More From North Wales

Just to conclude the series of posts from a recent visit to North Wales there are a few photos below, in chronological order, that haven't made recent posts:

Alan Rainford on Elephant Rock - Llyn Gwynant

Camp In2venture - Llyn Gwynant Campsite

Pre- Wrysgan Slate Mine

Lunch in the Post-Industrial Landscape of Wrysgan / Cwmorthin

Sunshine in Llanbedrog

 

Costa Del Criccieth

Snowdon

Apologies for continued shortage of posts lately, just back from an extended tour of North Wales; the Midlands; South East & a final stop off in Darlington.

Last Monday saw a trip up Snowdon, technically it was a working day acting as a Mountain Leader for a youth camp, however in practise the camp's own staff were more than comfortable looking after the group on the route chosen and in the conditions experienced on the day. As such it became a very straightforward enjoyable outing.

Our group for the day were members of the Criccieth 3 Ventures camp; "Team In2venture" for the day was myself & Marion Blakeman. The route, chosen by the group, was ascent via the Pyg Track & descent via the Miners Track. All very routine, although I'd never been up the Pyg Track before despite many ascents of Snowdon.

On the day: the pace was fast; the conversation continuous (!) and the weather dry & warm (although a little cloud did temporarily obscure the view from the summit). I'll use the photos below to tell the story of the day:

On Location: Caffi Gwynant

Apologies to all regular readers for the scarcity of August posts. I've been in Snowdonia for eight days now & am due to be away until the end of the month. There were all kinds of grand plans for a post a day of the various activities - but it just hasn't happened. So, here's a first with a catch up from Caffi Gwynant  in the Nant Gwynant valley.

Caffi Gwynant

The reason for this extended visit was: initially to run the first ever In2venture Community holiday along with Alan Rainford & Marion Blakeman; second, to instruct on the CPAS Criccieth 3 youth camp, for which Paul Richardson will join us later today. At the time of writing the holiday is complete & was a success, youth work starts tomorrow:

Team In2venture: Alan Rainford

 

Team In2venture: Marion Blakeman





The visit started with a brief stop off a Llandudno last weekend on a fine evening:

Monday saw the arrival of our guests for the holiday: Brendan & Sarah; Steven & Susie & James.

First night activity was a paddle & cliff jumping from Elephant Rock on Llyn Gwynant:

 

 

Tuesday saw the full group  & Team In2venture all underground in Wrysgan Slate Mine for the full vertical trip - a good day:

 

 

 

Wednesday was gorge day - a first for me in the Afon Merch - a good addition to the repertoire of activities available at Llyn Gwynant. Thursday was more paddling & cliff jumping which concluded the first phase of the visit - as the rains came!

So there is a bit more to say about the weekend in between & posts from a planned Snowdon day on Monday & another water based day on Tuesday which will follow.

Seeing The Wood For The Trees

Nowadays I don't do as much work in the woods, its quite a contrast to a few years ago when "bushcraft" was a significant area of activity - days training and talking with good friend Dave Watson of Woodland Survival Craft seem like a long time ago. As such the request from the lovely people at Wrexham Community Church to run a few sessions in the woodland that surrounds Blaithwaite House offered a good opportunity to spend some time working & interacting with groups in this unique environment.

The woods around Blaithwaite are packed full of native beech, birch & holly - leaf litter lies thick on the ground and for the keen observer there is a good supply of wild food & much additional useful plant life.

The weather wasn't at its kindest for these sessions - quite wet on occassions. However, work with the Church's "little people" & a session with adults was a rich experience.

The photos below, hopefully, paint a picture of the activity enjoyed:

An Evening in Roughton Gill

With: Alan Rainford

Weather: Warm, humid, odd flash of lightning & clap of thunder

Where: Lake District Northern Fells

Alan Rainford in Roughton Gill

The Lake District's Northern Fells, especially those round the back of Blencathra & Skiddaw, are most commonly associated with solitude, tranquility and in many ways are the paths less travelled in this popular corner of the country. They are seldom linked to more adventurous outdoor activity. However, having lived in and around the area for the last eight years or so we have spent quite a bit of time seeking out some of the alternative features of these "Pennine-like" hills which mark the northern extremity of the National Park.

I've whiled away many days & evenings in Roughton Gill - exploring the mines both underground and on the surface; fell running in and about the area and generally ratching around. Alan & I have often considered the possibility of a gill scramble directly up this watercourse.

So earlier tonight, the recent spell of fine weather having broken this morning and giving way to claggy humid conditions with some rain & occasional thunder we decided last minute to go have a look.

Leaving the car at Fell Side it was 20degC at six o'clock and the area was shrouded in low cloud. We set off up the track heading alongside and above Dale Beck, soon wet through due to the high humidity. Every now & again a flicker of lightning could be discerned through the haze followed by a clap of thunder.

Looking North Along a Moody Dale Beck

At the foot of Roughton Gill the first scrambling is awkward on loose flaky rock, its better to stick to the path on the right hand side of the gill (when heading south) until this miners trod drops down to the gill bed. I'm not going to attempt to describe every move other than to say the scrambling right up to the head of the gill is enjoyable; its never continuous -rather its more like a series of semi-linked bouldering problems; we never got our feet wet; we never used a rope and there was just about always a "step out of the gill option" if there was something you didn't fancy.

On the night we stopped in the Thief Gills area - the scrambling gets better the further up the gill you go and is at least as good as many of the grade 1 scrambles described in the extensive literature that has been written on this subject elsewhere in the Lake District. We opted to follow a route out that by & large followed the gill back down the fell. However, to ascend Roughton Gill this way would make an excellent prelude to a bigger day exploring the fells in this area eg. a trip to the Knott or another of the surrounding summits.

This particular route took Alan & myself about two & a half hours (we weren't hanging about though) and the temperature was still 20degC on our drive home, we got a thorough soaking during the last fifteen minutes or so when the heavens opened. For the first time ever we saw an organised fell race in the area.

More of Alan Scrambling High in Roughton Gill

There Are Some Impressive Waterfalls & The Gill Contains Several Mines

CICERONE

I've resisted the temptation for some time now to run any advertising through these pages. However, as a trial & in an effort to make a small contribution to the time taken to write and maintain the site I have just joined the Cicerone guidebooks' affiliate programme. As such any guidebooks purchased via my webpages will pay a small commission - this is a scheme I feel I can join without "selling my soul" to advertising!

I'm a big fan of these guides & use them frequently when researching trips in the Lake District, with particular use being made of the Lake District (North) Scrambling Guide (see below)

The following titles make a useful a mini-library to the area:

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To purchase this book click here

 

To purchase this book click here