Snowdonia
Wales is one of the least visited countries in the UK yet parts of it are as beautiful as the Lake District, as spectacular as the Scottish Highlands and with historic sights to match anywhere. Maybe it suffers from an image problem, of dour, temperance having ‘dry’ counties
What comes to mind if someone suggests ‘Snowdonia’ in northwest Wales for a weekend away? Is it an image of soggy hikers in bright anoraks tramping through bleak hillsides or fanatics scrambling up mountains or perhaps dour villages blighted by unemployment?
I did see plenty of hikers toiling up Snowdon as I rattled passed them on the Snowdon Mountain Railway, which has been whisking the less energetic to the top of Britain’s highest mountain south of the Scottish Highlands since 1896.
The natural beauty of Snowdonia is undeniably stunning but I wondered what there was for the less energetic once they’ve done admiring it. Beside climbing, hiking, cycle tracks galore, pony trekking there are lakes and rivers at every turn. Industrial heritage might not sound interesting but plummeting down into the vast caverns of Llechwedd slate mine had a party of school children screeching as if they were on a white-knuckle ride. The narrow gauge and steam railway rides put a smile on the face of every passenger aged three to seventy.
The West Australian, March 2010
What comes to mind if someone suggests ‘Snowdonia’ in northwest Wales for a weekend away? Is it an image of soggy hikers in bright anoraks tramping through bleak hillsides or fanatics scrambling up mountains or perhaps dour villages blighted by unemployment?
I did see plenty of hikers toiling up Snowdon as I rattled passed them on the Snowdon Mountain Railway, which has been whisking the less energetic to the top of Britain’s highest mountain south of the Scottish Highlands since 1896.
The natural beauty of Snowdonia is undeniably stunning but I wondered what there was for the less energetic once they’ve done admiring it. Beside climbing, hiking, cycle tracks galore, pony trekking there are lakes and rivers at every turn. Industrial heritage might not sound interesting but plummeting down into the vast caverns of Llechwedd slate mine had a party of school children screeching as if they were on a white-knuckle ride. The narrow gauge and steam railway rides put a smile on the face of every passenger aged three to seventy.
The West Australian, March 2010
