On Wednesday, I met old Uncle Albert in Station Road Llanrwst to have a walk over Gower Bridge and then down Gower Road to Trefriw so we could have a look around the village. First of all we had a quick look at thre Llanrwst North railway Station before setting off. The Rev John Gower from Trefriw had a wooden Toll bridge built across the River Conwy in 1880 to provide a direct route for horses and carts to get from Trefriw to the market in Llanrwst. The Toll House at the Trefriw end of the bridge collected the tolls which were used to repair the road. The wooden bridge went in to decay and was replaces by a metal suspension footbridge that cost just £1500.00 to build in 1947. Just as a matter of interest Gower Bridge was also known locally as Lover's Bridge on account of couples that had plighted their troth here in the form of padlocks with their names inscribed on them. A count in 2018 revealed that there were 40 padlocks!
When we walked across the bridge yesterday there were none. Apparently the Council had removed them all on the grounds of “health and safety”
Gower Road is prone to flooding and only this year an elderley man drowned there while walking his dog. It is only about 0.6 miles long so we soon arrived in Trefriw and walked up the hill past the Woolen Mill to view Fairy Falls and it was worth the effort of getting there to see the fast flowing water of the Afon Crafnant as it tumbled over the rocks. We couldn't resist going over the high bridge over the river before turning back and heading to St Mary's Church. The original Church on this site was built for Llewelyn the Great so that his wife Joan could worship there. Apparently and not surprisingly Joan found the journey to the Church at Llanrychwyn tiring so Llewelyn had it built for her benefit. Inside the Church are stained glass windows depicting Llewelyn and Joan and were put there in 1936.
After looking inside the church our next port of call, excuse the pun, was finding the old quay at Trefriw. I had an idea where it was and we eventually found it. This 400 year old quay has always played a part in the community but in 1847 Paddle Steamers started coming from Conwy, Deganwy and even the West Shore in Llandudno bringing day trippers from the resorts.
Not much of the original quay is apparent but we were wondering if the dilapidated building was a tearoom for the day trippers. They wouldn't have had time to explore Trefriw as the steamers would have had to return on the ebbing tides.
After exploring around the quay we returned to the centre of the village and had our refreshments by the Cenotaph before walking back home along Gower Road to Llanrwst. It had been a very interesting and enjoyable walk in the Spring sunshine but there was a chilly wind on the valley floor so we were glad when we got back to the cars
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/400-year-old-quay-always-27476221
