Gerard Manley Hopkins - Victorian Poet
Part of Snowdonia National Park, Conwy Waterfall is just one of the spectacular waterfalls in the area. It is accessed via a trail through scenic woodland within 10 acres designated a site of special scientific interest.
To enjoy the woodland paths you have to pay £2 per person to get through a turnstile and the payment helps to maintain the paths and woodland. You can use coins or contactless payment but beware, you only get a very short time to get through the turnstile before you have to pay again! We weren't quite ready for this, despite the sign and ended up paying more than we needed to!
There is parking in front of the café and a decked area behind it (as in the photo), toilets and free wi-fi.
The café is very welcoming and offers breakfast, lunch and even afternoon tea. It is open every day from Feb until Nov each year.
There are picnic areas with benches and well behaved dogs are welcome in the park.
The shortest walk is 40 mins of dramatic and spectacular scenery.
The waterfall runs through a deep gorge and is split in two by the natural landscape.
Apparently, the waterfall here is famous for salmon jumping. You have to visit in August to see it though.
Underneath the water there is a salmon ladder which helps the fish navigate the fast flowing water. The ladder here was built in 1993 and cost almost £1million.
Click on the picture to find out more.
Situated on the North Wales coast, Abergele is well known for its beach and Gwrych Castle. The castle was the UK setting for ITV's 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!' in recent years but there are many more interesting reasons to explore the castle and its surroundings.
Whilst staying with family in Abergele, I wanted to explore part of the local area that is less touristy than the seafront with its arcades, fairs and caravan parks along the coast to Rhyl and beyond. Looking online, we came across some circular walks and decided on one that would take in the hills above the town and the castle... off the beaten track. My mum was keen to accompany me on the walk and having studied the map (see link below) we felt we knew enough of the area and route to make it a success!
The day of our walk followed yet another storm and with more rain forecast, we knew conditions would be less than ideal, but we got our gear on and were determined to give it a try.
After a short debate as to whether we'd need to pack 'stolen bites in foil' and what mum should carry in a bag for this sort of trip, we set off in the car to the designated parking area.
When you normally carry a weighty handbag which has spare teabags, a mouth guard to use in the event of having to give a stranger mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and a pharmacy worth of medication, amongst hundreds of other items, leaving the house bagless must be a difficult thing to do. Mum settled for half a toilet roll and her phone. It turns out the tissue paper came in very handy and although the walk was very steep in parts, we didn't need the mouth guard.
The River Gele
The first leg of the walk is alongside the River Gele (originally Gelau meaning the blade of a sword or tip of a spear in Old Welsh apparently). This part of the walk was more treacherous than it should have been due to the fact that although there was a path along the river, weeks of wet Welsh weather (Storm Gerrit to be precise) caused very slippery, boggy conditions. This is where the tissue paper came in as mum slipped numerous times and ended up muddied and bloodied within minutes. Be ware of the brambles and thorns here!
Firm Underfoot
The next part of the walk took us across a boggy field (as pictured above) to a road and pathways (phew!) leading upwards, past woodland and ancient dry stone walls with old ruined buildings nestled amongst modern cottages and farms.
By now, we had expected to have seen at least one 'limestone waymarker', as promised on the website but the only thing close to this was a stone stump situated across the road from the field. It had no markings on whatsoever. However, being a well-prepared pair, we had printed a copy of the map and although it was getting soggier from the periodical drizzle, it was keeping us on track at this point.
It was also here that we first encountered other human beings, as we stopped to catch our breath due to the steep incline, some friendly dog walkers passed and said hello - one of them we would encounter again later and thankfully she got us back on track!
Tricky to Navigate
Once we reached the top of this particular hill the map showed two routes - one through ancient woodland, within which was an iron age hill fort (just a mound of grass now) and the other basically went around this woodland. As we were grateful to have some tarmac underfoot, we stuck to the intended route, which led us past horses on either side and through farmland. Again, still no waymarkers and nothing to indicate a right of way, we were unsure of this part of the walk but we carried on and eventually the lady mentioned above appeared out of the other side of the woods and pointed us in the right direction. By now the sky was a bit brighter and a rainbow appeared. Some of the photos show this part of the walk with dramatic skies and sheep - obviously Wales!
Gwrych Castle
This path now led us past one of the entrances to the castle and the golf course, before reaching the centre of Abergele Town and high street.
We did enter the Castle grounds, past the farm and with the golf course stretching out either side of the main path to the castle but only to take photographs. More on Gwrych Castle below.
From here, we walked along the high street to St. Michael's Church. The previous night, when looking at the route we would take, we had read about a memorial in the grounds of the church, dedicated to victims of a rail accident in 1868 and at the site of a mass grave.
1. Do this walk in the summer.
2. If you go between Christmas and New Year, you won't need stollen bites but you will need shoes with a good grip and waterproof clothing (to be honest, in Wales you might need these at anytime).
3. End the walk at the castle when it is open and you can explore inside - possibly after a quick wander into the town centre for a pit stop at one of the cafes or pubs.
Abergele is home to the once-magnificent Gwrych Castle, a 19th-century folly built on the site of a 12th century Norman Castle.
The castle is now a Grade 1 listed country house built between 1812 and 1822. During World War II the castle was requisitioned as part of Operation Kindertransport. It was sold in 1946 and then again in 1968 when it became an entertainment centre with jousting, banquets and markets taking place in the grounds. Unfortunately, the castle was allowed to slowly decline and was closed to the public in 1985. In 1990, new buyers intended to an opera centre and hotel but this never happened and instead it was stripped of all assets and vandalised.
My parents visited the castle during the 1970s and remember the grandeur - ornate furnishings and magnificent interiors. Subsequently, when visiting again recently, they were dismayed to see first hand how the castle had been so severely vandalised and neglected. It was around this time that I saw a TV programme where the castle was featured and the programme outlined how there was now a charity fundraising to restore it to its former glory. This charity (Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust) was founded by a then 12 year old boy who was appalled at the destruction. Due to fundraising and money from the National Lottery Heritage Fund the castle was purchased in 2018 on behalf of the nation. Another reason to visit when the castle is open and contribute to the restoration!
Click on the link below to find out more about the castle past and present...