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On the coast, adjoining the Menai Strait separating the mainland
from Anglesey (Ynys Mon), are two important historic settlements.
One is the small cathedral and university city of Bangor and the
other is Caernarfon, a fortified walled town of Roman origins, with
an impressive late 13thC castle, and now a designated World
Heritage Site. During the 19thC both places, along with Port
Dinorwic lying between the two, became important slate ports
serving vast inland quarries at a time when North West Wales was
the main producer of slate in the world, and the slate industry
dominated the local economy. Huge quantities of slate were shipped
to meet the demand for roofing tiles in the rapidly developing
industrial towns in Britain and elsewhere.
The old quarries and small communities that developed near them,
lie at the edge of the Snowdonia National Park. Bethesda, the
largest, grew alongside Penrhyn quarry which became the worlds
biggest open cast slate quarry, and from where slate went by rail
to Port Penrhyn in Bangor. Caernarfon was the port for the quarries
of the Nantlle valley and Moel Tryfan area. The industrial legacy
includes old quarries (some water-filled), former tramways, a
network of quarrymens paths and the trackbed of former narrow gauge
railways used to transport the slate.
The 22 walks in this book explore the areas varied landscape and
fascinating history. There are town trails, walks by the Menai
Strait, through woodland and river valleys, across foothills
offering panoramic views, past quarries and through a complex
pattern of enclosed fields. Some follow old miners paths and
sections of former railways, now surfaced recreational trails such
as Ln Las Ogwen and Ln Eifion, the latter offering close views of
the steam hauled narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway. There are
good views of Snowdon and other mountains.
The routes follow public rights of way, permissive paths or cross
Open Access land, and are within the capability of most people. A
key feature is that many routes, as well as containing shorter walk
options, can easily be linked with others, to provide longer day
walks, if required.
*Kittiwake*
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