Snowdonia News

Life in rural Snowdonia. Bits of news and local gossip which guests to our self catering cottages might find interesting. Anything from new born animals here on our farm to wide ranging directives from the Welsh Assembly.

Horse whisperer tames Carneddau ponies in Snowdonia

July 5, 2011 by gwionllwyd · Leave a Comment 

This story really caught my eye. I’ve been fascinated by the wild horses of the Carneddau mountains in Snowdonia since I was a little boy. I was lucky enough to see three of the ponies whilst walking with an elderly aunt near Sychnant. We came upon them unexpectedly one cloudy morning. The encounter caught us and them by surprise. The horses stopped to look at us for half second before charging off across the fields into the mist.

My auntie went on to explain how they had never been tamed and how the English king, Henry the VIII, had failed in his attempt to have the horses “exterminated”. They were truly magical and lived in the imagination of this 9 year old boy for a long time afterwards.

But as ever, their future in our modern world is far from certain. So, in an effort to make the breed more commercially viable for Snowdonia farmers, efforts have been made to tame some of these truly wild horses. A new TV documentary has recorded the efforts of welsh horse whisperer, Barry Thomas, to tame the Carneddau Ponies. This, not so young boy, will certainly be watching.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-13797391

Beware of the Alpaca

May 20, 2011 by gwionllwyd · Leave a Comment 

Two alpacas have been introduced at a farm in Nant Gwynant here in Snowdonia. The theory is that they help protect the new born lambs from foxes and other predators. They bond quickly with other grazing animals, have excellent eyesight and their protective instincts are well documented. Cases have been recorded in Australia of alpacas bravely standing in front of females and their young in the corner of a paddock fending off multiple animal attacks.

More locally I’ve heard how a donkey will protect lambs and chickens from foxes. I guess south American alpacas are probably more suited to our rugged terrain. So why not. Arwyn Owen, the farmer responsible, certainly seems convinced. [Read more...]

Surprise!

January 27, 2011 by gwionllwyd · 3 Comments 

Some of our guests were lucky enough to be staying in Nant when Magldi, one of our Kune Kune pigs gave birth. A bit of a surprise as we didn’t know she was pregnant. We had borrowed Hafren, a pedigree Kune Kune boar from some friends before Christmas. His breeding abilities weren’t proven however and unfortunately he didn’t seem very interested in our girls. We tried playing a Barry White CD and introduced some soft lighting to the pig sty but eventually presumed that the ‘chemistry’ just wasn’t right.

Solar Panels

October 12, 2010 by gwionllwyd · Leave a Comment 

Lisa and Mark, the owners of Pant Golau have just finished installing solar panels on the roof of their pretty little cottage near Llanbedr. Mark was explaining that the system was capable of producing 2.2kw per hour on a sunny day. And that the government would now pay them just over 40p for each kw they produced. This is in addition to getting free electricity of course. With an installation cost of £9000 from Platinum Plumbing, Mark and Lisa hope the system will have paid for itself in 8 years.

So as you sit in the sun on the raised patio, gin and tonic in hand and enjoying the views, you can be further comforted by the knowledge that you’re staying in a cottage which is just that little bit greener than most.

Glyder Fawr promoted to Super Mountain

September 28, 2010 by gwionllwyd · Leave a Comment 

G and J Surveys have been busy again. You might remember that they were checking to see if Tryfan qualified as one of the 14 peaks in Wales over 3000 feet. Well they must have bought a new tape measure as this time they’ve gone metric. Glyder Fawr, previously recorded as being 999m high has been measured at 1000.8m.
The Guardian headline reads “Wales celebrates promotion of peak to ‘super-mountain’” and The Telegraph writes how this will lead to an increase of people climbing the mountain and that “..the famous Welsh 1000m Peaks Race will have to consider becoming a longer race with five peaks instead of four..”. It’s a nice news story, but it would be wrong to think that the mountain has changed, improved even. It’s just our perception that’s altered. I guess that’s what I like about mountains. They’re fixed, permanent, a reassuring constant in an ever-changing world.

The five peaks over 1000m in Snowdonia:
Yr Wyddfa – 1085m
Crib Y Ddisgyl – 1065m
Carnedd Llywelyn – 1064m
Carnedd Dafydd – 1044m
Glyder Fawr – 1000.8m

Barmouth Walking Festival

August 11, 2010 by gwionllwyd · Leave a Comment 

The Barmouth Walking Festival is fast approaching once again. It’s a great event organized by the Barmouth Publicity Association and runs from the 18th to the 27th of September. For £7.50 you can join a group of like minded enthusiasts for a guided walk along some fantastic routes. The walk leaders have all been carefully selected and can really add to the experience with their local knowledge of the landscape, history ond nature.

