Bus Trip to Barmouth

We opted to book at least two nights in Llangollen when we arrived yesterday but later agreed that we may well stay a bit longer (yet to be determined!) and explore some of the wider region. Alas, that did not take into account the weather, which today had but a few good moments.

The coast nearest gto here is quite unfamiliar to us and so we took the T3 bus from just below the canal to Barmouth, passing through places such as Corwen, Bala and Dolgellau. The trip took two hours each way and the road was very winding almost the whole time. 

At first the A5 road followed closely the Cambrian Heritage Railway to Corwen. Here we had the first experience of seeing our driver squeeze the bus through some seemingly impossible narrow streets. Just one improperly parked car would bring the whole town to a standstill. Like most places, every feasible on street parking space is designated with great care.

From here we passed through nothing but tiny hamlets, many with their own small church or chapel and extensive graveyard, well tended in most cases.

Bala was immediately followed by its eponymous lake, the largest natural lake in Wales. It already held that record before Jessop and Telford made improvements to increase the  water holding in order to supply the Ellesmere Canal, later renamed the Llangollen Canal. As we know from the flow that we battled against n the way up, especially yesterday, it still is an important water supply but now also for domestic uses as well.

From Dolgellau it was another half an hour to the coast but for some time we were close to the edge of the estuarial inlet. Here Afon Mawddach ends it journey to the sea bringing water down from Snowdonia.

As soon as we arrived at Barmouth walked down to the promenade where we quickly opted for coffee at the Pavilion Cafe. The seafront is typical of English and Welsh resorts with their roots in the times when railways first enabled working families to have holidays away from home. We were surprised how quiet it seemed, almost out-of-season instead of just approaching to main school holiday period. Even the funfair rides were silent.

On large group had commandeered a section of the beach and in traditional manner stuck to their mats, windbreaks etc whatever the weather.

 

Looking to the other end of the beach, the sand was all but isolated. By now there was a glimmer of hope in the weather - the low cloud over the hills hung around but it was warm enough for Mile to sit on one of the many benches on the promenade - not may other takers. But it was pleasant enough. 

Whilst he sat and read a book, Christine continued on the the end of the prom where, looking inland upriver, she could not only see the few sailing boats moored here but also the spectacular railway bridge that connects the Cambrian coast to Shrewsbury and Birmingham (trains every hour)

Almost the only significant feature along the front is the substantial lifeboat station where crew were keeping the boat ready for action. Sign of the times: the only tool that we could them using was a laptop!

We walked the short distance into the centre of town looking for somewhere to have a snack lunch. The shops and cafes all fitted in with the seaside resort atmosphere with nit a lot of variation. In the end we went back to the Pavilion as we could sit outside, under cover, and look out to sea.

By the time we had finished and started to wander in the other direction of the promenade, rain swiftly arrived, visibility of the hills vanished and we sheltered for a while on platform seats at the station, which is only a short hop from the bus stop.

Our plan now was to take the first part of the return bus to Dolgellau as the timetable seemed to suggest that the next through bus to Llangollen was much later. The planned wander to the riverside gardens and tea in the town centre  was washed out and we suddenly realised that the T3 bus service continued in a few minutes, but with a different bus. We would also have to change to a T3C at Corwen. Spending two hours in pouring rain with no guarantee of a sheltered place to read did not persuade us not to board the next bus immediately!

And so we returned to the boat. Expecting to be rather later back, Mike had the morning before we left prepared a beef mince pasta bake that could just be heated up when needed. UK weather quickly causes even the best plans to evaporate.