STAGE 6 - Day 31 - Portmeiron to Llanbedr

This final stage of my challenge is unlike the others in that it does not follow a linear route. When my dad came to Snowdonia in 1962 he based himself in a few hostels for several days each and hitch-hiked back and forth all around the area. This is the map he drew of his journey.

As you can see it’s a bit of a mess! So for my journey I am doing all the walks and seeing the same places he did but in a different order, as I’m drawing a path that connects all his dots without doubling back on myself. Therefore during this section I will be quoting from his journal haphazardly, and out of sequence, so you'll just have to bear with it! If you want to read his journal in full you can find it on the “About Welsh Challenge” section of the website.

Our tale resumes at Portmeirion where my friend Andy and I spent the morning exploring. By now the daytime visitors were there and the cafes and gift shops open. We browsed The Prisoner Shop, which was set in the house that had belonged to Number 6.

Next we followed a path up the cliffs, still part of the extensive grounds. High above we found a watchtower with great views over the village.

From here we went along a long and twisting path through the forest until we reached another viewpoint, high above the estuary…

…then returned to the village and took one last look around, before leaving by the gates and past Castle Deudraeth.

Incidentally, top marks for anyone who already spotted the Aleksei Navalny t-shirt - worn in sympathy for a real life Prisoner of the hour.

A nice touch was the message upon leaving Portmeirion… “Be Seeing You”.

And then it was time to say “Be Seeing You” to Andy who was driving back home, and to begin today's walk.

I walked along the road through the pretty village of Penrhyndeudraeth before joining the coastal path atop a long straight embankment with green fields on one side and salt marshes on the other. The whole way I was treated to wonderful sweeping views out over the Dwyryd Estuary with the mountains behind.

Before turning the corner of the bay to head South I caught one last glance at Portmeirion in the distance, a small cluster of gleaming turrets nestled into a secluded bay.

At this point the path goes inland to avoid a nature reserve, along an old military road then across fields to Harlech, and here I rejoin my dad’s journey, after he hitch-hiked there from Ffestiniog.

I was blown away when I first saw the castle in the distance, standing mightily above the town. The pics don't show it well enough but it really does dominate the town. When built in 1274 it was right by the sea but the constantly growing sand dunes have now pushed it back almost half a mile.

I actually liked Harlech and wasn't disappointed but it, but then maybe he’d lowered my expectations! On the way out of the town however I passed a string of derelict buildings which made for unfortunate eyesores. The last pic is looking back at the town with the abandoned office block and hill visible on the right, the castle in the middle and the sand dunes in the foreground.

Whatever can be said about the town, Harlech Sands is absolutely gorgeous.

I walked atop the dunes (where I found one single lonely clump of sea holly), then crossed the Cambrian Coast railway line and climbed the (now very overgrown) concrete steps up the cliffs (faintly visible in the distance in the first pic below). At the top, around a bend, was Llanfair.

I passed by Llanfair but instead of taking the main road to Llanbedr I stuck to the coast path which took a diversion through the sleepy little village of Llandanwg and around the Artro river estuary. Along the way I met a couple from Shrewsbury who had just spent 2 weeks in Almwch (where I drove through yesterday on the North Coast of Anglesey) and who were now spending a final week in a caravan in Llandanwg, then a man with binoculars (last pic) watching curlews hunt for worms and crabs in the sand opposite.

After passing the tiny harbour and canoe club I reached Llanbedr.

I checked into Ty-Mawr, a hotel and pub, and one of the only 2 places to stay in Llanbedr, a small but lively little village where lots of people sat in the sun outside both of the pubs and chatted outside the village shop.

Having dropped my things off, I went to the shop and enquired about the fate of the former youth hostel there, and learned that it has been demolished and replaced with new flats, shown in the centre-left here over the bridge.

I went for a meal in the Victoria Inn, the other place in town, and sat in their sunny beer garden surrounded by families, kids and dogs. It was noisy but in a cheery way.

I was pretty shattered after that but there was no time to rest for I still had another 6 miles or so of walking to do to follow my dad’s steps that evening.

I set off towards Shell Island, passing the station which had now been renamed Llanbedr, but which is still a request stop. A sign tells you to hold your arm out clearly for the driver to see, something one doesn't expect to have to do to stop a train.

Just past this is the airport, no longer an RAF base but still used to train pilots for the RAF, and as a commercial airfield.

The causeway to Shell Island feels like (and indeed is) a very remote corner of the world. The sun was beginning to set and the blue mountains of Snowdonia looked tremendous under the skies shot with copper and gold.

There isn't much to see on Shell Island itself except for a sprawling caravan park and campsite. I walked through the site, past the park’s own pub, busy with groups sat inside and out, then across fields of tents and finally made it to the now-deserted beach, which felt like I was at the ends of the Earth. Before returning to the hotel the same way for a well-earned sleep, I sat for some time on the beach and watched a phenomenal sunset, and thought of my dad aged 19 sitting here, his whole life still ahead of him, with no idea that half a century later, a son he was still 15 years away from having would one day be sat here thinking of him!