All Aboard for the Devil's Bridge, then North to Angelsey

 

Day 8 began with a loud "toot toot" as the steam train pulled up to the platform for my ride from Aberystwyth to Devil's Bridge in the Rheidol Valley.  Back in the day, I learned that Scotsman James Watt invented the steam engine, but I just discovered the first steam train to haul a significant load on rails -- 10 tons of iron -- was built in Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales in 1804. 

Here's today's route.  We're moving our way northward.

Before the train arrived, people started milling around the platform -- I should say people and their DOGS milled around the platform.  I couldn't get over how many people brought their dogs along for the train ride.  I counted at least a dozen.  Most everyone knows I'm a huge dog lover, but I can't imagine my dogs enjoying this.  As it is, I have to drug little Meera for any long car rides!  Besides, she'd want to be in first class and I'd want to sit in the open air.

This one was a little feisty!

Looks like she has her ticket ready!

This pup's owner told me it was the dog who wanted to ride the train.  Apparently they do it all the time.  Poor dog won't see a thing with all that hair in his eyes!

She looks like she travels in the first class car.

Along the way the engineer stopped the train and changed the "tokens."  I'm sure my friend Cynthia's husband, Jim, knows just what that means.  For the rest of us, the railway guy got out, collected a key of some sort in a building along the tracks and inserted it into the switch, which prevented another train from coming toward us on the same track.  Considering they stopped twice to do this on a 10-mile trip,  I suspect it was a bit theatrical.

I'll show off my very limited train knowledge and say it's a narrow gauge steam railway.  I haven't the slightest idea how fat they usually come, but this one was built in 1902 and has been attracting tourists ever since.

 

How green was my valley...indeed!

We made it!

She probably needed a thorough inspection after that grueling journey!

Noel met me at the station and off we went to the Devil's Bridge.

The Devil's Bridge.  You can see 3 separate bridges built on top of each other. The first one, it's said, was built by the Devil himself.

The devil, you say?  Here's the story (Wales is full of stories!): Legend has it the Devil met up with an old woman named Megan of Llandunach standing on the side of the ravine.  She was clearly upset, so the Devil asked why.  "My cow has wandered across the ravine and I can't reach her to bring her home."  "Ah," said the Devil.  "I'll build you a bridge so you can walk across it to fetch the cow.  Come back tomorrow and it will be finished."  The woman eyed him skeptically.  "What is your price?" she asked.  "I will take the soul of the first being to cross it," the Devil responded.

As Megan walked home she pondered the offer.  "Why would I want a bridge if I will lose my soul when I cross it?" Morning came and Megan called for her dog to walk with her to the ravine.  There she marveled at the new bridge, but eyed the Devil nervously. His lips curled into a sinister smile.  "Now I will take the soul of the first being to cross it." Megan started toward the bridge, but at the last minute threw a loaf of bread onto the bridge.  The dog ran toward it, thus becoming the first being to cross. "I have no use for a dog!" cried the Devil.  Outfoxed, he disappeared into the woods and was never seen again in Wales. 

 Click here to hear it told in Welsh.  

So what happened to the poor dog?  The story doesn't say.  Clearly the people who started the legend weren't dog people.  

But what about the other two bridges?  The "Devil's" bridge dates from the 11th Century and was probably built by monks from a nearby abbey.  The second, middle, bridge was constructed in the 1700s.  The builders kept the bottom bridge intact to support their scaffolding.  When this bridge failed, engineers constructed the top, iron, bridge in 1901.  They preserved the lower bridges for the sake of their uniqueness -- a good plan, considering the constant tourist draw.

At the bottom of the ravine, the river Mynach meets the river Rheidol, churning wildly and creating beautiful waterfalls.  The roar is deafening, but mesmerizing.  Here's a video.  Photos don't do it justice.

Viewing the bridges and waterfalls requires descending these steep steps called "Jacob's Ladder." 

Machynlleth

We traipsed back up Jacob's Ladder, hopped in the van and headed for our next stop -- Machynlleth.  (The pronunciation for this town is a total tongue twister.  Ma-CUN-lleth is approximate, provided you use that ll sound I've been teaching you!) Here Owain Glyndwr (OH-wane Glin-DURE) convened a Welsh Parliament in 1404.  Glyndwr, a patriotic hero to the Welsh, led a rebellion against the English King Henry IV in 1400.  Mind you, Welsh patriots had been leading rebellions against the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Normans, and English over hundreds of years, but Glyndwr was especially successful.

