North Wales

Friday 22nd May – A Trip South along the West Coast

If you watched the series “Under Salt Marsh” it was filmed in North Wales. The scene was set in a remote town called Morfa Halen which apparently was only accessible via a tidal access road. Well the actual town it was filmed in was Fairbourne which was our first stop. We arrived around high tide and Google took us on a 25 minute detour around the Mawddach estuary and into the town from the south. In the series this access was impassable as it would have been through a salt marsh. We also discovered that there wasn’t a tidal access road – just a small ferry boat. Well that’s TV for you.

First priority was lunch before we wandered along the sea wall, which also highlighted our first problem we had to manage in this holiday. Our aging dog Holly who is nearly 15 years old now and to be completely honest we didn’t think she would survive this long. Those of you that remember my blog from Cornwall last year might recall I tried to carry Holly in a Dog Rucksack – she wasn’t happy with that and jumped out. Plan B – I purchased a dog sling…

Surprisingly she liked it and I found it easier to carry her across my front which was nicely balanced with my camera bag on my back. The town itself wasn’t really worth visiting, but it is set is a nice location along the Mawddach Estuary.

We headed back north and planned a small detour to a derelict slate mine.

The first image obviously taken with my drone.

One last stop was to take a few snaps of the Caernarfon Castle from across the river.

So a relatively relaxed day which wasn’t expected as I woke up with a streaming cold and sore throat. But the fresh air has done me some good and tomorrow the weather is set to improve a lot, so we will probably tour around the Anglesey coastline to look for potential sunset locations.

Saturday 23rd May – Anglesey

We travelled here on Friday after a one night stop over near an old friend who lives in Stoke-on-Trent. We have 6 nights here before moving over to Snowdonia. So we have plenty of time to explore the Anglesey coastline. Getting up for sunrise (at 4am) isn’t very likely, so we planned to look for potential sunset locations. Our first spot was a lighthouse on the eastern tip of the island at Penmon Point. There is a toll charge of a few pounds for a car to travel the last few miles, but £7.50 for a Van and £12.50 for a motorhome (ouch). But the reason became apparent when we arrived. A lot of people camp overnight with many people taking their fishing gear. The café nearby would do very well with the breakfast trade as well.

When the tide is in, all the foreground around the Trwyn Du Lighthouse is covered by the sea as we discovered when we returned for sunset. The island offshore is Puffin Island, but it is protected and only boat trips around it, give any chance to see the wildlife. We had a light lunch in the café before heading up to the north of the island. Note: the toll charge is for the day, so we could return later without paying again.

Our next stop was Traeth Porth Wen Beach which has an old disused brickyard adjacent to the beach. Parking however was very tricky as it is reached via a narrow lane from the main road. There is parking at the junction but then we’d have several more miles to walk (not a tempting prospect whilst carrying our old dog). Unfortunately there was a film crew at the brickyard, so it was closed to the public for several weeks. So we just continued to the beach for the view.

Meanwhile Vanessa tried to capture a lovely little Stonechat that was keeping us company.

As we couldn’t visit the brickworks (which seems popular by the number of people we saw trying to get access) we moved onto the North Stack Lighthouse

Car parking was free for us as we were RSPB members which is adjacent to Elin’s Tower and gives a good vantage point for the lighthouse. It is possible to venture onto the peninsula at a charge, but dogs weren’t allowed, however this wasn’t our intention.

The first image was a basic photo, whereas the second image I slowed the shutter speed down to blur the water. We returned to the café at the carpark only to find it had just closed. So headed back to the motorhome for our evening meal before heading off again for our sunset location.

Unfortunately the sun disappeared behind a layer of cloud for the last 30 minutes before sunset, but that is the norm for us photographers.

Sunday 24th May – What to do in the Warmer Weather?

The title may seem like a silly question but we have to be very cautious with our 15 year old dog. So I thought a trip to a large National Trust garden just south of Llandudno would help by giving us more shade. So we arrived at Bodnant Gardens – free for us being NT members. First observation was that it was quite hilly, probably not a surprise as we were in Wales, but was now a challenge for me carrying her. Good job we travelled light by leaving our main camera ruck sacks behind. The gardens were extensive with some long walks, but we weren’t spending all day here, so took some shorter paths.

Getting some lunch was a real challenge as the place was packed and from the map there were only 3 refreshment locations. I think Vanessa queued for about 25 minutes and choice was limited, so we had to make do with a sausage roll and a cold drink. I managed to carry Holly back up from the bottom of the valley which I found a challenge in the higher temperature – after all I’m not getting any younger myself. On the way out we exited under a Laburnum Arch which was quite impressive.

Next we headed off to Conwy which of course has a very impressive castle around the town.

To give my neck a rest from carrying Holly (who weighs 12.5Kg) we put her in the dog pram to walk around the town. She wasn’t as happy in this, but at least I was more comfortable.

