The Tourist's Guide through North Wales

by G. J. Bennett

I should be doing injustice to the worthy landlord of the Maentwrog Inn, whose house I used upon my second visit to this delightful valley, did I not speak in praise of his attention to the comforts of all travellers. Good beds, civil waiters, excellent fare, and cheap charges, render this one of the very best inns in Wales. And hear, ye lingering tourists! you may have bed and board for the inconsiderable sum of one guinea per week, which I think a very considerable temptation to remain at it a month, for there is sufficient in the neighbourhood to interest the most phlegmatic of Adam’s progeny. From hence may be visited the following interesting places. The village of Festiniog, three miles, where there are two good inns, the Pengwern Arms, and the Newborough Arms, where post horses and cars are always in readiness; there is also a good boarding-house kept by Miss Owen. The Falls of Cynvael, two and a half; the slate quarries, five and a half; the cataracts of the Rhaiadr Du and Ravenfall, two miles; Llyn Llyanyrch, three and a half, where the trout are excellent; Cwmorddin Pool, lies to the northward, about four and a half miles, to which the tourist may be conducted by the railroad. There is a house at each end of the lake where the angler will find accommodation from the hospitable owners for a trifling remuneration. Llyn Mannod contains very large trout, and is six miles from Maentwrog, and Llyn Morwynion is about the same distance.

I proceeded along the lower road by the north side of the salts, as the inhabitants of the valley call the arm of the sea, which here has the appearance of a lake begirt with mountains, craggy cliffs, and shadowing woods. Here I bade adieu to the delightful valley of Festiniog, and after walking about four miles along a pleasant road, a noble sheet of water met my eyes, which appeared to be hemmed in by inaccessible mountains, differing in form from those I had left behind, being more conical, and some shooting upwards like pyramids into the clouds.

As I proceeded I discovered it to be the Traeth Mawr, which, as the sea is hidden from us by a breakwater, has the appearance of a broad lake.

Upon this breakwater, which extends across the bay, is a railroad which conveys slates from the quarries at Festiniog to Port Madoc, where it is calculated ten thousand tons are shipped annually. Port Madoc receives its name from the late William Alexander Maddocks, Esq., of Tan-yr-allt, as does the town of Tremadoc.

The extraordinary efforts of this enterprising man caused him to be looked up to as the Prince of the soil. He redeemed, by constructing an embankment of nearly one mile in length from north to south, across the Traeth Mawr, at the eastern extremity of Cardigan Bay, a tract of more than 2,700 acres of land. This enterprise was completed in 1811, and cost upwards of £100,000; so that, with the lands previously recovered, no less than 7000 acres have been regained, 6000 of which are cultivated.

The view from the breakwater is perhaps the finest in North Wales for distant mountain scenery. When the tourist has reached the centre of it, let him turn his back upon the sea, and upon his right he will perceive a hill, called Plâs Newydd, from which a range of Alpine scenery stretches up to the monarch of Snowdonia, who towers pre-eminent in the distance. Upon his left another range, commencing with a hill called Moel y Gêst, leads up to the same grand object, and the extraordinary variety displayed in the formation of these wonderful masses with the varying lights and shadows that adorn them with sunny crowns or misty mantles, produces a sublimity of effect I never before experienced. A bridge joins the breakwater to the quay at Port Madoc, under which the tide rushes with great impetuosity, covering a vast extent of ground at the flood, which is left nearly dry at the ebb. Proceeding along the road, in a short time the tourist obtains a peep at the little town of Tremadoc; but before reaching it he perceives the church, an elegant building, with a tower and lofty spire, which forms a principal object in the landscape. The archway, under which the church is approached, is a beautiful specimen of workmanship, and does equal credit to the taste of the founder and execution of the builder. Divine service is read here in the English language every Sunday, which is a great accommodation to the English families, residing in the neighbourhood, as there is no other church within twenty miles where it is so performed.

TREMADOC,

or the town of Madoc, is built quadrangularly, and in the centre of the square is a column with a pedestal, round which are twelve steps. On the eastern side is a commodious market house, above which are the assembly rooms. A market is held here on Fridays, and the Barmouth and Carnarvon coach passes through three times a-week.

Having refreshed myself with a luncheon of cold meat and a salad, I trudged off, in spite of wind and weather, which threatened a speedy commencement of hostilities. Large masses of vapoury clouds were driving over head; the swallows skimmed the surface of the river, and brushed the standing corn with their swift wings, as they flew along in the pursuit of their prey; and the wind blew loud and shrilly, as in the month of November. At a short distance from the town, upon the Beddgelert road, is a lofty hill, the base of which is planted with fir trees, through which a path winds up to the mansion of Tan-yr-Allt, the late beautiful residence of Mr. Maddocks. I had not proceeded far when I was compelled to seek shelter in a hollow, of which there are many at the feet of the enormous precipices which overhang the road.