Woolly says – It was a glorious morning and I could think of nothing better than heading out for the day, as we sped along the Welsh roads and into the Snowdonia National Park I sighed in happiness. The sun warmed my fur, the mutt was snoozing and all I had to think about was what flavour ice cream to have later in the day. Our first stop having driven across miles and miles of moorland was to Swallow Falls a name coined by early tourists for the Rhaeadr Ewynnol (English: Foaming Waterfall), a multiple waterfall system in near Betws-y-Coed in the Conwy area.

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It was suggested in 1899 that the falls could be used to generate electricity for the nearby village of Betws-y-Coed, as well as overhead lighting for the falls. In 1913 the second Lord Ancaster, the landowner, gave the Swallow Falls to the local council, who decided to charge for visiting it in order to pay off some of the £15,000 debt incurred through the installation of water and electricity supplies to the village. Once the debt of costs of installation was cleared the parish retained the fee, resulting in Betws-y-coed having the lowest rates in the country, which in this day and age must be a blessing to the local residents.

Our walk through the forest took us under tall pines with small glimpses of water far below, the sound of the waterfall gushing over its rocks gave a calming feeling and as Alfie the Dog raced on ahead Jo and I prepared ourselves for an impressive sight. Sadly, the wonderful spate of warmer weather had left the falls more of a trickle and although quite pretty it didn’t have a wow factor. Having taken a few pictures which had proved difficult as the vantage points didn’t show much, we wandered back to the car and set off into Betws itself.

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A small place which had plentiful parking, a huge village green and sports field and an unbelievable number of outdoor pursuits retailers. Betws-y-coed meaning ‘prayer house in the wood’ in English, was founded around a monastery in the late sixth century. The village grew very slowly with the development of the local lead mining industry. In 1815, the Waterloo Bridge, built by Thomas Telford to carry the London to Holyhead road (now the A5) across the River Conwy and through the village, brought considerable development and the village became a major coaching centre on the Irish Mail route from London to Holyhead.  Construction of the railway station in 1868 brought the arrival of the railway line from Llandudno Junction railway station, and resulted in the village’s population increasing by around 500. It might be small but it was beautifully formed and having consumed a rather nice picnic on the green we crossed the road to inspect the church.

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St Mary’s was built between 1870 and 1873 to accommodate the increasing numbers of summer visitors to the area. Constructed in rubble stone with sandstone dressings with a slated roof it was really pretty although I’m not sure that the modern statues of Jesus and Mary were quite in keeping.

As expected, we were unable to go inside to appreciate its beauty so continued our walk along the main high street to an area that Jo had already told me about.

I really don’t know how many times I’ve driven through the village over the years but many and on one beautiful summer day when daughter Zoe was still small, we arrived from our local campsite to have a walk along the river and a paddle to cool down. Zoe refused to put her swimming costume on, which for some reason she didn’t like,  telling me ‘Mummy I won’t slip and get wet’ so into the shallows she went in her shorts and t shirt only to end up on her bottom mere moments later meaning that she had to wear her swimming costume for the rest of the day regardless.

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Woolly says – As we stood at the exact spot it was hard to imagine a small Zoe and as if by magic Jo’s phone rang with a call from the grown-up version of Zoe who chuckled over the line as Jo recounted the story once again. Call finished we walked onwards through the greenery admiring the river and clearness of the water as we went. A delightful way to spend our time but I had more pressing needs so with a final picture of the river we headed back across the village green and into the railway station where we came across Edith the rhino.

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Edith and her small group of friends had been made by local children to show the impact of rubbish using plastic, ropes, rubber and all manner of things thrown away by humans and although the models were brilliant it gave a very stark reminder of how bad our levels of waste are becoming in the world.

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With a wave to Edith, we crossed over the footbridge pausing to have a look at the old rolling stock before heading into our second church site of the day.

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Built in the 14th century, St Michael’s Old Church is the oldest building in Betws-y-Coed, located on the banks of the River Conwy it was small but very quaint. Replaced by the parish church of St Mary’s in 1873, by the early 1990’s it was in a sorry state, with a leaking roof and associated plaster damage and it was urgently in need of repair work. In 1994, the Friends of St Michael’s was formed, to raise both awareness of the building, and money to preserve it.

The slate gravestones were plentiful as were the 1000 year old yew trees that were dotted around the site, having completed our circuit of the churchyard we moved a mere few feet to the place I had really wanted to see.

Originally the only access to the village from one side of the Conwy River to the other was by traversing some rather inconvenient stepping stones. But in 1917 an army camp was established in the area so it wouldn’t have done for the soldiers to have to hop over stepping stones all the time to get to the other side.

As a solution, a wooden bridge was installed over the River Conwy in 1917 by “Sappers” or royal combat engineers. This was to provide access for the army base. But the villagers also celebrated as they finally had a way to avoid the stones as well so everyone was happy and it became known as Sappers Suspension Bridge.

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In 1930 it was clear that a more sustainable option was needed so a new iron suspension bridge was built by David Rowell & Co Ltd but it retained its name out of respect for the combat engineering efforts during the war.

As I placed my first paw onto the bridge, I felt a wobble as the bridge began to sway very gently, as Jo set foot onto to the bridge it started to move even more and within ten feet Jo had retreated and decided that it wasn’t for her with a slightly green tinge to her face. I raced across and ran back again with the pretty bridge gently moving as I went. Having stopped for a picture of my crossing Jo, Alfie the Mutt and I took a final look before recrossing the railway lines and headed straight to the ice cream shop that I had spied on arrival. Probably the best rum and raison ice cream in the world we agreed as we sat on the grass in the shade while watching the world go past. A perfect day for us all with an exciting email on our return which means a change of location but where will we be heading?!