend virgins Madeleine and Geraldine

From MNTEV: Jacky, Mick, Ray and Chris

Ranger: Rhydian

(by Ally, photos by Ally and Daniel)

It is a tradition that we spend a spring weekend in Snowdonia and this year was no different.  Traditions however are not meant to be broken, but this year we did break a few - oops!

ACT 1

This year like two years ago we were joined by MNTEV, our Merseyside counterparts.  We all met on the Friday evening - some arrived at 5pm, some arrived at 10pm and some got lost but those shall not be named… let’s just say they didn’t belong to MNTV (!).  Once Daniel and Martin had arrived at 10pm we emptied their car of food and the stores box then swapped stories and headed for bed.

Saturday dawned sunny and warm and Daniel went for a run at 6.30.  Jacky discovered Mick had packed a pair of odd boots for her – one red and one black.  Luckily for him it was a left and a right!  At 9.30 we were met by Rhydian at the basecamp and we had a 10-minute drive to the worksite on the Ysbyty Estate.  It was quite a task finding the worksite and if we had not been following one another we would never have found it.  Our task for the next day and a half was chopping down gorse on a slope and burning it so that the oaks that had been planted some years ago could actually breathe.  Some of the oaks had already been so stifled that they had never made it out of their plastic sleeves so Daniel was tasked with collecting up the empty plastic sleeves and stakes.  Madeleine set to work on a large area of gorse.  Ray, who is visually impaired, was guided by Chris to an area on the hill and he set to work and just kept going all day putting the rest of us to shame!  Our elevenses snack was Ally’s Millionaires Shortcake which was eaten with great glee.  Break time gave Jacky and Ally time to tweet to the followers of their respective groups.  The fire was diligently tended by Tim, Neil, Hazel and Rhydian.

After lunch Hazel headed back to the basecamp to start preparing dinner and the rest of us carried on sawing, lopping and burning the gorse and whatever else got in the way that wasn’t oak.  By mid-afternoon it was so warm that a lot of the group were working in shirt sleeves which if you had a T-shirt on was not good news as the gorse and brambles were very spikey.  At about 3pm we stopped cutting and dragged as much of the loose gorse as possible down on to the fire and also made a pile of brash so we would be able to restart the fire the next morning.

It was a tradition on this weekend to go to the ice cream shop in Beddgelert after Saturday’s workday but as we were working nearer Betws-y-coed Ryhdian suggested we try Cadwaladers ice cream parlour there.  It was delicious and we each had single cones, trying between us seven or eight flavours such as banoffee, strawberries & cream, mint choc chip and butterscotch.  After the ice creams some strolled down the main street and others headed back to base and hot showers.  That evening we dined on lentil & vegetable cottage pie with peas and a dessert of apple crumble and custard/cream.

~ I N T E R V A L ~

ACT 2

Sunday dawned bright, sunny and colder than Saturday but that didn’t stop Daniel going for his morning run again at 6.30.  Rhydian met us at the basecamp at 9.30 and we headed along the road, collected our tools from Rhydian’s van and went back to the worksite.  The ashes from the fire were still warm and it did not take long to get it lit again.  We worked hard all morning, stopping just once to finish off the Millionaires Shortcake.  At 12 we downed tools and ate lunch at the worksite to keep an eye on the fire because it was burning merrily away.  After lunch we visited the NT property on the other side of the hill from where we had been working.

Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant which translates into Big House Wybrnant is actually a very small house and was the birthplace of Bishop William Morgan who was the first translator of the bible into Welsh.  We had a talk by the warden who looked after the property.  He told us that it is a traditional stone-built upland 16th-century farmhouse.  It has two rooms downstairs - one where the cattle would be and one where the occupants would eat, sleep and live.  It was extended into the roof many years ago and if you climb the very steep ladder you’ll find two rooms upstairs, one of which has a variety of bibles that are copies of the bishop’s translation, as they were first published in 1588 and in 1620.  In the building behind the house is an exhibition about the house and William Morgan.  After we had had a look around we headed back to base to pack up, clear up, divide the leftover food and head for home.

CURTAIN DOWN

The Sun shone all weekend and the company wasn’t bad either

Spring in Snowdonia 2017 – Done!

Here's to next time MNTV!