Woolly says – With Covid news getting worse and worse again and the announcement that Wales was to be locked down once more I was determined to get a day out before having to put up with Jo and no where to go. Zoe had arrived for a short stay only allowed as she is in a tier one area in England and Wales has told everyone in a tier two and three that they are not welcome to bring the virus over the border, so it seemed sensible to make the most of our last few days of freedom.
Knowing that Alfie the Dog likes a good beach walk we set sail for the very small Welsh seaside village of Fairbourne.
Lying on the coast of Barmouth Bay in the Arthog community, to the south of the estuary of the River Mawddach in Gwynedd, surrounded by the Snowdonia National Park. The area was originally salt marshes and slightly higher grazing lands, in 1865 Solomon Andrews, a Welsh entrepreneur, purchased the promontory. Over the next several years he built a seawall for tidal protection and several houses. To bring in the building materials in he constructed a 2 ft (610 mm) gauge horse-drawn tramway from the main railway to the site. In 1916, the tramway was converted to a 15 in (381 mm) gauge steam railway which still runs today.
Fairbourne has been identified as unsustainable to defend, given predicted sea level rise and if predictions are correct the village will cease to be by 2052.
Our fist stop though was to be the Blue Lake which looked wonderful on google, having followed the sat nav we found ourselves on a very narrow lane with no parking and the need to conduct a 27 point turn for Jo to get the car back out again. Having received several glares from the females I quickly abandoned this plan and suggested the sea front instead.
The wind was ripping along as we pulled up and as Zoe raced off with the panting one Jo and I considered the complete lack of life that the small village seemed to have. A pebbled beach was the backdrop to the few houses in the village and we had to wonder what people actually had to do. More interesting was an old pillbox from 1940 which was one of the five that had once guarded the coast.
With a windswept dog and daughter, we decided that we had seen everything that Fairbourne had to offer and headed along the estuary towards our next port of call.
Woolly says – Directly opposite Fairbourne and connected by the railway bridge is the town of Barmouth. The town grew around the shipbuilding industry bur from the Victorians became a seaside resort. William Wordsworth, a visitor to Barmouth in the 19th century, described it: “With a fine sea view in front, the mountains behind, the glorious estuary running eight miles [13 km] inland, and Cadair Idris within compass of a day’s walk, Barmouth can always hold its own against any rival”.
Pulling onto the carpark we were immediately rewarded with the emergence of the sun and having taken dog breath for a race along the shore line we headed into the town on the search for sustenance.
St John’s Church, was built between 1889 and 1895 which stood out from the cliff face and I chuckled as Jo attempted to get a clear picture of the impressive structure, sadly as the road was being re tarmacked, we couldn’t get any closer so apologies for not providing a better view. As we crossed the main train line, we found ourselves in a rather lovely town with many independent shops touting their wares and some lovely buildings lining the road.
With tummies rumbling we headed into a local dog friendly pub and set about consuming probably the worst fish and chips ever, it did fill us up but it took the bribe of an ice cream to stop my small companion from moaning about the fare.
Woolly says – The ice cream nearly made up for my disappointment helped along by a rather cute Harbour masters office which had a memorial to a local hero who had left Barmouth at the age of 14 and served on the Titanic helping to save many lives.
We paused at the harbour where on a good day dolphins will frolic in the sea, sadly today was not that day, I paused for a final photo opportunity before allowing Alfie the Dog a final race across the dunes before heading back home.
