Motorhome Adventures 2016: Snowdonia

Arrived in Coed-y-Llwyn Caravan site after a two and a half hour drive from Brecon during which I managed not to lose the van once, so we actually arrived at the site together. We'd stopped a couple of times to let the cars which had been stuck behind us for miles go past. The second time, I noticed, the exact same car that had been behind me the first time was behind me again. If that car had showed up a third time I would have started getting very suspicious!

This is a smaller site with only one toilet block and no 24 hour radio. There seemed to be less children on bikes and I wondered if it was an adults only site at first, but we did see kids after a while. Perhaps these ones weren't allowed out to play in the rain like they seemed to be at the last place. There's a resident squirrel here, too.

The resident squirrel

Lunch options were somewhat limited. There was a pub called the Waterfall five minutes walk away but it was shut. Didn't open till 5.30pm. There didn't seem to be anything in the village and so we drove a bit further afield and were beginning to wonder if cafes and pubs that open at lunchtime even exist around here. We eventually followed a sign to a tourist attraction, thinking that surely there'd be a cafe near to that. There was, so we didn't go hungry.

The attraction concerned was the Ffestiniog railway, which Arthur was fascinated by as he's got some board game somewhere in which players build it. It's a little narrow gauge railway with steam trains that runs from where we were, Blaenau, to Porthmadog (pronounced Port Madock). Decided we'd take the trip next day.

In the evening the Waterfall in was open so we went and ate there. Not the most atmospheric place, but the food was good and so, surprisingly, was the wine. The wait staff all appeared to be young girls who weren't old enough to drink, and they didn't seem well versed in the kinds of things punters are going to ask them. "What's the soup of the day?" "I have to go ask." "What wines do you do by the bottle?" "I'll have to go and ask." The people on the next table (who were sitting there writing up their travel journal and sticking things in it between courses) asked if the gammon steak came with ham or pineapple - she had to go and ask. Suspect they were a new intake of students.

With regard to the wine, we were asked if we wanted a small bottle or a big bottle, a big bottle being the usual standard size. They only did one white wine in a big bottle so we were a little unsure if it would be any good, but it was actually very nice.

Next morning we go back to catch the little train. There are only four a day and if you get one any later than the first one at about 11.40 you'd not have time to have lunch or look around much before having to catch the train back. Massive queue for tickets which moved painfully slowly - I began to fear we wouldn't get on.

We did, however, and set off on a scenic ride through forests and little villages where the train goes so close to the houses that you can see inside people's windows. Also on the way, a park bench and a hut on a grass hill that was evidently a platform (there are request stops where you have to wave to the driver so he'll stop, and people wanting to get on have to change the signal); a sign warning people of dragons, a rubber duck floating in a trough in a wood in the middle of nowhere and a structure made out of sticks.

Arthur on the train

Views from the train

There was time for lunch and a wander round Portmadog which has a pretty harbour and lots of shops, before getting the train back. It's more obvious on the way back that the train is going uphill, and that on the way to Porthmadog it saves power by using the engine brakes and gravity while on the way back it uses the engine. A family sitting behind us were going on about how the track goes up in a spiral which apparently starts at a white building; they were getting their kids to look out for the building.

The train

Porthmadog

The next day we visited Portmeiron. I'd heard of it and fancied going there. It seems to be most famous because the programme "The Prisoner" was filmed there. Arthur used to watch it but it's a tad before my time, so I'd never seen it, but liked the idea of the quirky location. I used to think it was an actual town but in fact it's a holiday resort, designed by a chap called Clough Williams-Ellis in the 1920s. He looks like a total eccentric, striding around in plus fours and yellow socks. (Later on I was playing a quiz game on my ipad and the question came up, which tourist attraction was designed by Clough Williams-Ellis! Spooky. Before today, I wouldn't have known.)

He started off with just a dilapidated hotel and built the whole thing around it. Italiante style, they call it, and looks very continental with domes and towers and brightly painted buildings. There are lots of murals and statues. Apparently some of the facades were donated from crumbling stately homes and incorporated into the mix.

We arrived in perfect time to take the free orientation tour in which we learned about all the celebrities who'd stayed there through the years. Noel Coward went there because he was finding it hard to come up with a light-hearted play in war torn London, and the result of his stay was "Blythe Spirit". George Harrison wanted to stay in a cottage overlooking the cliff, but was talked out of it by his manager because the safety rail to the balcony was very low and they were afraid he'd have too much to drink and topple over it. Jools Holland is a regular visitor since going there to film a spoof of "The Prisoner" and falling in love with the place.

Various views of Portmeiron

Some of the film "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" was filmed in the local countryside, since at the time it was impossible to get into China. The Chinese children were bussed in from Chinatown in Liverpool and were forbidden from talking on the soundtrack because their Scouse accents would detract from the authenticity of the film! A result of this was that Portmeiron has a gold Buddha statue left behind by the film makers.

Found somewhere for lunch and got chatting to a little old lady who shared our table. She was on a coach tour from Leeds, and was feeding the birds (a couple of blackbirds, a robin and a greenish one that was probably a blue tit) with her left over food.

After lunch, we went for a walk in the woods and found the Chinese lake and a fake lighthouse.

The Chinese Lake

A fake lighthouse

We ate in the Waterfall Inn again. It seemed the young girls had the night off and a more experienced adult was serving.