Llanberis :: The Gift that keeps on giving

Hi there everyone 😀

Whilst we were at the lodge in August we had yet another big day out to Llanberis. It’s somewhere we’ve been numerous times and we just keep on finding new things to see and do.

This time the plan was to have a walk up to the old Quarrymen’s Hospital, as it didn’t seem to be too far a walk for us and it looked like there could be some good views to be had … both of it and away from it.

We parked on the slate museum car park and were soon on our way … walking in the opposite direction to normal, heading away from the museum and through a gap signposting us to the hospital.

Within a couple of minutes we were in a beautiful little spot on the lake. It was really quiet and would be just perfect for picnicking and paddling …

We carried on up towards the hospital, stopping part way to take in the glorious views across the lake …

… and up to the hospital …

We hadn’t been particularly planning to make our way up the steps to the hospital but we were thrilled to see that the door was actually open so we couldn’t not go and investigate. 

Whilst the steps weren’t as bad as they looked … we did have a bit of a breather part way up … just to take in the views again 😜

… but we were soon at the top …

We have visited Llanberis loads of times and have never been lucky enough to find the hospital open … so to get to have a look round inside was a real treat for us …

We even got to have a look in the morgue …

The views back across the lake were just beautiful …

… and we could even see the steam train setting off for its trip up Yr Wyddfa …

We made our way back from the hospital along the top road, which took us past the old slate mining carts …

… and came out at the bottom by the lakeside steam railway.

Somewhere else we’d been wanting to find and have a look at was the diving pool and, whilst the gates were locked firmly shut, we could see an intriguing glimpse of what lay behind. 

We managed to find another way to view the pool, from the road above, and it really was a beautiful spot, well worth a look …

We headed back past the railway to the car and decided it was time to find somewhere for lunch …

We ended up at a place called Caban, which was right at the other end of the lake and ended up being a really good find.

We carried on from here, back around the other side of the lake, to the Dinorwic bus terminus, where we parked up and set out for a walk to the viewpoint.

It was a good path and the views looking back across the mountains were pretty amazing …

Before long we came upon some abandoned buildings, which were just fascinating …

Not far beyond the buildings and we took a right towards the viewpoint …

… where we came across these guys …

We were fascinated by the goats and hung around for ages just watching them … until they all made their way across the path in front of us and niftily made their way across the slate to wherever they were heading next …

We carried along to the end of the path and the viewpoint for more spectacular views across the to Dolbadarn Castle …

… and back up the valley and Llyn Padarn …

We retraced our steps to the main path and carried on a little bit further …

… before deciding it was time to head back …

It was a fabulous little walk and somewhere I think we will most definitely be visiting again. We’d loved it … and had been so lucky to see the goats up so closely.

We still haven’t ticked everything off of the list of things we want to see and do in Llanberis. We both really want to explore the quarry more and definitely want to see Anglesey Barracks … so we will definitely be back. 

It certainly remains one of our favourite places to visit in the mountains. 

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The Summer of ‘24

Hi there everyone 😀

Whilst the summer of 2024 won’t be remembered as being one of those glorious summers, with constant wall to wall sunshine and blue skies it did have its moments.

Officially summer begins on 20 June and we were to be found in the garden putting the finishing touches to our new raised bed … a job that has been on the list for the last few years …

Before we headed off to the lodge for a three week break in July I managed to make it to my monthly craft group … where I had my first go at felting, trying to recreate my favourite border from Powis Castle …

It was then nearly four weeks of friends, family and fun at our lodge on the Llyn Peninsular before coming home to plant our first plant in the new bed … a climbing rose, The Generous Gardener, we’d bought whilst we were away … another inspiration from Powis Castle …

… and to make the most of the French bean harvest …

There was a very nice afternoon tea at Coombe Abbey with some good friends …

… where … big news … I wore a dress …

There were a couple of ‘Bobby days’. Firstly to Shugborough with Mum and Jackie, Phil and Erin …

… and then just us and Bobby to the Museum of the Staffordshire Regiment …

We managed to squeeze in a family BBQ in the sunshine in between everyone’s holidays …

… after having a quick tidy up to make the garden look presentable …

We had the first flowers on the new climbing rose …

… and did a mega pot and saucer washing session …

There were some new additions to the house plant family with a bit of propagation going on …

… and a brand new purchase of one I’d been wanting to get hold of for quite some time …

It was then back to the lodge for another 10 days taking in the August Bank Holiday 

We came back for Martin to have a pre-op for an operation to replace one of his knees … he’s been on the list for just over a year … to find he had a surprise cancellation and we had just three days to prepare ourselves.

There was plenty of batch cooking done ahead of his op …

Then he was in for four days undergoing his total knee replacement procedure …

In between visiting I managed to make another craft group where this time we were making autumn garlands …

Martin is now home, recovering well and we are getting into a routine of exercises, pain meds and ice packs. Hopefully it won’t be too long before he is up and about testing out his new knee 🤞🤞🤞

And while, officially, summer isn’t over yet there is now definitely an autumnal feel in the air. It’s definitely feeling like it’s time to pack away the outdoor furniture cushions for this year … I think we’ve actually only managed to use them a couple of times. 

In fact … we’ve already had both the heating and the gas fire on 🙈🙈🙈

As always … autumn is looking to be a busy one, with lots still to do to bed the garden down for the winter, lots of birthday celebrations, including my 60th, and a special wedding anniversary celebration for good friends. Hopefully we will get a couple of sneaky visits back to the lodge in too. 

🌿🌱🍁🍂🌿🌱🍁🍂🌿🌱🍁🍂🍃🌿🌱🍁🍂