Caernarfon Castle

Tuesday 8^th May 2012

Woke this morning to overcast sky with glimpses of blue. Temperature was a warm 15°. Based on Ian’s (our host) weather updates from the Met Office we decided to do the trip on the Snowdon Mountain Railway to the summit of Mt Snowdon, 1085m above sea level. Stopped briefly at Llanberis to purchase tickets for the 2:00PM train and then continued on to Caernarfon to see Caernarfon Castle. The Castle was built by Edward I and dates from 1283.

Edward’s son Edward (later Edward II) was created Prince of Wales in the Castle in 1301, and in 1969 the Queen invested Prince Charles as Prince of Wales there.

The Castle is an amazing structure and we spent some time climbing up and down the many towers – the views from the top were stunning!

Bruce on top of Mt Snowdon

Departed Caernarfon about 12:30PM and headed back to Llanberis to board the train for the trip to the summit of Mt Snowdon. Weather was a little overcast but we were hopeful of it clearing by the time we got to the top.

We were fortunate to have one of the original steam locomotives named “Snowdon” push our carriage up the mountain. The track is very steep and the engine had to stop half way up to fill the water tank for the final climb to the top. The views, both going up and coming down, were amazing. It is a pity that the same cannot be said for the views at the top. The summit was shrouded in dense cloud cover and it was raining and windy. I climbed right to the top and got buffeted by wind and rain waiting for Lynne to take my photo.

Ended the day with dinner at the Ty Gwyn Hotel for the second time.

All in all a great day.