History & Heritage

The Welsh language is spoken by the majority of people in Snowdonia, and most of us conduct our daily lives through the medium of Welsh.. It is the oldest spoken language in Europe and came to Britain over two thousand years ago with the Celtic tribe, who migrated westwards from central Europe and settled over much of Britain. With the coming of the Romans the language co existed with Latin for five hundred years, but with the invasion of the Anglo Saxons the Celts were forced westwards taking their language with them. Two strands of the tongue evolved with the Gaelic being spoken in Ireland and the high north of Scotland. From the Scottish Lowlands down through Cumbria, Wales, and the marches to Cornwall, the spoken language was Brython. Though, by the 15th century the language had retreated to Wales and Cornwall, many Welsh names like Glasgow, Strathclyde, Malvern and Dover show how widespread the language once was. Many of our guests are pleasantly surprised to hear how widespread the use of the language still is in the area.

Here are a few words and phrases to get you started. Please have a go; it’s fun and it will be appreciated by the locals. Remember that Welsh is pronounced phonetically, with every letter sounded.

Croeso – Welcome

Bore da – Good morning

Pnawn da – Good afternoon

Nos da – Good night

Diolch – Thanks

Diolch yn fawr – Thank you very much

Os gwelwch yn dda – Please

Sut ydach chi? –  How are you?

Man, over many millennia, has made his mark on the local landscape. Bryn Cader Faner, one of the best-preserved bronze age burial sites in Europe, lies on the hill a couple of miles from the house, and there are many prehistoric settlements and burial cairns, many joined by a ten-mile bronze age path. When walking these ancient paths, one often wanders how life must have been like for our forefathers who walked the same ways all those centuries ago. Harlech Castle, completed by Edward 1 in 1287, as part of the iron ring of castles around North Wales, still stands imperious on its rocky outcrop. Owain Glyndwr, the last prince to rule an united Wales, held a parliament here in 1404, and later the brave stand of the defenders during the Wars if the Roses was commemorated by that famous march of the Men of Harlech. During the civil war the castle held out in the Royalist cause and was the last castle in Britain to fall.

Apart from Edwards’ castles there are several native Welsh castles, well worth a visit. The tranquil setting of Castell y Bere near Abergynolwyn, to the south, belies its turbulent past, and Dolwyddelen castle, built by Llywelyn the Great stands sentinel at the head of the Conway valley. Dolbadarn castle, in Llanberis, was also built during this period, and is also well worth a visit. Another link with the civil war can be found a few miles away in Llanbedr at the head of the lovely Nantcol valley. Maesygarnedd farm was the home of Cromwell’s brother in law John Jones, who signed the death warrant of Charles Ι, and was to pay for this on the scaffold on the return of Charles П.

Visitors with an interest in the Arthurian legend will find plenty to intrigue them. Legend has it that Dinas Emrys, near Beddgelert, was the site where the red dragon slayed the white dragon, and where the boy Merlin first showed his magic powers. The site of Arthur’s last battle lies high on the slopes of Snowdon, on the Watkin path, and his knights lie in a nearby cave awaiting his return. The valley leading up to the spot is Cwm Tregelan (the valley of the town of the dead ) and the gap between the summit of Snowdon and Lliwedd is called Bwlch y Saethau ( the Gap of the Arrows )

One very tangible links with the past are the old drovers roads. Over the centuries these brave and hard men would drive animals and birds to the markets of England and return with money and goods to bolster the economy of a very poor area. It has been passed down in local folklore that the peasant farmers would exist on gruel whilst sending their animals to grace the plates of the landed gentry in the prosperous south. Over time the drovers expanded their businesse to carrying money and setting up banks and also providing safe passages to people who were scared to face long journeys to London on their own. This allowed many drovers to become rich men in their own right. Probably the most famous drover’s way in the area is the track over from Harlech to Dolgellau using the old bridge Pont Scethin.

Morfa Harlech National Nature Reserve is one of the most important actively growing dune systems in Britain and one of only a handful in Wales.

Dunes like these with bare sand areas are becoming increasingly rare.

This impressive coastal landscape is one of our richest natural treasures and home to a diverse range of plants and animals, all especially adapted to life at the edge of the sea.

Together with Morfa Dyffryn National Nature Reserve in the south, the two reserves form an almost continuous area of sand dunes along the coastline.

Sand dunes support a range of rare flowers. In spring and summer keep an eye out for the three-coloured dune pansy, the pyramidal orchid or even the scarce bee orchid.

You may also be lucky enough to see a maiden pink.

