Walk with us :: Criccieth … End to End

Hi there everyone 😀

I remember the first ever time we visited Criccieth … it was not the best experience. In fact we couldn’t see ourselves visiting again … never mind it becoming a firm favourite 🙈

It was a good few years ago and we called in on a very wet and miserable day on our way home … long before we bought the lodge. We parked up on the front … overlooking a bleak and grey sea and it just felt so glum.

Now we see it so very differently. There is lots of colour … there is plenty to see and do and it is now one of our favourite places to visit … for lots of different reasons.

After visiting for four years you’d think we’d have seen all that it has to offer … but during our July visit we managed to find a footpath we hadn’t explored before. 

We had two good walks on two separate visits, but I’m joining the two together … for an end to end coastal walk that we will definitely do again.

We started at the car park at the far end of the western beach. We love this side of town with its brightly coloured houses and promenade by the sea …

It’s easy to get down onto the beach … which is quite pebbly, but makes for a nice walk …

… before coming back up the slope at the castle end of the beach …

The agapanthus in the little seating area always look spectacular in the summer and it’s a great place to eat fish and chips in an evening …

We then wander along the road, up the hill, passing The Castle fish and chip shop, before getting to the post box by Cadwaladers … the ice cream parlour. The toppers are always fabulous and this time we were treated to this fabulous mermaid …

The road takes us down to the other side of the castle and, what tends to be the busier beach …

… where we walk out onto the breakwater …

… and sometimes find a spot with a view for a pitstop …

We then carry on along the promenade, passing more agapanthus …

It’s a lovely walk along the prom to Dylan’s and this time we decided to explore the footpath running alongside the railway … which starts at the back of Dylan’s.

The path skirts the footgolf course and gives a completely different view of the castle …

On our first walk along this footpath … once we reached the crossing over the railway … we headed onto the beach and made our way back along the sand …

The next time we decided to cross the railway line and see if we could walk as far as Black Rock Sands …

To start with the footpath hugs the side of the railway line …

There were so many, very early, plump ripe blackberries … we just helped ourselves …

The views across to the mountains were spectacular …

… as was the view back to Criccieth …

We even got to see a train …

Eventually the path crosses back over the railway line and splits in two. One way takes you around the land side of Black Rock and the other towards the beach. As the land side looked like a bit of an upward drag we opted for the beach side …

We soon realised that the tide was not out far enough for us to actually make it to the beach … but a scramble up the rock and there were some great views to be had towards Black Rock beach …

… out to sea …

… and back towards Criccieth …

It was a really lovely spot and would have been perfect for picnicking … but that wasn’t on the cards for us this time.

Whilst the tide wasn’t out far enough to walk round to Black Rock beach … it was out far enough for a lovely walk back to Criccieth along the sand … sadly it wasn’t quite paddling weather, but maybe next time as that would be just lovely …

Eventually we were back at Dylan’s … where we found a sheltered spot for some light refreshment …

It had really been a lovely walk. We will definitely do it again … hopefully when the tide is just a little lower so we can get just that bit further 😀

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Walk with us :: Above Cwmorthin

Hi there everyone 😀

We must have been feeling very enthusiastic … as the day following our walk up to Anglesey Barracks … we were back out on another adventure.

It was another glorious day and this time, instead of taking the path across the bridge and away from the waterfall … which leads to the Stwlan Dam … 

… we took the steep path up on the right …

The path follows the river and the views looking back are just amazing …

As we climbed upwards we passed pools that were perfect for a bit of adventurous cold water dipping …

… though, because of the lack of rain, the river was barely a trickle …

It will definitely be good to come back after we’ve had some rain and see how different things look.

Towards the top of the path we came across the first of the significant quarry building ruins and the lake overflow system …

Once at the lake we opted for the left hand path … unfortunately you can’t walk all the way round …

This way took us past the ruined quarry building …

… and alongside the lake …

Towards the end of the lake the path leads away to the left …

… and the ruin of the old chapel …

Further along … before the path starts to head up across the hills … we came to Cwmorthin Terrace … where the quarrymen used to stay …

This is clearly now a sheep shearing spot too … with a fair series of pens and gates …

… and evidence of recent activity …

After having a good look around we decided to retrace our steps and make our way back …

We decided not to explore the old quarry manager’s house … tucked away off the path in the trees …

… but had a slow amble back along the path … it was just beautiful … pretty warm by now though …

Once back at the car we grabbed our picnic and found a spot on the rocks by the waterfall for lunch …

… and I just had to dip my very warm feet in the water … which felt absolutely amazing …

We were both pretty much done in but we were so pleased we’d managed this walk. It was also fabulous to find a waterfall with some water in it 😀

We will definitely be back to this one again and maybe next time we will have a look at the other side of the lake … which also looks like a very good spot for paddling 💦

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