I have split this post into 2 parts as there are so many photographs,
up early, and yes the shoes are clean!
the view from the hotels window where we ate breakfast,
we walked past the restaurant we visited last night,
a quick pose,
I walked across the street where a display of slate wagons and mention of the local slate mine was made,
in case you do not know, slate has been mined in Wales for over 1,800 years, I had thought for maybe 500 or even 600 years but never 1,800!
we left our hotel and started our walk into town,
and passed this fearsome tree stump,
scary dairy!
one of the many mountain streams,
that run into the lake,
a bit of a grey start to the day,
still closed as it was early, the Honey Farm shop,
when lost look for a signpost,
in Welsh and English,
I think this house needs a bit of TLC!
a first for myself, a new Royal Enfield Himalayan,
Diana needed a pair of waterproof over trousers, we had tried a number of stores already, always with two results, the right price but 3 or 4 sizes too big, or the right size at £80 or £90 plus, as we only want them for just a couple of times a year, that is really too much, the hunt will continue,
the houses and shops here,
so gayly coloured,
my sort of shop,
so much here for my man attic,
this van was so neat,
it looked like a normal camper van,
but inside it had its own wood burning stove with chimney,
I chatted to the owner who explained she and her daughter have a home in town, but just as a postal address, the van is their actual home as they spend several months a year travelling in it, as it happens they are just getting ready to visit Scotland,
the mist/cloud looking like it is here to stay,
which is a shame as we have tickets to go up the mountain later,
we tried another camping/outdoor shop, still no luck for Diana,
a choo-choo train flower bed,
we followed the path down to the lake, where there was a kayak boating adventure school,
the girls strike the pose,
both Steve and myself were amazed at how clear the water was in Llyn Padarn,
a slight breeze meant that is was not as still as the lake we saw yesterday,
the girls strike the pose,
as do we,
well these things just have to be done,
no not the Llyn Padarn monster, just a couple of wild swimmers with their safety buoys,
another theme flower garden,
and another, what a great way to repurpose an item that would have been thrown away,
we followed the path along the lakeside,
the idea is to all stand up and row in time,
in perfect unison, which judging by the splashes, shouts and laughter does not happen very often,
the girls have another pose,
and then my attention was swept away as I heard the unmistakable toot-toot of a steam engine,
and there it was,
we had already checked the time of the trains and there were no more running until next summer, I guess just an out of season trial run after some maintenance,
the clouds starting to look very dramatic,
one more for the album,
I never did find out what this commemorated,
another nice flower bed,
by now the honey shop had opened,
the building I had previously mentioned need a bit of TLC, was actually the farm,
my bad!
another repurposed flower garden,
we are staying here!
the now abandoned slate mine,
the station for the steam train,
we had seen earlier going past the lake now all locked up for the winter,
but this train was not, we are taking the train to about half way up Snowdonia, it does not go to the top, the reason given for stopping at the half way station and retuning to the bottom is because of covid, going to the top of the mountain is not possible, I guess the virus is ultra transmittable at high altitudes,
we were a bit early for the train,
as we crossed the stream,
that flowed past the station,
and here we are,
the girls just had too!
there is a café,
and shop selling souvenirs,
in the distance,
the train shed and engineering workshop,
we had already bought tickets, but some were still available at the ticket office,
as we were a tad early,
we crossed the road to this coffees stall, as they support the mountain rescue service,
a quick look for fish in the stream,
coffee is now served,
as it happens I did not see any fish,
there were six passengers per compartment,
but as the compartments were open,
it was masks on all of the time,
we will be off soon!
it seems strange having a photograph taken wearing a mask, but there it is,
all set and we ware off, a guard at the front, the engine and engineer at the rear,
plenty to look at on the right,
and left,
we started to climb very rapidly,
because the train is a rack railway,
also called a rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway, the design is for steep grade railways, there is a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails, like the one above, the trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with the middle rack rail,
on the way up, we met a train on the way down,
if it seems strange to have a guard at the front of the train, in the distance is one reason why,
sheep on the line!
a few blasts on the hooter and the sheep move, as an aside the sheep here seem to have exceptionally long tails,
we are really climbing now,
it almost seems like the rails are going over a cliff,
another down train waiting for us at the crossover,
there are two cross overs up to the half way stage,
looking at the cog tracks,
it amazes me how they move to let trains go up or downhill and the cogs keep in mesh,
it is a long way down!
and here we are,
at Clogwyn station which stands at 2,556 ft (779 m),
we stopped here for 30 minuets,
a look at the diesel engine,
the steam ones had already been retired for the winter,
this is really scary dairy,
there are no safety barriers,
if you get too close to the edge and slip, you will arrive at the bottom a lot faster than the train!
the weather had taken a huge turn for the better,
it was jackets off time,
the double cogged rails, looking to me a real mystery as to how they match up when the points change,
the journey up takes 45 minutes,
it does not look it, but Diana is so close to the edge,
I kept well back,
time for a pose,
or two,
another couple kindly took this for us,
it really was a glorious day,
time for a few group photographs,
the girls really enjoying themselves,
maybe next time we visit we will make it to the summit,
there are no facilities here,
well I just had to!
they say that on a clear day like this,
from the summit you can actually see Ireland,
Diana, Steve and Kai,
decided to walk down, for myself I know my knees would just give me so much pain I would not even think of trying the 2 hour walk down,
so it was goodbye to them,
as I settled into the train,
I am sure it is safe, but whenever I see an engineer with a hammer whacking a piece of track, it is just a little unnerving,
but then I am not in the train that is behind us coming down,
the cogged tracks for trains going up,
and now coming down,
this is the path that Steve and the girls will be taking,
they could not have picked a better day for the walk,
all I needed now was the guard,
they were off,
as the train left the station,
the photographs do not give a real impression of how nice the views really are,
the track,
winding its way downhill,
as some mist started to form below the train,
we passed a couple of trains going up,
it seemed a lot quicker going down,
arriving at the station I took a couple of photographs of the cog driving wheels,
that were on another platform,
I had a couple of hours to kill before everyone had walked down,
from up there, if you would like to see the rest of our second day at Snowdon, just click the Older Posts on the bottom right of the page.
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