In autumn, there are displays of late flowering plants such as autumn gentians and autumn ladies tresses within the dunes. Look out for unique fungi growing in the dunes, too!

A home for scarce insects.  When in flower, the dry dune grasslands are home to a number of butterflies and moths, such as the six-spot burnet moth and the common blue and small copper butterflies.  Other insects such as some of our rarest mining bees and solitary wasps depend on bare sand and you may spot a sand lizard, too.

Birds

Ringed plover nest on the beach from March – July so please try not to disturb them!

Birds such as the skylark and stonechat breed in the dunes, with redshank and lapwing using the saltmarsh.

In winter wading birds such as oystercatcher, dunlin and sanderling feed along the shoreline, and wildfowl make use of the estuaries and saltmarsh.

Information copies from: –

https://naturalresources.wales/days-out/places-to-visit/north-west-wales/morfa-harlech-national-nature-reserve/?lang=en

Snowdonia National Park was established in 1951 and is the second largest of the 11 National Parks in England and Wales. The Park covers 2,132 square km (823 square miles) and stretches from Cardigan Bay’s High Water Mark in the west, to the Conwy Valley in the east and from the River Dyfi and its estuary in the south to the coast of Conwy Bay as far as Conwy in the north.

The boundary map shows the extent of the National Park boundary. The Snowdonia National Park takes its name from Snowdon which, at 1085m (3,560 feet), is the highest peak in Wales and England. In Welsh, Snowdon used to be called Yr Wyddfa Fawr (the Great Tomb or the Great Throne) or Carnedd y Cawr (the Cairn of the Giant). Nowadays it is simply called Yr Wyddfa, but the various names bear testament to a land steeped in legends, history and tradition. This is the ancient Kingdom of Gwynedd, the heart of Wales and the stronghold of ‘Cymraeg’, the Welsh Language. The Welsh name for the National Park is Eryri (The place of eagles).

The old cafe on the summit of Snowdon, designed by Sir Clough Williams Ellis of Portmeirion fame, and built in 1933, has been replaced with a brand new building, and whatever your views about futuristic buildings on top of the highest mountain in Wales and England is offers very welcome shelter to walkers and train riders alike from the elements when the weather closes in. The new cafe is called Hafod Eryri.

Snowdonia is synonymous with extensive areas of windswept uplands and jagged peaks, the “raison d’être” for its National Park designation. The nine mountain ranges cover approximately 52% of the Park and include many peaks that are over 3000 feet (915m). Apart from the beauty and charm of its high mountains, Snowdonia has inspiring natural and semi-natural habitats. It is a delightfully varied landscape of steep river gorges, waterfalls, passes and green valleys. Remnants of the once common oak, ash, rowan and hazel woodlands are found scattered throughout the Park whilst the beautiful Dyfi, Mawddach and Dwyryd estuaries and 23 miles of coastline and sandy beaches contribute to the overall diversity of habitat forms. This range of habitats is recognised nationally and internationally by the numerous designations ranging from Local Conservation Areas and Sites of Special Scientific Interest to Special Areas of Conservation and the Dyfi Estuary which is a proposed World Biosphere Site.

A few miles down the road we have two of the most beautiful valleys in Wales. Cwm Bychan and its parallel sister valley Cwm Nantcol. The road leading to these valleys turns off the A496 in Llanbedr, and gives easy access to the high mountains. At the head of the narrow wooded valley, Cwm Bychan, lies a lovely brooding lake under the cliffs of Carreg y Saeth (The Stone of the Arrow). Beyond the lake there is parking in a field at the start of the path leading to the Roman Steps. Though not Roman, the series of stone steps were constructed in medieval times as a pack animal access over the hostile terrain from the hinterland onto the coastal plain.

From the main path one can digress by much fainter tracks onto the mountain to visit Llyn Morwynion ( Lake of the Maidens ) or Llyn Du ( Black Lake ) or even progress to the summit of Rhinog Fawr. But take care if the mist is down, the terrain is one of the most notorious in Britain for finding your way if you get lost.

Cwm Nantcol is a much broader open valley with the heather cloaked slopes of the Rhinog Mountains standing sentinel at its head. It is especially lovely in the spring when the newborn lambs are everywhere along the roadside. Several paths lead off into the hills, the most spectacular being the Bwlch Drws Ardudwy ( The door into Ardudwy), which is the pronounced gap between the two Rhinog. Five minutes into the valley you will find a farm trail, waterfall gorge, with plenty of parking and camping spaces. If a swim in a mountain stream and a nature walk is your idea of a perfect day,look no further.