First trip of 2025

Sunday 6 April 2025

Nido's parked up on an aire in Fairbourne in North Wales, about 1.5 hours drive from home. There's five pitches - with a service point - and the option of electric hook up. It's £12 per night without EHU. We've stayed in the adjacent car park previously, when the aire was being built, but this is our first stop on one of the hardstanding pitches. The steam train station is just opposite and next door is a hotel/bar, which wasn't open the last time we stayed here. With good weather over the past week, and more to come, we fancied a short trip away. So this was an easy place to get to.

Fairbourne's an unusual coastal village. It was developed in the late 19th century by Arthur McDougall, a flour magnate, as a seaside resort. Originally a salt marsh and grazing land, it was transformed with the arrival of the Cambrian Coast Railway in the 1890s, boosting its appeal. The village became known for its scenic beach and narrow-gauge Fairbourne Railway, initially built to carry building materials. Over time, it evolved into a tourist destination and the narrow gauge steam railway still runs between the station opposite the aire and the head of the estuary overlooking Barmouth. It has a relaxed seaside atmosphere, with small cul de sacs of individual bungalows and holiday homes. In recent years, Fairbourne has faced uncertainty due to climate change and rising sea levels, making it a focal point in national conversations about managed retreat.  But life seems to continue in spite of this and we saw a couple of houses being built.

We arrived just after midday and I paid using the 'PaybyPhone' app. The kettle was soon on and we had tea and cake before walking on to the beach, which is only about 400m away. Blue skies and sunshine battled a cool NE breeze, but nevertheless we were in shorts and t-shirts. Salty enjoyed a splash in the sea and a good run around on the sand before we crossed the road and followed the Coast Path. After about 1.5 miles we reached the path heading towards Barmouth, crossing the estuary on the old wooden footbridge which runs alongside the railway line, which opened in 1867. Barmouth was busy on a sunny Sunday afternoon, but we found a bench to enjoy an ice cream (including doggy ice cream!) before reversing our route back to the van. I'd prepared tonight's dinner at home - fried chicken and a mixed bean and orange salad - before we settled in the van with a cup of tea, both of us glowing from the early Spring sunshine and keen breeze.

After the (albeit short) journey here and a 7 mile walk, we were quite tired and headed to bed early - that's our normal routine in the van!

Monday 7 April 2025

After a peaceful night's sleep I was up and walking Salty along the beach wall path on yet another sunny day, but very chilly in the early morning breeze. We enjoyed a relaxed breakfast and I serviced the van before we drove up to the point overlooking Barmouth, with a plan to have a short walk. But the small parking area was already busy, so we be about-turned and drove to our next stop, which was only about 10 minutes away.

Fegla Fach Farm CL is an absolute beauty of a stop. The five pitches are spread around an old quarry site, surrounded by rocks and old oak trees, with uninterrupted views over the Mawddach Estuary and the mountains beyond. The owner was very helpful and we followed him on his old quad bike to our pitch. After a quick mooch about to check out the rocky beach, Cathy boiled the kettle for a flask of tea and made a packed lunch, including doggy biscuits for Salty of course! We followed a footpath through rowan and blackthorn trees, soon reaching the Mawddach trail, a walking and cycling path along an old railway line running from Barmouth to Dolgellau, right alongside the banks of the estuary. We walked for a few miles, sharing the path with cyclists. On the way we stopped at a picnic bench for lunch, before carrying on passed Craig Wen (a campsite we stayed at on New Year's Eve a few years ago). Just beyond we left the trail and walked up a marked 2.3 mile route through the forest at Coed-y-Garth. This was a peaceful circular route and we had it all to ourselves, before returning to the trail and reversing our route back to the van. Both tired and aching (we're feeling all of our 60-plus years!), we sat on some rocks down by the stony beach with a cup of tea as the tide flowed in, watching oystercatchers flying past.

Dinner tonight was a tin of Asda chilli con carne and rice; tasty with the addition of some onion and garlic, topped with yoghurt and a sprinkling of paprika. Now, the breeze has dropped and the sun's about to set into the sea behind us. Salty's on the cab passenger seat watching the sheep wandering around and it'll soon be time for his final walk before another early bedtime. I brought some pens and a sketch book with me and had thought about sitting out to sketch the mountains in the distance. But the failing light now means the contrast is lost and all I can see is a dark silhouette against a pink dusk sky; perhaps if I'm awake early enough tomorrow morning, I might be able to catch them in the early sunrise light. [Next morning note - I didn't!].

Tuesday 8 April 2025

Nido's parked up on an aire on the outskirts of Dolgellau. We're the only ones here, which is surprising given it's a great facility, including a service point and drive over grey waste disposal. I booked it before we left home via the Aire Stop website (they also have an app). There's a shortage of places for motorhomes to park up around this part of the Snowdonia National Park; many of the car parks are small or have height barriers, so places like this are very welcome and I hope they are used or they may disappear.

Last night was cold and it was only 8'C in the van when I got up at 0700 to switch on the Truma for hot showers. Once the sun appeared above the mountains though, it soon started to warm up. After breakfast we headed north, past Dolgellau. We'd wanted to visit Cymer Abbey ruins, but the car park had a height barrier, so Plan B was a car park that we could use. On arrival there were only a few places left and it was on a slope, but it was fine for us. We took the 3.5 mile Llwybr Cynwch (Precipice Path) walk, which contours around a mountain, with steep drops down one side. But the views all around were excellent, including Cadair Idris and down the Mawddach Estuary, with the Barmouth rail bridge in the far distance. It was a hot day with little wind, so we took our time over the sometimes rough and narrow paths. The cars passing on the Barmouth road beneath us looked tiny, but their noise was reflected up the valley sides, so it was good to work our way around down to walk alongside peaceful Llyn Cynwch and back to the car park.

I spent some time looking for somewhere to park up and chill out for the day, but options were very limited. In the end we returned to Fairbourne and parked up overlooking the estuary for a lazy lunch. Cathy stayed in the van to do her Welsh homework while I took Salty for a walk along the sea wall and on to the beach. We left at about 4.30pm and drove up to this aire. I walked back into the town centre and ordered kebab and chips; we were ready for some junk food! Actually they were very tasty and quite healthy with the salad and pitta bread (if you ignore the chips!). There was some road noise for the first couple of hours as people returned home from work, but it's quietened down now. Hopefully it'll stay that way for the rest of the night.

Wednesday 9 April 2025

It was indeed a quiet night on the aire and some traffic noise only started around 7am, when I got up to switch on the heating; it was another clear, cold night. Heading home today, the plan was to visit the ancient Atlantic oak forest at the Ceunant Llennyrch National Nature Reserve. The only available parking is a lay-by on the A487 about 200m from the entrance. But on arrival it was clear it was too narrow for us to park. It's a great shame as it looked like a lovely place to visit, but it's no use if there's limited access. So we carried on north and spent a couple of hours by the beach at Dinas Dinlle, sat in the van having lunch, out of the strong, chilly NE wind.

So a short first trip of the year. We've covered most of this area so definitely need to travel a bit further. There are some area of mid-Wales worth a visit and the border around Shropshire is an easy journey for a few days.