Snowdon: a first ascent

A weekend in Snowdonia with my neice Tamsin.

Tamsin and I walked up Snowdon in April, her first ascent of a mountain and my first ascent of Snowdon. We  drove across Wales the previous afternoon and stayed in a fine B&B in a farmhouse  on the edge of the park. 

As we drove up to the start we saw beautiful lakes with morning sunshine reflecting off  them. The car park was manned by volunteers who checked that we had warm clothes and waterproofs. Our ascent starting in sunshine and we admired the landscape and the evidence of old erosion.  The tiny train taking passengers up the mountain ran parallel to our walk. We had coffee at the Half way hut and enjoyed the beauty of the landscape opening up ahead of us. There were some steep sections, then we reached the train station and the numbers of walkers increased hugely. We had a longer haul walking up along the cold north face where snow lingered in the crevices and Tamsin was keen to be photographed on snow. The Snowdon summit (1085m) is at a convergence of 5 different paths up of varying difficulty. We took the Llanberis path.  Being at the top was awesome with beautiful views of the treeless mountain tops, several big lakes, valleys with trees and farmsteads and the sea in the distance.  Tamsin celebrated our summit by doing a breakdance routine twice because I failed to video the first one satisfactorily. Others were drinking champagne and everyone took a selfie. It was fun being part of a large crowd celebrating being at the top. I was surprised that on a cold April day we had to queue to reach the summit. The top was bitterly cold with a wind chill of -4 and flakes of snow swirled around.

 The descent was chilly, the banks of snow beside the railway looked like scene from a Russian novel.  Then it rained and we both became very cold and I just focused on the cup of hot chocolate that would warm me at the Half Way Hut.  The rain then cleared and we had a good descent to the lake at the start of the walk. The walk took 7 hours. I was very disappointed that we could not get a hot drink at the start of the walk.  It was a fine walk. I was surprised by the numbers of people at the top. Tamsin was surprised by the range of weathers that we experienced and this validated the volunteers checking that we were properly equipped before we set out. She had huge energy and on the descent I was plodding away whilst she skipped around.  We drove back to our BB rested briefly, then headed out to Criccieth where we had an excellent supper with fish and leeks.

On Sunday we drove through the park. The trees and rocks are beautiful in the spring light with the green leaves about to come out. Bedgellert is an attractive village when the sun shines with small grey stone cottages and larger hotels for the walkers and a helpful visitors centre where they have 100 visitors per day. We had coffee in Betyscoed a beautiful large village with many stone house that have a very northern feel and we watched a man taking a cautious but reckless dive into the chilly water! At the arts centre a young woman was creating large bubbles from a pair of sticks dipped into detergent, Tamsin played with the toy enjoying the simple pleasure of seeing bubbles form and move in the air. The girl told us that they visit the Calais camp regularly to let the refugees play with the bubbles and have a carefree moment.  We had a long drive back to Abergavenny first through the mountains of North wales, the old slate mines of Blaenau festinnog  are still dramatic rocks. Mid wales comprises a huge area of farms and pleasant but remote countryside and seemed never-ending. We had a v late lunch at the ecology centre and ascended the mountain side there in a water driven pump lift.  I shall return there another time to check out the centre more thoroughly.  I was surprised at how long it took to drive across Wales, the roads are small but empty.

This was great weekend, I enjoyed introducing Tamsin to the mountains and loved the rocks and scenery in Snowdon. 

Good the beauty of the snowdonia park

Bad the chill factor

Surprising the numbers of people at the summit.

Dutch cousins in Brecon

Showing Welsh caves and mountains to visitors from the flat lands (May 2014)

It was fun having my cousins as visitors to Brecon May 2014, there were three generations, Noor, my cousin aged 69, Willemien (49) her daughter and her children Emma (11) and Martin (8). They flew to Bristol and rented a car, but brought their Dutch speaking Tom-Tom for navigation. Emma and Martin whooped with delight at seeing the mattresses on the floor and the sleeping bags had been organized for them.

We took my mother to Llowes to visit my father's grave followed by a pub lunch in the Radnor Arms. We sat in the summer house and it felt light and Scandinavian with views of the Black Mountains and the green fields and trees of the Wye valley. At the Brecon Beacons centre there were visiting falconers and Emma and Martin were photographed with kestrels and Harris hawks perched on their arms. Martin was bold in his choice of bird but his courage failed him when the fierce bird was perched on his arm.

