North Wales to Sennybridge

Yesterday we took a drive to the coast then did a circular trip back to Penygroes.
As usual our first item on the agenda was to find a coffee, we passed through some lovely villages but alas no cafe’s until I saw a brown tourist sign (like ours) that said Nant Gwrtheyrn & Caffi (Cafe) so off we went. As we went higher and higher on a steep narrow road we were starting to wonder where on earth we were going, then down down down to the coast. Lo and behold there was a cafe, a very nice one and a Welsh Language Learning School. This village was originally home to 110 men and their families who quarried granite but as the demand for granite fell away their village was dying. The local Doctor came up with the idea for the Welsh Language school and now over 25,000 people have been through the school, and yes, they all had to come in on that road.
We went through a cottage that was reminiscent of how they lived and walked to the beach where one of the quarries was situated and where they loaded the boats to take the granite away.
We love stumbling on hidden treasures like this.
I finally got my feet in the ocean, definitely not togs weather but it was about 18 degrees. The beach huts were gorgeous, they are rented out for the day.
We found a vineyard near Penygroes, the only vineyard we have seen on our travels. I have attached a photo of the grapes - not that impressive and on the bottle it just said “White wine” apparently a mixture of about 4 different grape varieties. I left it on the shelf since it was 17 pounds - $37.
Today we have driven to Sennybridge where we spent 8 weeks in 1991 with Brian Davies, then revisited in 2015 with Gordon and Betty. We are here for 3 nights and are going to catch up with our Welsh boys who lived with us after we got home in 1991 and Gethin Davies who Neil shore with. We can’t wait to explore the area and relive old memories.
On the way here we stopped for lunch right beside an intersection that was part of the highway but everyone had to negotiate a very tight street. One logging truck with trailer had to back up and round the street to let some cars through, he was not happy as they had come down the street when they shouldn’t have. His driving skills were outstanding. The truck with trailer stacked high with hay was impressive to watch!Read more