EAST CHESHIRE RAMBLERS
THE East Cheshire Ramblers enjoyed a recent sunny weekend which was centred in the Welsh coastal resort of Porthmadog.
Two long walks were on offer and on the Saturday the party set off on the Ffestiniog Railway for the ride from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog.
The 13.5-mile long narrow gauge railway is a major tourist attraction and was built between 1833 and 1836 to transport slate from quarries at Blaenau Ffestiniog down to the coast at Porthmadog where it was shipped all over the world. In its early days the full railway trucks ran down to the coast by gravity and there were special wagons to carry horses but empty trucks had to be pulled back to Blaenau Ffestiniog by these horses.
Steve Hull led the group using paths which often ran parallel with the railway with a stop for lunch overlooking the Tanygrisiau Reservoir and an afternoon break at the tea room at Tan-y-Bwlch Station. The walk continued via woodland paths, pausing to admire the lovely views west of Rhyd before descending to Penrhyndeudraeth and entering Porthmadog via The Cob, an embankment built in 1810 by William Madocks over which runs the narrow gauge railway and a main road.
The walk on Sunday was led by Peter and Georgie Everson and involved a car shuttle along the coast between Nefyn and Trevor. Starting in Trevor on the Lleyn Peninsula the group followed a spectacular section of the Wales Coast Path west with a stiff ascent first to reach Bwlch yr Eifl.
Some of the party opted here to ascend Yr Eifl where the views from the 564 metre summit were well worth the effort.
After a long descent the groups were reunited at the Welsh Language Centre at Nant Gwrtheyrn.
This was the lunch stop and being surrounded by high hills was quite a suntrap.
Heading westwards towards Nefyn, the grouped paused at the ancient and secluded church at Pistyll. Dedicated to St Beuno, a 6th century hermit a candlelit service was about to commence to celebrate Lammas which is a thanksgiving service for the harvest.
Continuing on good paths the group reached Nefyn shortly before 4pm and was grateful the Maritime Museum in St Mary’s Church kindly stayed open longer for everyone to enjoy afternoon refreshments which rounded off nicely a lovely weekend.