Welsh Mega Steam – day two

Lakes and mountains

Day two was a day that I had looked forward to since I booked the holiday – a journey to the summit of Mount Snowdon.

The day dawned bright and sunny, without a cloud in the sky. Breakfast was served around 08:00, and after dining, we boarded the bus for the short journey to Llanberis, and the Lake Railway. This is a delightful little train which runs from the centre of the village along the lake, using a track bed laid down for the slate quarries.

The round trip took an hour, and after leaving the train, I walked the short distance to the Snowdon Railway station in plenty of time for our 13:30 departure. This gave me time for a coffee and ice cream, and the opportunity to take a few photos.

While in Llanberis, the skies had clouded over, and it was looking like the summit would be shrouded in mist. However, as our departure time arrived, the stiff breeze had blown the clouds away, leaving a small layer of cloud just below the summit.

The steam engine puffed its way to the top, which, although hazy, was relatively cloud free. Only the rising clouds from the valley spoiled what would have been a great view. As I had been to the top of Snowdon before, on a cloud free day, I wasn’t disappointed.

There were thousands of walkers on the mountain and the summit visitor centre was overcrowded. I got as near as I dared to the actual summit, but I stopped about ten feet below as I didn’t want to jostle with the crowds at the top.

After an hour, our party boarded the train and we made our way back down the mountain, waving at the hoards of hikers making their way down too.

With a little time in hand, our coach driver took us over the Britannia Bridge spanning the Menai Straits to the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, the longest place-name in Europe. The name means [St.] Mary’s Church (Llanfair) [in] the hollow (pwll) of the white hazel (gwyngyll) near (goger) the rapid whirlpool (y chwyrndrobwll) [and] the church of [St.] Tysilio (llantysilio) with a red cave ([a]g ogo goch).

We stopped here for about twenty minutes, enough time to take a few photos of the railway station of the same name.

After arriving back in Bangor, we dined in the University’s Uno Bar, and I had melon, vegetable tortilla and cheesecake. The meal, like the previous night, was filling and I headed to my room at around 20:00 to check my messages and write-up this blog post.

Return to the itinerary page

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