Walk 22 Aberdyfi to Llwyngwril 9th April, 2014

Another early start but it was a lovely golden sunrise! 

Arrived Llwyngwril station by 8.30 so we had plenty of time to boot up ready for the 9.06 train. The station was actually quite busy so a few lovely people kindly donated! The track runs right by the sea here with good views......

Arrived Aberdovey, we like Aberdovey, and off we set by 9.30 – headed for the beach – or traeth! Slight technological problems encountered as I couldn’t get the GPS app to work which meant that when I cancelled it, it also deleted the few first photos I’d taken! So we had no mileage check or elevation gained checks today but then we didn’t have those when we started walking so we’ll manage. It was a lovely, long walk along the beach and safe because we knew the tide was going out. 

Ynyslas and Borth beyond were there on the horizon....

I had forgotten my jacket today too so was hoping that my forecasting held good and that it wouldn’t rain….thankfully it didn’t or Chris would have got wet! The dunes looked to have been damaged in the storms too and as we approached Tywyn, we could see more storm damage with shingle and boulders thrown in the fields behind. 

It was good to be in dunes again and I guess we were walking on the beach for 2 hours and about 4 miles. The dunes gave way in part to the shingle as we approached Tywyn...

We soon saw the peat bog and submerged forest appearing…really exciting! 

A lady on the train last week had told us there was more ancient forest revealed near Tywyn but we couldn’t have imagined how much was to be seen! 

It is really amazing – but also a bit sad to think it will now be washed away being so fragile against the strong sea. Some of the tree stumps were such a size, it was astounding to think they have lain covered by the sand for so long! 

And what force the storms had used to reveal so much...

And so we found ourselves then on the promenade at Tywyn – again the sand and stones washed up and over the high walls, proof of the strength of those storms. The sea, so pretty and gentle today, is such an incredible force. Soon we had to turn inland for a while at least. Again we were to have a walk of 2 halves – coast and country. Could have been in thirds with mountains too but it was just not clear enough to see Snowdonia (or the Lleyn) at all…we knew they were there, lurking! 

Still it was dry and bright all day and the wind wasn’t too stiff! The path misled us a bit as we came towards the river Dysynni. First we crossed a bridge over a drainage channel running into the river...

I knew that a new route was open which crossed the river close to the sea cutting out a 5 mile inland detour, but the path tried to send us further inland so we ignored the signs and headed for where we had seen the bridge from the train this morning, passing by the pretty lake of Broad Water where there were 7 swans a-swimming, honest!

And the hill of tonfanau quarry behind the lake.  

And a very smart bridge it is too. It was having its annual – and first – paint and canoeists were having lessons beneath. The path signs reappeared and took a different route to the one we had, which could well be shorter! So we added in a slight detour at Tonfanau and headed to the sea to look for the middle Sarn of the Bay, Sarn y Bwlch. 

Remember we saw the Sarn going out to sea at Wallog on our last walk? Well sadly we couldn’t see anything today - or maybe I had the location not quite right! Still 1 more to look for near Harlech and that is supposed to be the longest. Anyway today we had a good spot by the Dysynni estuary for lunch watching the cormorants and gulls and listening to the oyster catchers.. We could see the bridges over the river behind us...

And again there were boulders and stones thrown all around and the fence demolished by them, the storms' damage was so severe..

The area around Tonfanau had various ruins which we thought must have been from military purposes – 

...the brick buildings' ruins reminiscent of Porthgain – but the strangest was a huge wall further along the road, surely a shooting site – or an emblem of education…”all in all just another brick….”, oh dear! 

We were walking on lanes for a while, going slightly up of course. Lovely Spring hedgerows now – not so many primroses for a while, and then lots! The summer ferns are beginning to unfurl..

And every field we cross is full of lambs!

The gorse is really bursting yellow and there's lots of blackthorn.We passed a hill fort site high above us near Rhoslefain where we crossed the A493 heading more steeply up an ancient track. Near here I saw 2 more swallows. We soon passed a ruined house in a lovely setting with views of the sea in the distance between the hills...

and I bravely crossed a field with Galloway cows in!! More fields were crossed and we could vaguely see Fairbourne and Barmouth in the hazy distance ...

...and Llwyngwril just past the caravan parks a bit nearer! All was going well and then near another ruin, we lost the path sign! A bit of guesswork and probably a bit of trespassing led us back to the path thank goodness. It does get stressful when you can’t see where the next exit is. We crossed more fields and just after a pretty valley with a stream and canopied trees, we passed a house (with a big, loud dog, luckily tied up) and in its garden was an intact dolmen! Never seen one so well preserved! 

Then , shortly after was an impressive hill fort, Castell y Gaer, looking down on the caravan parks and sea beneath and looking over the village of Llwyngwril. 

It is like lots we saw in Pembroke – with one major difference, it hasn’t fallen into the sea! It did have spectacular sea views though, quite like Garn Fawr near Strumble! So we dropped down steeply into the village, passing the lovely hedges of gorse, 

and back to the station. 

