Welsh Journals

WALES. Vol. IV.] JULY, 1897. [No. 39. imi w ,:3S3!"^~ .. "I A NOOK NKAll BauMOUTII. A MOUNTAIN STROLL. By A. Jackson, 1, Marine Mansions, Barmuoth. FIVE or six miles from Barmouth, as the crow flies, lies Llyn Tryddyn, a small lake almost surrounded by mountains, and a short distance beyond it, Llyn Bodlyn, the lake from which the Barmouth Water Works Company procures the supply of water for the town. The scenery round Llyn Tryddyn is remarkable for barren desolate grandeur, and causes an almost overwhelming sense of solitude in the spectator. It was in the depth of winter that my husband and I last visited the lakes, taking a short cut across the mountains from Barmouth to Llyn Tryddyn. Though there was no snow on the ground in Barmouth, the mountains were covered with frozen snow, and the boggy places, of which we had to cross several, were frozen hard. The morning was bright and pleasant, and our walk,—during which we skirted the mountains above Llanaber and Dyffryn, passing within a short distance of the interesting cromlech, etc., known as Carneddau Hengwm, and quite close to the remains of a small druidical circle,—was delightful and invigorating, with its fine views of the Carnarvonshire mountains, 13 14 Snowdonia, and the Cardigan Bay. To reach the lake we had to pick our way between immense boulders whose inter¬ stices were filled with snow,—a somewhat difficult task on the shelving ground. However we were determined not to be out-done, and at last our perseverance was rewarded by a walk across the frozen lake. Our plan was to cross the Llawllech range, part of which descended almost sheer to the lake on our right, and return to Barmouth by the Sylfaen valley on the opposite side of the range, altogether a round of some fourteen miles or more. As it was too cold to sit down we had no alternative but to partake of our lunch in a peripatetic fashion, which, however, did not prevent our doing full justice to it. The sky had now clouded over. How bleak and silent was the snow-robed scene interspersed with huge dark boulders. Yet it antiquaries are to be believed, in these frozen solitudes once stood an ancient city, the remains of which are still pointed out, on the western shore of Llyn Tryddyn. Having crossed the lake we skirted the foot of the Llawllech range till we reached