Conwy is a small town that didn’t take us long to walk around. So we ended up in a pub on the seafront for a cool drink.

We decided on giving the evening sunset shoot a miss as we were a little tired and Holly really needed a rest as well.

Monday 25th May – Relaxing Today with a Good Book

I’ve said it before, our main concern this holiday is the health of our dog and today was going to be the hottest day of the year. So we decided to have a rest day in the sun. Of course the other reason is that her two aging owners also needed a rest day. The plan was to eat early in the evening and head out for the late evening sunshine. Our first location was a distant view across the Menai Strait to the bridge from a conveniently placed lay-by.

Then we spotted people walking around a small churchyard in the left of the image. So we went in search of a closer viewpoint.

The timing was just about right as the light was fading though the graveyard. So we spent some time wandering around.

Then my thoughts moved to Infrared to see what impact that format might produce.

and when I turned around… The huge tree that stands at the entrance to the graveyard suddenly stood out with all the gravestones leading to it.

We returned to the car for one last stop before the light finishes for the day.

Caernarfon Castle from Anglesey in the late evening sun.

Tuesday 26th May – An even Hotter Day to visit Llanddwyn Island

We would have felt guilty resting up for 2 days in a row, especially as it wasn’t raining. So we decided to venture out to Llanddwyn Beach to look at the lighthouse on the island. The island is cut off by the tide so timing has to be considered which I why we haven’t visited this site in the evening for sunset. But today is our last day on Anglesey, so we decided to make the trip in the day time. Unfortunately it involved a 1.5 mile walk along the beach to get to the lighthouse.

It certainly gave me a workout by carrying Holly in the sling, but today I decided to leave the main camera bag behind; instead I took my small Sony compact camera and my Olympus Infrared camera in small waist bags. I was glad to be travelling light especially as the island is a mile in the distance in the first image. 3 miles along the sand wasn’t a fun trek.

Vanessa spotted a seagull diving, flying off and later dropping small crabs. She managed to get a photo with her smaller lens (also travelling light).

Everyone told us the island was really beautiful – but we thought is was just OK, but would have been much better in low evening light.

I did wonder if it would look better in Infrared …

Tomorrow we move onto the outskirts of Snowdonia so hopefully we’ll see a few mountains in the following posts.

Wed 27th May – Greeted in Snowdonia with a Thunderstorm

We arrived at our campsite near Betws-y-Coed after 1pm and it was still quite hot. So we set up camp and relaxed with a good book. After our evening meal, which was a superb Lidl steak, we headed out to a location used during the last ‘Landscape Artist of the Year’ competition on Sky. Using the ‘Sun Surveyor’ app the sun should be setting along the length of the Llanberis valley which should hopefully light up Dolbadarn castle and mountain behind it.

We arrived at the car park in plenty of time and the sun was shining. We only had a 10-15 minute walk to the location and set up cameras on tripods only to be greeted with a bank of grey clouds obscuring the sun. We waited, and waited, waited, but it didn’t look like clearing. So I grabbed a few photos to see what I could manage in post processing.

This first image shows clearly what was heading our way…

Unfortunately with no sunlight available most images just look flat as you can see from the next image below which also has a black and white version to compare with it.

The B&W has a bit more impact than the colour image.

I grabbed one more image before we headed back to the car to avoid the rain.

Timing was perfect, just as we left the carpark the heavens opened and we had lightning all the way back which also continued past 11pm. We’ll try this location again if conditions improve.

Thursday 28th May – Drifting through Snowdonia

Last night we were literally under the loudest thunderclap we’ve every heard, which was followed by an absolutely torrential downpour. So we weren’t really surprised that the internet was down this morning. Unfortunately I couldn’t check on the weather or review location details. So we wandered in to Betws-y-Coed alongside the stream to reccy a waterfall in the town. Vanessa took a short detour to check out the closing down sale at Tresspass – the credit card survived. After some lunch I took a pensioner’s knap only to be woken up by the dog.

The sky was still clear, so we headed off to Llyn Ogwen lake which was were I stayed (at YHA Idwal Cottage) for my first trip to Snowdonia back in 1972. The light was acceptable but would be better in the evening (if we are lucky).

The sky made me wonder what it would look like in Infrared….

Yep, Infrared does give the sky a huge impact.

Approaching another small lake, we stopped and I continued with the Infrared camera…

From here we drove around looking for more inspiration and eventually ended up in a graveyard.

Unfortunately I checked the skies again after our evening meal and decided it wasn’t worth heading out again. Maybe tomorrow evening will be our lucky 3rd attempt.