We finished by 4pm, 13 miles later, complete with aching bones! Watch this space for the next walk.... we have grandsons to entertain us and then Easter with our guests so not quite sure when we'll arrive in Barmouth quite!

Thank you for reading - and your support. I can't work out how to make the comments work on this blog so if you have any ideas, advice or would like to make a comment, please feel free to email me on

pamelamallpress@btinternet.com. I'd love to hear from you. And if you would like to support the Velindre appeal, (which I chose partly because some of the proceeds of the appeal will go to research into curing cancer so it's not only a Welsh appeal, it is a broad one...) please look at www.justgiving.com/Pamela-Mallpress

Walk 21 Machynlleth to Aberdyfi 4th April, 2014

Earlier start today heading for the station in Aberdyfi (Aberdovey) so had to drive a bit further still. The journey over the Cambrians was just a cloudy passage – no snow, mist or anything…sign of Spring perhaps...and we actually arrived early! We did have a bit of a yellow dust on the windscreen, reminder of the recent Sahara desert "pollution". Quite excited this morning, using the train for the first time since Kidwelly when Julia and Richard were with us. It duly arrived at 9.33 and we got back to Machynlleth just before 10 ....and we walked into Gwynedd....

 and even into the Snowdonia National Park!

Now with 10 counties behind us (I know Powys was only a brief visit…), we only have 5 more to go once we’re through Gwynedd! Was that the first swallow I saw as we approached the river? Certainly looked like one. 

Bridge over the Dyfi

Crossing the river Dyfi was a bit precarious on the narrow bridge and soon after we headed up a track – VERY steeply. It seemed to go on for ever, first on a tarmac road and then across fields, where we lost the path for a brief while which didn’t help our humour! At least the sun wasn’t blazing down – it really was hot enough work as it was! It was a relief to get to the top – for now at least, where we could just see Machynlleth way below us..

Machynlleth way below - note the STEEP hill!

It was actually a bit damp in the cloud and very soon we dropped downhill to a forestry track...

Once on top of the first part, the downhill stretch was quite a long one and just gently sloping down on the forestry track made for easy walking through the woods, listening to pheasants calling, birdsong and the sheep and lambs when they heard their leader on quad bike approach! Near the end of the track, was the entrance to a disused mine, so much mining and quarrying went on around here. 

Then we dropped into the village of Pennal and crossed the A487 passing through a holiday bungalow resort based on a big old house, Plas Talgarth. In its grounds on approach is Domen Las – a Norman castle motte that had previously been a Roman fort and was later used by Owain Glyndwr according to legend. 

Domen Las

In the grounds of the holiday village is a slight detour of the path to avoid a huge section of fallen trees, damaged in the January storms – there is much wood to be chopped here! 

We soon had first views of the estuary again – the railway line which we had crossed this morning and the scenes of our walk to Machynlleth earlier in the week. 

Rail bridge over the Dyfi and its nature reserve

Across to the Lyfnant Valley

We got slightly lost then near a big house with caravans so had to take a slight detour. After lunch eaten in a field with a stream – very pretty – we pressed on through fields, skirting a little wood and headed to re-cross the A487, and heading seriously uphill again. Lots of violets in the hedgerow here ....

........ and wood anemones, dandelions,stitchwort ........

.............primroses beginning to go past their best now...

– lovely to see Spring arriving. The bluebells are going to be beautiful I’m sure! The track turned into a mountain track as we passed a farm in the middle of nowhere – still going up! Some of the old walls here were made of slates standing on end. 

Arriving at the top of this particular hill which had been like real hill walking, really lovely, was a stone marking Carn Mach Arthur, (Stone of Arthur’s Horse). 

This supposedly shows the hoof print of King Arthur’s horse, Llamrai......can you see it?...

either as Arthur was called to help the local people from some marauding force and he galloped from across the estuary to help, or, according to another perhaps more favoured legend, as Arthur and his horse beat the creature, an Avanc, sleeping in the nearby Bearded Lake, Llyn Barfog....

........from where it wreaked havoc on people who came too close! We couldn’t actually see the Lake from the path which is best approached from the Happy Valley direction. Today we were too tired by now to take a further detour! And soon we had great views, first of Bardsey Island and then more and more of the Lleyn peninsula revealed itself! 

Once on top of this final incline…we could see the whole of Cardigan Bay spread out before us – right from Strumble Head, dimly in the distance but there nevertheless, and the clear shape of Dinas Head, round passing all our route so far to New Quay and so to Borth and Ynyslas and to the north, the tip of the Lleyn and Bardsey Island jutting out to make the Bay – a fantastic sight! 

A little further and Tywyn revealed itself just along the coast and where we will pass on the next walk – but out to sea from Tywyn and the river Dysynni estuary was the next Sarn of the Cantre’f Gwaelod – Sarn y Bwlch. This one stretches out under the sea for about 2 miles. 

And so began the downhill stretch into Aberdovey – Ynyslas and its sand dunes now becoming clearer and clearer and the Lleyn disappearing from view as we dropped into Aberdyfi on the eastward side of town....

