Conwy Falls and Fairy Glen

There’s a lot to be said for not reading Tripadvisor. If I had I wouldn’t have visited Conwy Falls and Fairy Glen, and would have seriously missed out!

I am sure it can get wildly busy, but we visited on a day when there was lots going on elsewhere, and as such it was really quiet. The Conwy Falls cafe is in a lovely 1930s building designed by local designer Clough Williams-Ellis, and there’s reasonable amounts of parking.

The walk is a short relatively easy loop, and provided you’ve remembered your bank card for the £2 turnstile at the entrance (fail), it’s stress free!

The woodland had just burst into leaf when we visited in early May so the bright green was almost surreal. The path winds down to a viewing place where you can sit and look at the falls in the gentle forest light. There are 10 acres of woodland, that have been designated a site of special scientific interest, and even to the untrained eye its easy to see why.

The loop walk brings you back up to the cafe, and after an ice cream you can either drive the short distance to Fairy Glen and park. We chose to walk between the two, which took about 30 minutes. The walk to Fairy Glen starts at the corner of the Conwy Falls carpark and follows the woodland path down to rolling farmland. The return walk took us slightly longer due to the incline!

The entrance to Fairy Glen is marked by an honesty box and covered entrance, and after ensuring we put the right money in the box (£4 I think!) we walked the loop taking in the beautiful falls, river and woodland. The falls are beautiful, and the immense scale of the rocks they run over are worthy of a spot in many a fairytale. There’s something incredible about the untouched and unglazed woodland along the river - we spotted so many different plants and wildlife. The walk is steep with no handrails or steps really, so be prepared and take extra care, especially in wet weather. It’s most definitely worth the scramble though!

Notes:

• £2 Entry / Free Parking (at Conwy Falls), and small charge for entry at Fairy Glen

• No WCs or facilities at Fairy Glen

• Walking both took around 2.5hrs in total.

• Distance: approx 1.2hrs from the house.

• Ideal day out tied in with a wander around the picturesque town of Betws-y-Coed.

Harlech Beach

Harlech beach is one of those places that you can visit any day of the year, the sea, the light and the dunes are never the same two days in a row.

Our most recent visit was a wildly hot May day, and despite the weather the beach wasn’t anywhere near full. The views round to the Llyn Peninsula and back up to Harlech Castle are just breath taking. The golden sand stretches for what feels like miles, and the beach is impeccably clean.

The dunes are a haven for wildlife and plantlife, and whilst you can’t climb them for obvious reasons, the walk through them from the carpark is lovely.

Notes:

• Parking around £1.50ph

• WCs at the carpark

• Distance: approx 1hr from the house.

• The beach is dog friendly in its entirety in the winter season, and from April to October dogs are restricted to a section of the beach.

• Ideal day out tied in with a visit to Harlech town.

Gwaith Powdwr Nature Reserve

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First up in the blog is the amazing Gwaith Powdwr Nature Reserve. Located on the outskirts of Penrhyndeudraeth in Gwynedd, the nature reserve site is that of a former explosives factory.

From 1865 the site manufactured nitroglycerin based explosives, and employed 500 local people. Providing millions of munitions for both WW1 and WW2, it’s past is certainly not without tragedy, and there are several memorials to the local workers who lost their lives. The factory was sited here due to the specific geography creating an ideal location for the manufacture and testing.

Explosives and wildlife are definitely not a good mix, but since the factory was decommissioned and the site handed over to the North Wales Wildlife Trust, it’s been transformed into 24 hectares of nature reserve. 100+ years of untouched land has resulted in unrivalled biodiversity, which burst into life when the factory closed.

You can walk to the reserve from the town of Penryhndeudraeth, or park at the new workshops located at the entrance to the reserve. Don’t be put off by the unassuming entrance to the reserve - we almost didn’t find it - but the effort is worth it!

There are two trails, red and black - we did the black trail to get the views from the top. At a guess the black trail was around 3 kilometres.

If you go slowly (as we had to with 7 and 8 year olds armed with nature spotting books), the level of insect and bird life is incredible. Normally the spotting books get put down after 5 minutes in favour of waterfalls, sand, icecream etc but we were amazed by how much we saw - Cuckoos, Wild (edible) Strawberries, Salamanders, a baby Freshwater Turtle, Dragonflies, Yellow Iris and Tiger Moth Caterpillars made for a game of real-life Pokemon!

Hidden in the woods the historic factory buildings dot the site, and are now home to protected bat colonies which must not be disturbed. Various signboards along the way explain their uses and the wildlife that now occupy them.

The views from the top are beautiful on a clear day and are almost 360 degrees, stretching to Harlech Castle in the South. We spent about 2 hours there doing the black trail (albeit slowly), but would love to go back armed with a picnic and sit for longer!

Notes:

• Free Entry / Free Parking

• No WCs or facilities

• Distance: approx 1.2hrs from the house.

• Ideal day out tied in with a visit to Harlech beach.