At the Dan-yr-Ogof caves, we experienced geology in action; we walked deep into the mountain along a path that twists and turns through the active geological processes, there are live stalactites and stalagmites dripping and growing and one sees the force of water on rock in real time. The second cave is called the cathedral because it has vast caverns with deep streams and the so called curtains rock formations are illuminated. It is an extraordinary feeling being so deep inside the mountain and seeing the rocks being moulded. Outside the caves huge dinosaur models prowled on the hillside even though they were dislocated in time and place.

We confined the shopping to a visit to Hay on Sunday where they enjoyed the craft and art shops and the clothes shops. Hay is such a contrast to Brecon; Hay is like Hampstead whereas Brecon is a working county town. I also love showing people around Brecon, there are so many different things there are for them to enjoy.

Wales through African eyes

I took my two African students to experience Wales and meet my mother. They were amazed by the greenness of Wales and surprised that the sheep were safe out overnight without boy shepherds to guard them.

My African PhD students, Edessa and Omer responded warmly to the invitation to visit Wales when I next visited my mother. Omer is from Sudan, Edessa from Ethiopia and Edessa has not been outside London during his nine months in the UK. The train journey from Paddington to Abergavenny gives fine views of the English countryside with views of the river Thames, small farms and villages. They were surprised by the sixe of the trees, Edessa surmised that we did not cut down so many of our trees. They brought gifts for my mother including soft dates.

Brecon is an ideal city for showing visitors, it is small, lively on Saturdays and one can walk everywhere. I took them to the city centre where we looked at the old Georgian house and inns. The Town Hall is a fine Victorian building. We also saw the City Hall, a Victorian building with cast iron interior, here the farmers market was just finishing with farmers from all over Wales selling their produce and interesting cheeses. We walked up to the cathedral through the cool green woods. Omer had not been in a cathedral before. Here a mixed voice choir was practising and we walked around looking at the memorials to soldiers and the local great and good. Brecon does have some modern architecture, a fine public library made of grey stone with long thin windows. One can see different ages in Brecon, the cathedral feels medieval but the city centre feels Georgian with town house where visiting lawyers stayed, and now there is a modern retail square and a huge Morrisons.

We all went up to the viewpoint Epint, here one is deep in the Beacons up on the peaty grassy treeless moorland and where one has contrasting views of the mountains with views down towards the green valleys and small scale farms.

We meandered back along tiny roads with high hedgerows and trees, green vistas everywhere. We stopped at St Cynog’s church, Merthyr Cynog. This is a 14th century church with a stout tower. Once it was a place for pilgrimage, then fell into disrepair. Now it has been restored but with an admirable plainness. There are no memorials on the walls and the space feels far more spiritual to me than the cathedral.

Brecon is a party place on a Saturday night., filling up with young farmers enjoying themselves boisterously.. We had supper in a beer garden drinking welsh Red Dragon beer en plein air with swallows swooping overhead and left before the party got rowdy.

We rose early on Sunday and Omer and I climbed up Peny Fan (890 m) It was a lovely walk, we did it early because we knew it would be hot and Omer was fasting for Ramadan. I was worried about having a fasting companion on the Beacons on almost the hottest day of the year. But we ascended easily and enjoyed the fantastic views. One looks down onto the farms and villages around Brecon. The beacons themselves have craggy tops and high lakes. The views down to south Wales are splendid with lakes and mountains, all glinting in the summer sun.. Back in Brecon Edessa enjoyed the Sunday roast Welsh beef in the cathedral café, a new experience for him. Omer sat in the cathedral to cool off.

We also squeezed in a stop at Llangorse lake, Wales’ shallowest lake and with a recreated ancient reed hut. The lake is now full of boaters, pedalos and windsurfers. The slow Sunday train services were a low point with a long hot trying bus and train ride back to Paddington. Omer could not drink until 9.20 and I was keeping an eye on him in case he dehydrated. If urgent he could have broken his fast. When we got back we also realized that this was the day that one of the TA soldiers died in the Beacons.

It was lovely seeing Wales through their eyes. They were amazed by the sheep, Edessa especially that the sheep stayed out over night and did not have little boys guarding them, fortunately we do not have hyenas in Wales. They were also surprised at how few people there were and the absence of buses. It is difficult imagining African style buses in Wales.

They loved meeting my mother although they were sad to see her living alone, and she warmed to them. When I went to work on Monday they were telling my research group what a beautiful old lady my mother is.

I had not anticipated how varied the rewards would be from taking Edessa and Omer to Wales.