B Roads to Beddgelert

With the morning it was time to leave the sleepy town of Builth Wells behind, and as the mile count begins to rise, so does the terrain around us. Having chatted with the campsite owners about our journey north it was decided that the satnav's route-choice left a little to be desired and as such, the road atlas came out for a better understanding of the way forward (plus the satnav can't show you nice lakes with lovely lay-bys to stop at and admire the view).

It was at this point in the holiday that our cravings for a bit of beach took hold. So a little detour (over some big hills) was chosen so we could head to the coast at Barmouth.

Onwards and upwards

Almost at the top!

Having only ever seen Barmouth in photographs, I was keen to see if the place was as pretty in reality. First, another toll bridge across the estuary to save some miles:

Then into town for a spot of lunch and a walk on the beach.

It felt very much like the town had already seen it's hay-day. There was an air of faded-splendour to the old parts of town; a small fishing port at one end near the railway bridge, and an impressive Victorian promenade at the other end of town. In between however seemed quite run-down and poor, missing the injection of life that comes from a hand-full of cafés, shops selling anything other than novelties and postcards, and hotels that aren't boarded-up.
One thing I loved was the Easter-island style figure-head nestled in the dunes looking out to sea - very photogenic...

So we had walked through town, back along the beach and killed around two hours here. Time to move on.

Heading north along the coast, weather improving, past Harlech and up towards Porthmadog, turning right to head deep into Snowdonia, it wasn't long before the roads narrowed, waterfalls became more impressive, and the spectacular scenery was turned up to eleven (more about this in the next post)...

At the Forest Holidays site at Beddgelert we were greeted with a lovely warm welcome by knowledgeable, friendly (but not over-bearing) staff who couldn't do enough to make us feel at home. Fresh bread was ordered for the following morning and within minutes we were pitched up in the trees - if you love being in the forest as much as me, you'll understand why I was grinning from ear to ear!

With mountain-biking right on the doorstep, a narrow-gauge railway line at the back of the van and camping in a forest with a short walk to the village (and it's pubs) we were truly in our element. More on the beauty of Beddgelert soon...