Friday 29th May – Chasing the Light

We had a fairly adventurous day which started under cloud which was the perfect light for waterfall photography, so we headed off to the Conwy Falls. The entrance is controlled via a turnstile with an entrance fee of £2 per person. We then descended down into a gorge and finally a climb down some rocks to a point to photograph the waterfall.

I couldn’t carry Holly down the rocks safely, so Vanessa and I took turns to take the photos. Then I had the pleasurable challenge of carrying Holly back up to the top of the gorge to the café and some well earned lunch.

Back at the motorhome, the sun started to break through the clouds, so we headed off on foot to a nearby church for some more graveyard shots.

St Michael’s Old Church
St Michael’s Old Church
St Michael’s Old Church

The skies continued to clear so I planned to attempt 3 late evening photo shoots in 3 different locations. We had already visited the areas and I knew roughly where and when the sun would be in the evening. The first was a location I had seen on ‘LocationScout’ which involved a half-mile scramble up a mountain slope which I couldn’t manage with the dog, so Vanessa waited in the car whilst I went off for my short yomp. The evening light was now less harsh and more conducive to good pictures.

The mountain in the image is Tryfan which was also the first peak I ever climbed back in 1972. After this I returned to the car and we headed to the other end of the lake.

We were soon going to lose the foreground light, so timing wasn’t too bad. Then we had a 35 minute drive and a 10 minute walk back to the point looking along the Llanberis valley towards the Dolbadarn Castle.

Finally one last shot across the lake…

So we did manage to chase the light and get a few late evening photos in the sunshine.

Saturday 30th May – Three Tired Elderly Bodies Trekking Again

Our dog was snoring heavily after breakfast and showing absolutely no signs of eagerness to head out again today. We have to avoid tiring her out too much, so we selected a few close-by locations. The first was ‘Fairy Glen’ which was a 6 minute drive and a 10 minute walk away. But the terrain was by no means flat, so I saddled up the dog into the harness and headed off from the car.

The first 8 minutes were Ok, but the last 2 minutes were challenging for 2 old fogeys carrying a dog. This was the 2nd set of steps. Note: On the return trip, I had to leave my bag at the bottom of the steps whilst I carried Holly up to Vanessa as the steps were steep.

However the trip was worthy of the effort.

Back to the motorhome for lunch and to allow Holly to have another few hours kip. The forecast for the afternoon was for it to cloud over, so we headed off to a slate quarry. Unfortunately the sunshine and clouds weren’t following the forecast, so we had to make the best of it.

I carried Holly up into the slate quarry to a conveniently shaded spot to let her rest whilst Vanessa and I took turns to stroll around the quarry.

The Cwm quarry was at one time, 1 of 5 in the area, but all are now abandoned.

Lastly while I was waiting for Vanessa I took a few close-up shots of the exposed slat. Here’s one example…

Could be worth a fortune in some galleries perhaps?

Sunday 31st May – Just another Slate Quarry

We rested up the dog this morning and headed out after lunch. Finally a cooler day with overcast skies which is what we’ve been waiting for. So we headed off to Cwmorthin Slate Quarry which is near Blaenau Ffestiniog. The nearby carpark was busy, but we squeezed my little car in to a space.

Like all the slate quarries, you enter it up a steep slope – so Holly had another free ride and I didn’t need to workout at the gym again. Unfortunately as we approached the ruined buildings we couldn’t avoid noticing a large group of Asians who were all having a picnic together. All their plastic bags, crisp packets, paper cups etc we left strewn all over the place. The wind had blown them into the stream and lake. The families didn’t seem to care one bit, but for now we concentrated on taking a few images.

We avoided photos of the Cwmorthin Barrack remains to start with as the Asians were all over it. But time was passing so we moved into position and noticed yet more rubbish blowing in the wind. Vanessa had already started to pick it up to minimise the chance of sheep, fish etc coming into contact with it and potentially suffocating.

Well by this time Vanessa had had enough and directly approached the Asian clan and the gobby mare fired both barrels at them which resulted in them starting to pick up their own rubbish. Fortunately they had also vacated the barracks, so we took a few more photos.

Then we headed into the nearby town for a little food shopping before heading back to the campsite.

Tomorrow we are likely to have some rain, so not sure if there will be an update tomorrow, but that will be in the lap of the gods.

Monday 1st June – Today’s agenda was rain

Today we all relaxed in the motorhome, reading our books and scratching my legs and arms. Up to now I’ve not mentioned the midges – I seem to have been bitten alive, where as the less tasty Vanessa barely has a spot. So the only trip out today was to the Boots chemist for some bite cream and lunch in a café.

But to avoid depriving you readers of an update today, I thought I’d include some more of Vanessa’s photos. She has spent more time with the long lens looking out for wildlife. So her is a selection of her images.

Tomorrow is again forecast for rain in the morning with a chance it could dry up in the afternoon. Hopefully the forecast is correct.

