Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2012-05-20 09:05:24 - Graham Ellis
Postcards from Barmouth
Well - not really "postcards" as they're not on card, and I'm not posting them, but the sort of pictures you might see with "wish you were here" written on the back. Lisa told me the other morning that the Lonely Planet had listed the midWales coast as the number one spot to get away to, and here we are on the midWales coast.
Billy and Gypsy on the beach at Barmouth. This was the first time we've taken Billy, who hasn't been with us for six months yet, onto the beach, or indeed to the seaside. You may spot that by the time this picture was taken, he had been in the water!
The beach also offered Billy the chance to run in great cirles - or at one point the whole length of the beach. Does it tire him out? Well, yes to some extent, but it also helps make him very much fitter too, and I think as I write this (next morning), his batteries are recharged and he's all the more ready for a further outing.
A greyhound running flat out towards you (if you don't know the dog) can be a bit daunting, but here on the beach we had plenty of opportunities to make friends and enjoy the fresh air and lovely setting and scenery. Indeed, let me find you some more of that scenery ...
Barmouth's Victorian seaside hotels - built soon after the railway arrived, still stand and help provide an old fashioned quaintness to the town. Truely, much in Barmouth brings back memories of the past - set in previous centuries, yet bustling and active today too. I've visiting Barmouth, sporadically, since my teens and I expect I'll be back.
The Harbour. I can remember evening walks down to Davy Jone's locker after evening meal at the D,B&B, watching the quater past nine trains - the last of the day - rumble past on their way to Pwhelli and Machynelleth.
And the railway, with that great bridge over the estuary, is still very much in use. The trains have gone near-clockface even here, and that means a more frequent service too - every two hours, each way. Really excellent timing for a line serving sparse settlements - the sort of frequency where you'll be happy to move your travel up or down by an hour and still catch the train, rather than looking for an alternative.
You can walk over the Barmouth Bridge too, with views up the Mawddach estuary, in the heart of Snowdonia.
Avalanche shelters to stop rocks blocking the line, that great long bridge, sand blowing across the line, a section snaking through tunnels and along seawalls near Penhelig - truely this must have been an expensive line to build, and remain an expensive line to maintain. But it remains the lifeline for so many, and that "so many" is becoming more too. The trains are not quiet, but they are friendly.
And so, one last view of the estuary from the bridge as we head over to the station at Morfa Mawddach to get the train back to the town (population 2000) where we're staying. More thought from there to follow during the week.
Billy and Gypsy on the beach at Barmouth. This was the first time we've taken Billy, who hasn't been with us for six months yet, onto the beach, or indeed to the seaside. You may spot that by the time this picture was taken, he had been in the water!
The beach also offered Billy the chance to run in great cirles - or at one point the whole length of the beach. Does it tire him out? Well, yes to some extent, but it also helps make him very much fitter too, and I think as I write this (next morning), his batteries are recharged and he's all the more ready for a further outing.
A greyhound running flat out towards you (if you don't know the dog) can be a bit daunting, but here on the beach we had plenty of opportunities to make friends and enjoy the fresh air and lovely setting and scenery. Indeed, let me find you some more of that scenery ...
Barmouth's Victorian seaside hotels - built soon after the railway arrived, still stand and help provide an old fashioned quaintness to the town. Truely, much in Barmouth brings back memories of the past - set in previous centuries, yet bustling and active today too. I've visiting Barmouth, sporadically, since my teens and I expect I'll be back.
The Harbour. I can remember evening walks down to Davy Jone's locker after evening meal at the D,B&B, watching the quater past nine trains - the last of the day - rumble past on their way to Pwhelli and Machynelleth.
And the railway, with that great bridge over the estuary, is still very much in use. The trains have gone near-clockface even here, and that means a more frequent service too - every two hours, each way. Really excellent timing for a line serving sparse settlements - the sort of frequency where you'll be happy to move your travel up or down by an hour and still catch the train, rather than looking for an alternative.
You can walk over the Barmouth Bridge too, with views up the Mawddach estuary, in the heart of Snowdonia.
Avalanche shelters to stop rocks blocking the line, that great long bridge, sand blowing across the line, a section snaking through tunnels and along seawalls near Penhelig - truely this must have been an expensive line to build, and remain an expensive line to maintain. But it remains the lifeline for so many, and that "so many" is becoming more too. The trains are not quiet, but they are friendly. 
And so, one last view of the estuary from the bridge as we head over to the station at Morfa Mawddach to get the train back to the town (population 2000) where we're staying. More thought from there to follow during the week.