Gwely Wenscot

Reading through the wills of the Lloyd family from 1684 onwards there is a recurrent handing down of six ‘wainscot bedsteads’ – four at Dduallt and two at Bron y Mannod, the other manor house and farmland which they owned.  They must have been sturdy beds to withstand so many generations and were obviously highly regarded possessions. I looked up the term wainscot which is defined as a type of panelling. 

I mentioned these wainscot bedsteads to a neighbour and she said ‘Oh you mean gwely wenscot’. A bit like a four poster enclosed on three sides with maybe a sliding door or curtain on the fourth side to keep out the draughts. St Fagans kindly supplied some photos. As double glazing is not an option for a Grade II listed property maybe I ought to buy some timber and make a few of these before the onset of winter.

Molly’s orange ball

After the chickens, ducks and geese have gone to bed Molly has free range in the garden. Usually there is a game of throwing her orange ball until she is exhausted and lies in the shallow end of the pond to cool down. Sometimes the ball gets left overnight by the edge of the pond and quite often by the next day it has moved to the top of the garden.

Curious to know who might be doing this we set up the trail camera and this is who we saw.

South Face

If you like peace and quiet, solitude, wilderness, variety and great views there’s nothing to beat the south face of Moelwyn Bach. From Campbell’s Cottage to the top can be done in just over the hour but why rush when there’s so much to enjoy. For the benefit of those yet to do it this is what it looks like in mid October.

Does anyone know R. A. J. 1982? To where is the arrow pointing?

Illuminating the wolf

Gate gone, gaping hole in stone wall, wheel tracks in mud .... surely not off-roaders in Coed y Bleiddiau? Half way down the path to Bronturnor 3 men inched and winched a huge pole, dangling from a rope strung through the trees.

Electricity supply to Tŷ Hovendon, the railway inspector’s house, was cut by a falling tree a couple of years ago. Empty since Bob and Babs Johnson left, people have been wondering what will happen to this beautiful retreat. Does this mean it’s up for sale or renovation?

The old poles could not be used mainly because they were too short with high voltage less than 11 feet above the path at one point.  

Vintage Trains from Campbell’s Platform

All the toys were out this weekend for the Ffestiniog Railway’s vintage festival. Much of Wales was mourning the World Cup loss to France but brightly coloured steam trains can be good therapy. Here are some of my favourite bits:

Walking with slime molds

2^nd weekend of October is walking weekend when friends from the south east come to enjoy or endure whatever the elements throw at us. One day was the Carneddau from Llyn Ogwen. Near the top of Pen yr Ole Wen we bumped into 6 other walkers and for a while followed them as they faded in and out of the clouds. Much later we heard a helicopter and the next day’s news included the rescue of 6 walkers stranded on a ledge overlooking Cwm Llafar. We saw no-one else all day - was it the same group?

Better than Goretex!

On the other day we did a cross over from Ganllwyd to Barmouth via Cwm Mynach and Diffwys. For most of the ridge walk we enjoyed the inside of fast moving cloud and the partial windshelter of stone walls. Heads down views of wet upland and lots of hairy brown and orange caterpillars - were these Fox Moth - Macrothylacia rubi? Their waterproof properties seem far superior to Goretex. 

Mucilago crustacea

But view of the day had to be the Mucilago crustacea slime mold. I won’t attempt any explanation of this but one day hope to understand them better.

October in Costa del Stiniog

Winter might be round the corner but the strawberries have been conned into a second crop. Nasturtiums sprouting everywhere and bees legs are jam-packed with pollen. A bottle of San Miguel and a passing steam train on Campbell’s Platform – what more could one ask for?