By 1403 Glyndwr defeated the English armies and controlled all of Wales.  In 1404 his Parliament met in Machynlleth and crowned him Prince of Wales -- the last native Welshman to hold the title.  Sadly, by 1412 the tides had turned back in Henry's favor and Owain Glyndwr disappeared, never to be seen again...definitely adding to his mystique.

This building, now a museum, is considered to be Owain Glyndwr's Parliament House.

However, in 2006, archeologists determined the current structure was built considerably later than 1404 and couldn't have been used by Glyndwr.  Not to worry.  It's possible that an older building existed on the same site, so we'll tip our hat to Owain Glyndwr and his heroic exploits wherever he held court.

We saw Owain Glyndwr's battle flag -- 4 standing lions -- displayed everywhere, especially as we traveled farther north.

Snowdonia

But enough history!  Noel and I settled in for a longer drive into Snowdonia, which is characterized by a rugged, mountainous landscape, very different from what we saw in the South.  Here in North Wales they mined slate and copper.  Most underground slate mines closed in the 1960s, but some slate is still mined from open quarries.

  

This video shows the slate waste, which covered much of the landscape.  

These were homes built for the slate miners.  In the distance the "rubbish," or waste rock from the quarrying process, covers the mountain.

I was quite taken with these "robot" flagmen -- mobile traffic lights, one on each end that stop traffic in one direction and then the other.  We saw them everywhere.  

Noel thought I was crazy, but I made him stop at this cemetery in Blaeneau Ffestiniog.  I was fascinated with the headstones, which were all made of slate.  It makes sense they would use slate in this mining area, but I had never seen slate tombstones before.  I thought they had a strange beauty.

 Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Then, on the road again, we headed to the island of Angelsey and a required tourist stop.  I would be put to shame if I came home without a photo of me in the town with the longest place name in Europe, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.  It would be the longest place name in the world, except a New Zealand town used a lot more letters and made it to number 1.

No, do NOT ask me to pronounce it!  I will abbreviate like the locals do to Llanfair PG.  Remember my friend, Merion?  HE will say it for you:

And here's what it means:

In case you'd like the phonetics to practice, they are behind me in this photo.

And if all of this gives you heart palpitations, the town installed one of these nearby.

Of course this was a marketing ploy instituted in the 1800s by a local tailor who seems to be anonymous.  The idea was to attract tourists.  It may have worked, but I don't think many venture farther than the railway station.

OK.  Required tourist photos taken?  Check. Then off we go to.....

Bryn Celli Ddu

Bryn Celli Ddu (Brinn KEH-llee Thee), is another Neolithic burial mound, this one with the earthen covering still intact.  It seems so weird how these 6,000 year old monuments pop up in sheep fields when you least expect them. 

The Neolithic builders aligned the stones so the midsummer sunrise shines through the chamber.  Pretty amazing.

So you think that ended my day of touring?  Think again!  I had wanted to see the lighthouse called South Stack on Angelsey, but it was located considerably farther north, so Noel suggested we head for Llanddwyn island (too hard for phonetics!).  Its name means the Church of St. Dwynwen, who is the Welsh patron saint of lovers, something like a Welsh St. Valentine.  Welsh people often exchange cards and gifts on her saint's day, January 25.  Noel says couples often get engaged on Llanddwyn Beach.

So off we went (not to get engaged, of course!).  On the way, Noel showed me how to pick out Mt. Snowdon, the tallest mountain in Wales.  If you look at the contours of the mountains, they resemble Queen Victoria lying in repose with her hands folded (or so Noel says.  It took me a bit to see it).  Snowdon is the peak of her folded hands.  Not to be indelicate, but the peak initially looked like something other than her hands to me.  I caught on after a while.

Ynys Llanddwyn is a small tidal island (Ynys=Island).  We made it to the beach before the sun started to set, but the lighthouse stood pretty far in the distance.  We settled for the stunning views of the beach and surrounding mountains.

The miracle of zoom lenses!

Is that Queen Victoria?

That's Noel in the distance saying, "Time to Go!"  His friend, Dil, who owns the 'Talking Point' B&B in Betws-y-Coed was expecting us and we had a bit of a drive to get there.

Another full day! Let's see what adventures tomorrow brings.

Cheers!