Aber.—This station on the Chester and Holyhead Railway is in no sense a centre for mountaineers, though a good deal of work may be done from it. We ourselves 'in our hot youth, when George the Third was King,' and a dozen miles extra tramping at the end of a day was a mere trifle, managed to do many of the mountains of North Wales from it.
Its only attraction is a pretty valley, at the head of which are some not very striking waterfalls. The surrounding rocks have, however, been the scene of a surprising number of accidents. Most of these have been caused by slipping on the path which crosses the steep slope of the eastern bank and leads to the head of the main fall. Such was the fatal accident on April 13, 1873, to Mr. F. T. Payne, a barrister. His sight was very defective, and this fact goes far towards accounting for the accident.[ [2] ]
In 1876 a very similar case occurred. A young man called Empson, who was staying at Llanfairfechan, was killed in descending, apparently at the very same spot.[ [3] ]
In April 1885 Mr. Maitland Wills, described as an expert mountaineer, while walking with two friends from Capel Curig to Aber, fell near the same spot, and was instantly killed.[ [4] ]
In August of the same year Mr. Paget, the Hammersmith Police Magistrate, fell and was severely hurt.[ [5] ] And these by no means exhaust the list of casualties, which is, perhaps, only second in length to that of Snowdon itself. It may be mentioned that there is a climb or two on the west and steeper side of the falls.
Bala, reached from London in about 7 hours by the Great Western line, is a very pleasant place to stop at on entering Wales, being situated at the foot of the finest natural sheet of water in the Principality, and having railway facilities in three directions. By the aid of the rail Cader Idris, the Arans, and the Rhinogs can be easily got at. For the first mountains Dolgelly, for the second Drwsynant and Llanuwchllyn, for the third Maentwrog would be the best stations. This is also the best place for Arenig Fawr, which can be done on foot all the way, or better by taking the train to Arenig station and returning by rail from Llanuwchllyn after crossing the hill. Lord Lyttelton made Bala famous last century. What he said of it will sufficiently appear from some lines (long since erased by the indignant ladies of Bala) which were once to be seen in a visitors' book here:—
Lord Lyttelton of old gave out
To all the world that Bala trout
Have all the sweetness that pervades
The laughing lips of Bala's maids.
Which did his Lordship mean to flout?
For fact it is that Bala trout
(Ask any fisherman you meet)
Are bad to catch, but worse to eat.
O Maid of Bala, ere we part,
'Tis mine to bind thy wounded heart;
And in thy favour testify—
Though seldom sweet, thou'rt never shy!
There is, however, one objection to this epigram, for the poet talks of trout and the peer of Gwyniad; let us, therefore, hope that in regard to the fair as well as the fish the poet's harsh judgment was equally unsound.