Framedlight

After lunch in Beddgelert we drove towards Llanberis. By the side of the road (the A498) there are a number of laybys where you can stop and walk down footpaths to get a better view over the rough mountains of Snowdonia. The cloud had not lifted much during the day and still shrouded the tops of the mountains. Nevertheless there were views down to Llyn Gwynant and to the flanks of Snowdon. We carried on to Llanberis where we visited the Dinorwig power station - no photography unfortunately as this would make a fabulous project.

We woke to a cloudy morning in Trefor. Over breakfast we planned a trip to Beddgelert where we could walk by the river and have some lunch afterwards, our imaginations having been fired by passing the outskirts of the town on the Welsh Highland Railway. The rain held off all morning and we managed the walk along the River Glaslyn with it's mountainous, wooded sides and rocky bed. At one point we were passed by the steam train which flooded the valley with smoke. We also visited the purported grave of Gelert while we were there. Gelert was a dog who was mistakenly slain by his master, thinking that he had murdered his baby son, when in fact the 'faithful hound' had slain a wolf who was attempting just that. The story may have been created by the owner of the nearby Goat Hotel in Victorian times to encourage tourists! The steam train has just passed! Rene by Gelert's Grave

On the Wednesday Rene had planned to visit a cousin living in Harlech, so we thought we would go for a long walk up the Garn For mountain. We started by walking down to the shore and taking the coast path for a while where cormorants preened on cliffs and rocks. We then diverted inland, past a cottage with a fantastic view over the ocean and up back towards the quarry. We passed under the old bridge from the railway which was once used to transport rock from the quarry, and then on up, having lunch by a ruined cottage that someone had made a halfhearted attempt to mend and then given up on. Alan was pretty pleased with his pasty! The weather was dull and overcast with a swirling mist over the top of the hills which did not dissipate as the day went on. We walked up, more steeply higher and higher, but finally stopped when the mist was all around us and there was no chance of a view. And every chance we would lose ourselves We were forced to turn back but compensated for it by sitting b...

In the afternoon we made our way across to Porthmadog and on impulse booked tickets for the Welsh Highland railway, a steam railway which runs from Porthmadog to Caernarfon. We could not go all the way there as the last train back left too early but we got to just beyond Beddgelert. The afternoon still kept the stormy skies of the morning but with a glow of sun which lit the estuary at Porthmadog. We sat in an open carriage on the way out which got dramatically smokey when going through one particular tunnel. Train spotters in the open carriage

After breakfast Alan, Rene (Alan's mum who was staying at the house with us) and I went to the quiet hinterland of the Lleyn to visit St Cybi's Well. The well lies near the village of Llangybi and is a little walk from the main road across some boggy fields. Rene managed the walk pretty well. St Cybi was thought to have come from Cornwall in the 6th century and the well also has a habitation next to it for pilgrims and a detached latrine a little further off. It was thought to cure all sorts of things including scurvy and rheumatism, if taken with equal quantities of seawater, and was in use until after the reformation. In fact there was a donation box in the church for it until the 18th century. After some pictures of the well there are pictures of the church at Llangybi and then Penarth Fawr, a medieval hall house which is a little way away from Llangybi and currently up for sale! I have used the Lensbaby 35mm Sweet Optic for some of these pictures which gives a small plane...