Devil's Bridge to Dolgellau
I walked this stage through the Dyfi valley with Dave Travers, rather than solo.
Indeed he supplied the pictures, as a car thief decided to make away with my camera before the film had been developed.
Plynlimon
Stage 9, Friday 22 October 2004: Devil's Bridge to Dyffryn Castell inn, 6 miles
The first leg, an afternoon not whole day, was due to follow Drake's Cambrian Way route,
with the morning train from London getting us to Aberystwyth by lunchtime, and the bus for Devil's Bridge leaving soon after -
the Vale of Rheidol train takes Fridays off in the autumn.
But with a failure in Shrewsbury we ended up nearly two hours late, well after the last bus of the day,
so had to grab a taxi up the Rheidol. In pouring rain, decision time.
Could we reach the Dyffryn Castell inn by nightfall using Drake's fine route? It was too tight a schedule,
so we decided on a plod along the A4120 before rejoining Drake via Parson's Bridge.
Uneventful enough, save that the footpath shown leaving the main road at 750786 petered out in marsh,
so we had to take the (very pretty) alternative leaving from the little chapel a few hundred yards further along.
Stage 10, Saturday 23 October 2004: Dyffryn Castell inn to Machynlleth, 16 miles
Make no mistake: it's a big day from the inn to Machynlleth over Plynlimon.
The mountain climb is straightforward enough (Dave on summit, left picture),
but there is wild country to the north and we see it at its best.
The valley at Hyddgen (top picture in sidebar) has the scale of a Scottish strath, and the ridge above is always interesting,
with good views into the valley systems to the east. It's a popular area with mountain bikers too (though we saw none),
and their Mach 3 navigation signs
simplify route-finding. There's a descent into forest at a place called The Chute 770948 which drops sharply down smooth,
and on our day very wet, slate; how one takes two wheels down that I do not know;
its official mountain bike grading is 'scary and difficult'! We had intended to take the path at 756994 directly to Machynlleth,
but by then had got used to following the waymarks of the fairly recent
Glyndwr's Way diversion, so contoured westwards,
with fine views over the town tempered by the realisation that it was an extra mile at the end of a long and wet day.
You enter the town of Machynlleth through the grounds of Celtica,
which those without a walker's schedule to maintain should visit.
Tarrenhendre and Cadair Idris
Stage 11, Sunday 24 October 2004: Machynlleth to Eisteddfa, 11 miles
Some years ago, Dave and I walked a large part of the Dyfi Valley Way.
This traverses a large part of the Tarren range north of Machynlleth, and we had taken
the opportunity to divert to the summit of Tarren y Gesail, so it made sense now to tick off the other hill in the range, Tarrenhendre.
First though was the crossing of the Dyfi. Yes, there is an A-road bridge, but it had been closed the day before due to floods.
Thankfully these had subsided a little by the morning, and our first obstacle was
the infamous forestry plantations of the Tarrens' southern slopes.
There are routes through, without as Drake implies having to footslog along A roads.
Ours took us by Tywyllnodwydd to Pennal-isaf, where the open hillside beckons.
In fact the forestry tracks were straightforward enough; it was the land around Pennal-isaf's farmsteads that was difficult,
with a lack of stiles to make one doubt one's route. The view right is at Pant Gwyn on the final ridge,
looking north, with Dave at the ladder stile which gives access to forestry tracks north to Abergynolwyn.
It has to be said that Tarrenhendre summit is uninspiring, made worse by the weather closing in after a pleasant morning.
Further down though is the popular tourist area of Dolgoch Falls, through which runs the
Tal-y-llyn railway.
We were just in time for a round trip up the valley.
From Dolgoch station (picture 2) it was just a simple valley walk to our B&B.
Stage 12, Monday 25 October 2004: Eisteddfa to Dolgellau, 13 miles
The final stage is a long west-east traverse of one of the best Welsh hills,
and hence a companion piece to the north-south traverse of Plynlimon two days before.
Dave had been kept awake by incessant overnight wind and rain,
but it was drying as we started out by the high farmland towards Pont Ystumanner.
The village of Llanfihangel-y-pennant is a sobering place for the modern hillwalker, Goretexed up and Vibram shod;
it was from here in 1800 that one Mari Jones,
aged 16, set out to walk 25 miles barefoot to Bala in pusuit of a bible.
Nowadays the village is the starting point for the pony track ascent of Cadair Idris,
which while never the most exciting way up the hill gives a sense of the grand sweep of its bulk.
It was pretty rough on top and we met one family group who were pretty dispirited and about to turn back before the summit,
where we ourselves struggled to grip the summit cairn (Penygadair) in the high wind
and were pleased to eat our sandwiches in the shelter just below. Then another family walks in with dog!
They had come up from Minfford, in the lee of the hill, and indeed conditions rapidly improved for us,
as we sat for a while on Mynydd Moel looking beyond Penygadair to the sea beyond (picture 3).
The descent of Gau Graig seems to take ages, but the route is never in real doubt until the very bottom,
and lanes lead quickly into Dolgellau itself.
When and weather
22 October 2004: Devil's Bridge to Dyffryn Castell; very wet start but drying up by Ponterwyd.
23 October: Dyffryn Castell to Machynlleth; dull start, cloud level 2000', rain from Hyddgen until the Glyndwr's Way section.
24 October: Machynlleth to Eisteddfa; pleasant enough start, showers on way down from Tarrenhendre.
25 October: Eisteddfa to Dolgellau; rain soon died out but overcast,
cloud level 2000' rising after leaving the very windy top of Cadair.
Accommodation
Dyffryn Castell Inn is an obvious choice,
though the George Borrow hotel in Ponterwyd
would be an alternative if you don't mind an extra few miles tagged on to Plynlimon.
Machynlleth has a very wide variety of accommodation;
we stayed at Maenllwyd B&B,
which understood the travails of walkers on wet Welsh days.
Eisteddfa is a comfortable farmhouse B&B
in the Fathew valley. Dolgellau, like Machynlleth, is a significant town with much accommodation,
though we stayed at the very pretty Dolgun Uchaf B&B just outside;
Dave's wife Rachel had journeyed up that day and played taxi.
Anquet links
Follow these links to download mapping for each day's walk.
Anquet registration and software required.
Devil's Bridge to Dyffryn Castell
Dyffryn Castell to Machynlleth
Machynlleth to Eisteddfa
Eisteddfa to Dolgellau
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