Harlech
Charming HARLECH, twenty miles northwest of Dolgellau, is one of the highlights of the Cambrian coast, with its time-worn castle dramatically clinging to its rocky outcrop and the town cloaking the ridge behind, commanding one of Wales’s finest views over Cardigan Bay to the Llŷn.
Harlech Castle
Harlech’s substantially complete castle sits on its 200ft-high bluff, a site chosen by Edward I for one more link in his magnificent chain of fortresses. Begun in 1285, it was built of a hard Cambrian rock, known as Harlech grit, hewn from the moat. Harlech withstood a siege in 1295, but was taken by Owain Glyndŵr in 1404. The young Henry VII withstood a seven-year siege at the hands of the Yorkists until 1468, when the castle was again taken. It fell into ruin, but was put back into service for Charles I during the Civil War; in March 1647, it was the last Royalist castle to fall. The first defensive line comprised the three successive pairs of gates and portcullises built between the two massive half-round towers of the gatehouse, where an exhibition now outlines the castle’s history. Much of the castle’s outermost ring has been destroyed, leaving only the 12ft-thick curtain walls rising up 40ft to the exposed battlements. Only the towering gatehouse prevents you from walking the full circuit.
Machynlleth and around
Eighteen miles northeast of Aberystwyth is MACHYNLLETH (pronounced “ma-hun-cthleth”), a bustling little place with a great vibe, as well being the undisputed centre of all things “New Age”, thanks in large part to the nearby Centre for Alternative Technology. The wide main street, Heol Maengwyn, is busiest on Wednesdays, when a lively market springs up; Heol Penrallt intersects this at the fussy clocktower.
Centre for Alternative Technology
After the oil crisis of 1974, seven acres of a once-derelict slate quarry were turned into the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), an almost entirely sustainable community. At one stage, eighty percent of the power was generated from wind, sun and water, but this is no back-to-the-land hippy commune. Much of the on-site technology was developed and built here, but with the rise of eco-consciousness the emphasis has shifted more towards promoting its application in urban situations. CAT’s water-balanced cliff railway whisks visitors 200ft up from the car park to the beautiful main site, sensitively landscaped using local slate and wood, and you can easily spend half a day sauntering around. There’s plenty for kids, a good wholefood restaurant and an excellent shop. Check the website for summer residential volunteer programmes.
Owain Glyndŵr, Welsh hero
Owain Glyndŵr has remained a potent figurehead of Welsh nationalism since he rose up against the occupying English in the early fifteenth century. He was born into an aristocratic family, and studied English in London, where he became a distinguished soldier of the English king. When he returned to Wales to take up his claim as Prince of Wales, he became the focus of a rebellion born of discontent with the English rulers.
Glyndŵr garnered four thousand supporters and attacked Ruthin, Denbigh, Rhuddlan, Flint and Oswestry, before finally encountering English resistance at Welshpool. In a vain attempt to break the spirit of the rebellion, England’s Henry IV drew up severely punitive laws, even outlawing Welsh-language bards and singers. Even so, by the end of 1403, Glyndŵr controlled most of Wales. In 1404, he was crowned king of a free Wales and assembled a parliament at Machynlleth, where he drew up mutual recognition treaties with France and Spain. Glyndŵr made plans to carve up England and Wales into three as part of an alliance against the English king, but started to lose ground before eventually being forced into hiding (where he died). The anti-Welsh laws remained in place until the coronation of Henry VII, who had Welsh origins, in 1485, and Wales was subsequently subsumed into English custom and law.
New Quay
NEW QUAY (Cei Newydd) lays claim to being the original Llareggub in Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood. Certainly, it has the little tumbling streets, prim Victorian terraces, cobbled stone harbour and air of dreamy isolation that Thomas evoked in his play. Although there is a singular lack of excitement in town, it’s a pleasant base for good beaches, dolphin-spotting and the rocky promontory of New Quay Head, where the invigorating coast path steers along the top of aptly named Bird Rock.
The Vale of Rheidol
Inland from Aberystwyth, the River Rheidol winds its way up to a secluded, wooded valley, where old industrial workings have sometimes moulded themselves into the contours, rising up past waterfalls and hamlets to Devil’s Bridge. The latter is best accessed by narrow-gauge railway; otherwise you need your own transport.
Vale of Rheidol Railway
Steam trains on the narrow-gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway wheeze their way along steep hillsides from the Aber terminus to Devil’s Bridge. It was built in 1902, ostensibly for the valley’s lead mines but with a canny eye on its tourist potential as well, and has run ever since.
Devil’s Bridge
Twelve miles east of Aberystwyth, folk legend, picturesque scenery and travellers’ lore combine at DEVIL’S BRIDGE (Pontarfynach), a tiny settlement built solely for the growing visitor trade of the last few hundred years.
The bridge spanning the chasm of the churning River Mynach is actually three stacked bridges – the eleventh-century original, a stone arch from 1753 and the modern road bridge. Enter the turnstile upstream of the bridge and head down slippery steps to the deep cleft for a remarkable view of the Punch Bowl, where the water pounds and hurtles through the gap crowned by the bridges.
Bwlch Nant yr Arian
Bwlch Nant yr Arian is famous for its red kites, easy walks and varied mountain biking (no rentals). From the visitor centre, which has a decent café with a lovely deck, three well-marked walking trails (30min, 1hr & 2hr) head out into the evergreen forest and among the abandoned lead-mining detritus. The easiest and shortest trail loops around a lake past the kite hide, a superb spot for watching the daily red kite feeding (3pm, 2pm in winter) when 20lb of beef and lamb lure up to two hundred kites.