Yesterday we went to Penmaenpool to do the Mawddach Trail walk. It's a lovely walk along a disused railway track that closely follows the River Mawddach to Barmouth and is situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty. We had checked the weather forecast and it was dry all day so we decided to travel light with just a couple of bottles of water each, suncream, hat, shorts, T-shirts and trainers and drove along the A470 but when we came to Blaenau Ffestiniog we thought that we had become too complacent with the weather as it started to rain. The rain increased as we got to Trawsfynydd and picked up old Uncle Albert.
So there we were with no wet weather gear with us but luckily for us the rain soon stopped and it turned out into perfect walking weather, not too hot or sunny so we parked the car by the wooden toll bridge at Penmaenpool and started the walk from there.
One thing we noticed immediately was the lack of water in the area, the river was very low and the trees were all shedding their leaves just like they do in Autumn.
We have done this walk once before and you just follow the track to Barmouth but this time we wanted to make a detour at Arthog to see Mawddach Terrace which has been in the news recently. The residents of the terrace have put gates across the entrance to the terrace and put numerous signs up saying it is private property and walkers must use a public footpath behind the terrace. This has been quite controversial and a recent Court case has ruled in favour of the ramblers as it has been a right of way for at least 100 years.
Anyway we crossed through the front of the properties without any problems. The terrace is in quite a unique spot with stunning views across the river to the mountains of Snowdonia and I must be honest that if I lived there I would want the place to myself and not see walkers going past. Yesterday it must have seemed like the Last of the Summer wine when Tellytubby, Uncle Albert and I passed along in front of their properties.
This shortcut past the terrace brings you to the start of the iconic wooden railway bridge into Barmouth and as you walk along the bridge you have panoramic views of the pretty town of Barmouth and the Mawddach Estuary. When we got to Barmouth we were ready for something to eat so we headed straight away to the Mermaid Cafe where we enjoyed a delicious Fish and Chips lunch.
We had a look around the town and then it was time to catch the bus back to Penmaenpool. Going on the bus was a bit like wacky races, it was a fast, very fast ride, the driver wasn't a bad driver but he would give Lewis Hamilton a run for his money. Across the toll bridge ( 20p for pedestrians) and straight to the George III Hotel where we enjoyed a pint on the balcony overlooking the river. The it's back home along the A470 to Trawsfynydd to drop off old Uncle Albert but it was there that I had another senior moment, I had left my sunglasses on the balcony of the hotel in Penmaenpool, so poor old Tellytubby had to drive back to the hotel so that I could get the sunglasses back. A 27 mile return journey and not a swear word throughout but these things happen from time to time but it did not spoil our overall day out.