Tuesday 2nd June – And when the rain stops…

We headed towards the ‘Prince of Wales Quarry’ but along the way we just had to stop to watch the sun cast brightness over the landscape. These first few images were taken by the side of the A498

The wider image below gives a better impression of the overall view.

We then moved on to the quarry, but discovered the track to it was closed and we weren’t going to walk the 2 miles to get there. So we moved on to another nearby location ‘Rhyd Ddu’ for a 500m walk towards a few derelict buildings nearby a lake.

Holly managed to walk the 500m in both directions, which we were surprised about but she did show signs of weariness later in the day. The next stop was a reservoir 3 minutes away – we left Holly in the car for this one.

The lake continued to the left of this image where I spotted a large tree at the back that I fancied photographing. Vanessa waited in the car with Holly while I did my mountain goat bit to get to a good vantage point.

The peak in the background is Y Garn Summit and the lake is Llyn y Dywarchen which is frequented by fly fishermen for the trout that are stocked to keep the numbers up.

It was now about 2:30, so we headed back to Beddgelert for a coffee and cake. This little village was very photogenic and well worth a visit. We enjoyed a clotted cream scone and coffee before having a stroll around.

We also spent some time in the churchyard and as the sun was out in full I switched back to Infrared again.

We headed out to the coast at Criccieth but the town (or castle) didn’t seem that interesting, so we headed back to the motorhome and naturally we stopped along the way when a photo opportunity arose.

We were right to be worried about Holly as her back legs gave way when we returned to the motorhome. So we’ll not walk her far tomorrow, but first we have to wait for the rain to subside.

Wednesday 3rd June – Wet, Winding and Grey

Fortunately I took the awning down yesterday as the wind today was really quite strong at times. It rained intermittently but frequently, but started to show signs of brightening after lunch, so we woke Holly and headed off to a few locations. The first was the bridge (Pont Penllyn) at the end of the Llyn Padam lake.

As you can see the sky was fairly gloomy and the hopes for a brightening sky had faded away. The grey skies will be a bonus for the Dinorwig Slate Quarry, but the problem was the rain. So we had lens cloth to the ready between shots.

There was a fenced off pathway leading the visitors through the quarry. But to avoid carrying the dog too far, Vanessa waited while I went ahead to see if the trek was worth it. I gave up after 1/2 mile and returned. Vanessa then followed the same path and had to shelter behind the rocks as she was getting drenched in the persistent rain. But she persisted and came across a few additional derelict buildings. Meanwhile I got bored waiting for her to return so I ventured off on my own (especially as it had finally stopped raining).

I looked at the view including the Llyn Peris lake below and took the following images.

Vanessa finally caught up with me and as it was getting late we headed back to the campsite… with one last snap from the other side of the lake

It does show what a scar on the landscape these quarries leave behind.

Tomorrows weather might be similar, so we will have to wait and see what opportunities arise tomorrow. If we don’t get out, then today was our last day in Snowdonia before we travel home.

Thursday 4th June – Water, water everywhere.

Well it was our last day in Wales, so we thought we’d get out if we could, but showers were forecast, so we anticipated getting wet. Fortunately our cameras and lenses are water resistant so it was only us that were going to suffer.

To give Holly more of a rest I ventured out on my own leaving Vanessa dog sitting. It was a trip a few miles up the road to the Swallow waterfalls and I went solo as we weren’t sure Holly could get through the turnstile.

Quite an impressive waterfall and this view was only about 100 yards in from the turnstile and no steps involved. There were other view points, but this was the best one.

I returned to the motorhome to make some sandwiches and we headed out again (together this time) to walk alongside the Afon Llugwy river from Betws-y-Coed. We only walked about 3/4 mile (carrying Holly some of the way) and every time we got the camera out it started to rain again. I did manage a couple of river photos…

Now normally to blur the water I increase the time exposure by attaching a filter bracket to the front of the lens and inserting a Lee filter to reduce the light entering the lens. But as it was raining, this just meant more to keep dry.

Now the techy bit: So instead, I used one of the great features of the cameras we use (the OM System, OM1 mk2). There is a ‘Live Neutral Density’ filter which can reduce the light level recorded in the sensor by up to 64x in 6 steps and the quality isn’t affected. In the images above the first was 1.3 seconds and the other a 1/4 second (using a tripod of course). The camera also supports graduated filters (which reduce the light to a proportion of the image – e.g a bright sky with a shady foreground). This could in future allow me to reduce the weight of my camera bag.

Heading back to the carpark at Betws-y-Coed the rain has finally kept people away from rock clambering and selfies at the falls under the bridge, so I tried my luck again.

Whilst in waterfall mode, we headed back to Llyn Ogwen lake to locate another waterfall under the Pont Pen-y-benglog bridge. It involved a tricky descent in wet conditions to the viewpoint.