Great views over the town and its harbour and beach. 

It had been another favourite walk - have lots of them now. This another not so coastal a walk but very enjoyable nevertheless. We said goodbye to the harbour - we like Aberdyfi! - until the next time!

Another successful 12 miles which has pushed us over the 500 mark!!! And we will walk 500 more....well not quite that many....

Although this walk is so much of a challenge and enjoyable all the more so because of that, the main motivation is to raise funds for the "Victory over Cancer" appeal for Velindre. All support you can give is so gratefully received.....www.justgiving.com/Pamela-Mallpress....thank you!

Walk 20 Tre'r Ddol to Machynlleth 1st April, 2014

All Fools’ Day! Well we hoped not as we awoke to a lovely, sunny morning and set off once more heading for the Dyfi (Dovey) estuary walk part 1, the south of the estuary. As we went over the hills, the mist was hanging in the valleys with blue sky above – a pretty sight. 

We drove in and out of mist patches and arrived at Machynlleth wondering if it would be a day where the views would be limited. Taxi picked us up at 9.30 and down we went to Tre’r Ddol – seemed a long way again! Oh dear! 

Off we set through the woods – we have already done a lot of woodland walking, but today’s was particularly picturesque. Wood anemones were in abundance.... 

...and they’ll soon be followed by bluebells and foxgloves in abundance. Pheasants were calling and as we got higher and came out of the thick wood, we had tantalising views of Aberdovey and its estuary through the trees..... 

...and the hills of the Tarren escarpment at the other side of the river..

We then rose higher and got better, clear views over the estuary. By now the mist had gone completely and the sun was hot! We thought that there would be great views of the Lleyn today! 

All the time we had really only been walking parallel with the A487 – Machynlleth to Borth road, we looked down on the settlement of Furnace Bridge way beneath us as we sat and enjoyed chocolate bars, gazing at the hills and river across the valley. Furnace Bridge had a huge water operated furnace in the 18^th century for iron smelting but it only actually operated for 50 years. It has now been renovated. The wheel is huge. And just across from us was Ynys-Hir, the RSPB nature reserve where Spring Watch was filmed in recent years. Saying goodbye to the estuary for a while...

...we then we passed through more woods and crossed fields. So lovely to see that Spring is springing...

...with lots of flowers all shooting and flowering although the trees are not generally so far forward yet..

We were climbing a little all the while until we crossed a lovely stream rushing down over rocks, the river Einion – a house here is in an idyllic setting! 

It was a lovely walk along this hillside til we dropped down at Melindwr – as its name suggests, an old watermill.... 

and here we met Tree – doing the coast walk the other way to us. She started on 1^st March so is doing great and hopes to finish early May. She is fundraising for Kidney Wales Foundation and has already raised a significant amount - well done Tree!  http://trwancy.wordpress.com We climbed out of the valley quite steeply then and had lunch in an old oak wood – with views over the trees, just, of the coast. It really was a "coast and country" walk today!

It was probably the best lunch so far – no clouds or rain threatened – it was perfectly quiet with only the birds to listen to. I wondered if we should stay longer! We climbed again out of the wood and here the smell of pine was amazing. Earlier we saw a larch bursting with its pretty pink cones forming....

We then had to watch the views of Aberdovey slowly go from view - until next time...

From this angle, further inland, the river looks quite narrow - but then you can see - I hope - the railway crossing the valley..

Very soon we came to the Lyfnant valley – a super setting. A house claiming its building date of 1925 was sitting all alone – wonderful! Wondered if it had maybe belonged to a quarry owner – there is so much evidence of quarrying on the hills around here. There was a lovely waterfall rushing down the now quite steep cliffs....

and the sounds of all the falls on the river Lyfnant rushing over rocks as we climbed out of the valley was wonderful. And all around more and more signs of spring, heather blooming here and even the moss was flowering...

Soon we heard the chain saw! And the forestry chaps were indeed felling trees right on to the path! An interesting climb over the debris was had! 

The men were not impressed either with us crossing their work area or with the coastal path choosing this route – why didn’t it follow the railway they asked? It does seem to be quite a narrow rail bridge to me which might be even more exciting than crossing felled trees for the mere walker! We soon passed what was for us the first Powys CC footpath sign

 – not sure exactly where we had crossed the border into our home county! It was quite another uphill walk first over fields and then up a track for quite a while! And then of course we came to a downhill track. We soon crossed an uphill field to meet Glyndwr’s path coming in to join us

and soon the joint paths dropped down into Machynlleth.

We had good views of the town and out to Dovey Bridge – and over the hills we will go on the next walk, out to Aberdovey and the sea once more! 

It had been a wonderful, warm, sunny, blue sky walk accompanied by much better views than we had expected – we kind of thought we would be in the woods most of the time. 10 more miles along the way! Another 5 and we will have done those 500 miles!

We keep turning the corners – soon we'll be headed on the road to Dolgellau on the way to Barmouth and beyond, unbelievable!