The Old Bridge at Llanelltyd

The village of Llanelltyd lies on the junction of A470 and A496 (Barmouth road) just north of Dolgellau and about 9 miles south of Cadair View Lodge.

Reflections of The Old Bridge Llanelltyd

The old bridge in the photo can be reached by leaving the A470 between the A496 roundabout and Dolgellau.  Heading south it’s a left hand turn signposted for Cymer Abbey.  There is parking off the road and a short walk will lead you onto the traffic free bridge.  If the water levels are right it is possible to get down to the river itself.

A little further along this side road is Cymer Abbey, a Cistercian abbey founded in 1198 as a daughter abbey to Cwm Hir Abbey near Newtown.  Although originally supported by Welsh nobility, the Abbey changed its alliance and became a base for Edward I’s assaults on North Wales.  It appears that Edward paid for some war damage at the abbey, so it may’ve come under some sort of attack.  The Abbey closed in 1537 and fell into disrepair.  The stone was taken for use in local buildings.  Some repairs were done in the 1960s and some more recently.  There isn’t a huge amount of it left but enough to get an impression of it.

The church alongside the A470 at Llanelltyd is also worth a visit.  Inside the church you will find Kenric’s Stone.  The coffin-shaped stone, probably dating to 7th – 11th Century,  has a footprint carved into it and has a Latin inscription.  It is said to be in memory of Kenric the Pilgrim and is said to have been carved to guarantee him a safe journey “overseas”.  The church stands within a circular graveyard which also contains a spring which may be St Illtyd’s well.  St Illtyd founded several churches in South Wales.

I hope that this gives you an insight into some of the places that you might just drive past on your journey to and from Cadair View Lodge.  Maybe take a few minutes to stop and explore.

To see our log cabins at Cadair View Lodge visit our website www.cadairviewlodge.co.uk

Where Can I Book A Short Break In Snowdonia?

Cadair View Lodge Log Cabins

 

If you are looking for a short break in Snowdonia (or anywhere else for that matter) you may struggle to find self catering accommodation.  Most self catering accommodation providers prefer you to stay either for a full week (and it MUST be Saturday to Saturday) or, out of season, they may allow you to stay Monday to Friday. 

At Cadair View Lodge we are different.  We will allow you to stay for a short break right through the year.  Guests can book to stay for as little as one night right through the year.  The only exception is over Christmas and over New Year when we ask that guests stay for a minimum of 3 nights.  So we can give you a price to stay just for a Saturday night, if that’s what you want.  It is also possible to start longer breaks on any day that you want too.

Although we allow you to stay for a short break, the longer you stay the lower the nightly rate gets. 

So if you’d like to book a short break in one of our log cabins in the Snowdonia National Park either call us on 01978 759603 or email us on info@cadairviewlodge.co.uk to check short break availability.

You can see details of our cabins and any special offers that we have on short breaks in Snowdonia on our website www.cadairviewlodge.co.uk

This blog was written as part of the #30dayblog challenge.

Plan Before You Come

Don’t know about you but when I go on holiday I like to have a good idea of places to go and things to do before I get there.  I think that this is even more important on a short break as you don’t want to waste a precious moment of that break wondering what you should do.

With this in mind you might want to take a look at our Facebook page,  our Twitter stream and our daily online newspaper The Cadair View Lodge Times.  All of these have been set-up to bring together news, gossip and information about things going on in our area.  There are photos, videos and blogs to whet your appetite for some of the local attractions and scenery plus details of things that are happening locally too.

So please LIKE, Follow or Subscribe to the links below!

Cadair View Lodge Log Cabins | Promote your Page too

Read The Cadair View Lodge Times

See our website www.CadairViewLodge.co.uk for late deals and information about our accommodation.