There are more than 30 walks to choose from. The price goes down a little if you book 4 days or more. The brochure suggests that there are routes for all abilities. But most of them I would suggest are best suited for people who have done some walking before. 10 miles through the Rhinog Mountains is not for everybody. We’ve had a lot of guests in the past that have really enjoyed the experience despite some sore feet so we highly recommend it.

Go to the Barmouth Walking Festival website for more detais.

Road Works on Snowdon

July 11, 2010 by gwionllwyd · Leave a Comment 

The Snowdonia National Park are busy laying tarmac on sections of the popular Miners Track which leads to the summit of Snowdon. Initially I was quite taken aback by the news. A ridiculous notion dreamt up by some obscure and unelected committee I thought. The rights of a disadvantaged minority riding rough shot over common sense. Political correctness gone mad. “I bet it’s funded by Europe.”

I agreed with critics pointing out that this would lead to even more pressure being placed on this natural recourse and an inevitable increase of people on the mountain who are ill-prepared and badly equipped.

But I’ve had a bit of a rethink. As with many headlines, the reality is not as shocking as you first suspect. The section of the Miners Track being renovated is limited to the first gradual stretch from Pen y Pass, a popular starting point up to Llyn Glaslyn. Traditional building methods have been used to renovate the majority of this section. Tarmac, mixed with granite, has only been used in three small segments.

We should also remember that this wide track was laid during the last century by the Britannia Copper Miners not by present day bearcats. And of course Snowdonia is a big place. There are lots of other mountains which are just as beautiful and are climbed by 35 people a year not the 350,000 that descend on Snowdon.

Finally and perhaps most importantly the project is part of the national parks ‘Snowdonia for All’ initiative. A project run by the Authority which aims to “encourage disabled people, people with restricted mobility or parents who have young children to visit Snowdonia and have an enjoyable and relaxing time.” We must all agree that this is a noble aspiration. There are real people, like Laura, who will benefit from this work. Perhaps we should be a little less ‘outraged’ and a little more ‘charitable‘.

New Property

June 12, 2010 by Gwion · 1 Comment 

Pant-Golau (Sleeps 8 + cot) We’ve just added a really nice cottage to our website. Mark and Lisa, the owners of Pant Golau, have done a wonderful job of refurbishing this stone cottage which in the tiny hamlet of Pensarn near Llanbedr. They’ve worked hard and have made sure that everything has been done to a really high spec. So it’s all shiny and new and ready to go now. We’ve kept the prices low for this first summer season. And it’s naturally one of the few cottages where we have plenty of availability, at the moment at least. Have a look at let me know if you’re tempted to book or want more information. [Read more about this property..]

Green Coast Award

May 11, 2010 by Gwion · Leave a Comment 

Two of our local beaches, Harlech and Bennar Beach in Dyffryn Ardudwy, have won the ‘Green Coast Award’ again this year. The award is aimed at rural beaches which provide a “natural, unspoilt environment’ as well as the excellent water quality standard required to achieve the more recognizable ‘Blue Flag Award’. The award is given out by the nice people at ‘Keep Wales Tidy’ with financial help from Europe. It’s great to see that our fantastic beaches are getting recognition at that sort of level. But I guess the downside might be that if more people visit our beaches it’ll be harder no maintain the standard. So mum’s the word!

The 14 Peaks of Wales

April 18, 2010 by Gwion · Leave a Comment 

There are 14 peaks in Wales over 3000 feet, or so I thought until recently. Apparently Tryfan’s credentials are under suspicion. Despite being one of the most handsome mountains in the Snowdonia National Park it’s height of 3002 feet has always meant that it only ever just scraped over the pass mark.

Three men, John Barnard, Graham Jackson and Myrddyn Phillips are out to put the issue to rest once and for all however. They’ve already got form in this area having recently highlighting that Sgurr nan Ceannaichean did not qualify as a Munro Mountain. The Munro’s being the Scottish equivalent of the over 3000 feet club.

I for one really hope that one of my favorite mountains passes the grade. You can keep a track of the survey work by visiting the GandJSurvey channel on YouTube.

If you fancy having a go at climbing all 14 peaks the Snowdonia Society have put a great website together at www.14peaks.com . The record of 4hrs 19minutes has stood since 1988. Good luck with that!