June 23, 2024
Llangollen to Dinas Mawddwy
three hard climbs
My legs ache from yesterday's hills and when I looked at the map last night, wondering where we might get a bed later today, the local train station grabbed my attention. We went to see it last night on our walkabout, but it was locked up.
Our map shows a rail line heading west from LLangollen to Corwen, but this is not part of the national rail system - it's a private enterprise and a heritage operation that runs old steam trains for rail enthusiasts and tourists. Maybe the trains take bikes: we decide to check it out this morning.
First, we go up the hill from our B&B just a block or two and find a place called Plas Newydd - it means 'new hall'. It has a tea room but it's all closed at this early hour, so we just take a couple of photos before cruising back down the road into the centre of town, looking for somewhere else to have breakfast. It's all very quiet.
An ice cream shop called Sweet Corner is just opening and the young woman pulling up the shutter confirms she serves coffee, so that's where we sit for a 10 minutes enjoying our frothy ones before riding to the train station over on the north side of the river.
We're the first at the station, but a couple of staff members soon turn up and tell us that we'll be able to get our bikes on the train that leaves at 10:00. They also say we can buy single tickets (most tourists get a return) to Corwen and that the station cafe will open shortly. It does and we get bacon baps and more coffee.
By the time the steam engine backs up on the track and gets coupled to the string of carriages, there are quite a few people ready to get on board. Our bikes are stored in the goods wagon and we get seats on the right side of the train, as we've been told this will give a better view of the River Dee as the train winds its way west along the valley.
Once we start rolling along the tracks at about 40km an hour, I tentatively stick my head out of the window of a door and recall the same experience from when I was young... the sound of the whistle, the smell of smoke and burning coal, and the tiny specks of soot that get in your eyes.
The train journey saves us about 20km of cycling. After about 40 minutes we arrive at Corwen's station and make our way to the main road. I'd wondered about crossing over the Dee near Corwen to get on a lane on the river's northern side, but the main road on this side of the river isn't too busy and it'll make a slightly shorter ride.
The B4401 takes us south to a village called Cynwed, where I replicate a photo of a bridge before we pop into a Spar store and buy some drinks and snacks. From the T junction, it's a short cruise down to the river, which we cross via a stone bridge that dates back to the 1600s. A lane then takes us west along the valley, rising gently to give us a great view over to our left.
At one small Y-junction we veer left and end up back at the river. It turns out to waste only a few minutes, but it's not really a waste because the bridge is another wonderful stone structure that's centuries old. We climb over a stile to take a closer look at it before riding back and heading further west.
There are one or two farm houses along the way, but there's virtually no traffic. This suddenly changes when a convoy of around 20 vintage tractors rumble towards us. There's no choice but to get up onto the narrow, grassy verge to let them slowly pass and I can only guess there's a fair being held this coming weekend somewhere in the area.
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We pause in a small village called Llandderfel to replicate an old postcard, then cross back over the Dee on a triple-arched bridge called Pont Fawr - it means Big Bridge in English - that dates back to the 1600s.
Just along the road we get to a junction where the Bryntirion Arms sits. It's a place that I considered as an overnight stop, but the train ride has changed that idea as it's still early in the day. I've an old postcard image of the pub that I replicate and as it's lunch time, we pop in and have bowls of soup.... from here on there won't be many chances to eat. And there's a big climb coming up, with the maps giving it two of the dreaded >.
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The B4391 is not the sort of road I want to ride on. Luckily we're only on it for a few minutes. We pedal to a junction where there's a sign telling drivers not to follow their Sat Navs up the lane, which climbs. We get to a cattle grid and a metal gate, which turns out to be one of several as the track climbs higher and higher. Those > are not misplaced and we have to get off and push our bikes a few times. Once at the edge of a forest I can see on the OS map where we are and thankfully it's not too far to the top.
The drop is nice. There's zero traffic, but it's not long before we reach the foot of another climb. It's hard to know where we are on the map, but my guess is we're getting closer to Cwm Hirnant. In the distance the road wiggles up the side of a mountain and it looks pretty steep. It's just too tiring to ride all the way up it and what we think will be the crest isn't and the curving route keeps on going up. Don't you just hate those false crests?
Rain drops start to fall as we enter the dimness created by the densely packed trees as we drop down from the pass. Our speed is kept sensible as it's too steep to just let go. The rian doesn't come to anything and we stay dry and eventually reach the edge of a lake - Lake Vyrnwy - and follow the road around it's western edge until we reach a fork in the road. From here we go west and start to climb, albeit gently.
I had imagined this section to be fairly easy, but the climb keeps going and going. We pedal up and have great views back over the hilly landscape, with no a sole in sight and while the gradient isn't that steep, we have to take a rest quite often to recover.
It never reallt flattens out but it's a surprise when we get to a sign telling us we're in Snowdnia National Park, but the top is in sight and we can see down teh long valley where the descent will lead us. It's still hard to figure out why there's nobody else around on such a glorious piece of road.
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It's a steep and potentially fast drop down the valley - the map has no less than nine > on it here - but we keep it sensible. The incline obviously eases towards the valley bottom and we think that the hard work is done and dusted, but today's goal of Dinas Mawddwy is further away than anticipated and the road undulates mile after mile, even though we seem to be going with the flow of an adjacent stream.
There's a village church that I want to look inside as the widows sound nice, but when we reach it a sign says it's closed and the door is locked. We pause at the former village shop and take a photo of that, which turns out to be my last of the day. We just press on, eager to get the ride over with and reach the pub-hotel in Dinas Mawddwy. To get to the village, the road has one last > to deal with. Cycling can be cruel.
Thankfully the Red Lion has rooms available and they're serving food. The other customers propping up the bar - five men in their 60s - are Welsh speakers and the handful of people sat at one of the four tables are busy with a game of dominoes. After a quick shower we get a table and enjoy a decent meal, feeling pretty exhausted.
Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles)
Total: 878 km (545 miles)
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