This blog has been written as part of a 30 day blogging challenge

Doggy To Doggy Tips For A Stay In Snowdonia

Hi there Furiends (and your Mummies and Daddies),

Aunty Sue at Cadair View Lodge has asked me to pass on some tips to doggies coming to stay in Snowdonia.  For those of you who don’t know me I live with my Daddy at Cadair View Lodge and my job (other than keeping Daddy in line) is to welcome doggies who come to stay in the log cabins.

This is me, Whiskey. I live at Cadair View Lodge.

These Are My Top Tips

Remember to pack a ball

Remember to pack a spare ball

Remember to pack a spare, spare ball!

Pack a towel or two.  There are some great beaches to run around on in Snowdonia and you want to be able to enjoy them and have a swim.  There’s also some great puddles (and streams) in the forests.  Lots of opportunities to get wet paws

Bring your lead.  I know that it’s not nice being on a lead all of the time but we need to be kept close to our Mummies and Daddies especially around the sheep.

Find out which pubs, restaurants and cafes you will be able to take your Mummy and Daddy to.  Some very kind places will even give you a sausage under the table if you are good.

Check out the area to see which other places are friendly to visiting doggies.  I know some shops that I can go into and some visitor attractions.  It’s not fair (or safe) if you’re left in the car all of the time.

Get your Mummy and Daddy to find out where the local vet is in case of an emergency.  When it was hot at Easter I heard of a couple of dogs in North Wales being bitten by snakes… ugh!  And they had to see a vet very quickly (they all got better)

Bring your favourite dinner with you.  You might not be able to find it here.

Don’t be frightened by the aeroplanes.  Sometimes they fly very low and make lots of noise.  The steam trains make lots of noise too.  It’s OK they’re all very safe really.

If you’re a town doggies you’ll love Snowdonia!  Lots of new things to sniff and lots of great places to run around… you can go on the beach all year round too.  There’s lots to keep your Mummy and Daddy (and other family members) occupied so you’ll all have a happy holiday.

If you want to see where I live (and where you can stay) and find links to doggy friendly places near to me have a look on my webpage  You’ll also find me on Facebook (and lots of photos) and Twitter.

Would love to see you in Snowdonia soon

* Big Licks *

Whiskey Hall   aka SnowdoniaDog

See the Cadair View Lodge website for details of log cabin breaks in Snowdonia National Park.  Late availability offers posted on a regular basis.

“Britain’s not so Great for tourists”!

At least this is what a headline in today’s Sun newspaper reads (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3574588/Britains-not-so-Great-for-tourists.html).  The article claims that the latest version of The Lonely Planet’s Great Britain guide paints tourist attractions and accommodation across the UK are “overpriced and lacking in quality”!  With more and more people opting for stay-cations surely this can’t be true.

As an accommodation provider myself I know that our guests are demanding higher and higher standards and our accommodation is always being upgraded to try to meet their demands.  I know from speaking to other accommodation providers on Twitter and Facebook that many of them are always upgrading and reinvesting too.  Just look at the number of 5* B&Bs there are about now AND 5* self catering properties.

OK I admit that when holidaying in the UK guests often have to find something to “amuse” themselves.  They can’t always spend their days lying on the beach and just buying the odd drink (I’d like to point out at this point that the temperatures in Snowdonia over Easter were higher than those in Greece) and so may have to spend some money getting about.  But there are lots of things that can be done to pass the time without spending a fortune.

If you’re visiting Southern Snowdonia check out our website for things that can be done completely FREE and this list doesn’t include just enjoying the great outdoors, walking on the hills or the beaches or the often forgotten art of just doing nothing for an hour or two.

There is also an ever-increasing selection of great places to eat… at a reasonable cost.  And for those who would like to keep costs down further by cooking for themselves there are now a selection of the popular supermarkets in the local towns plus some great delicatessen selling local (and more exotic) products.

Come to Snowdonia!  Avoid the airport scrum, the parking hassles, the security checks.  Bring as much luggage as you want.  Explore what Britain has to offer – I’m sure that you’ll be surprised and I doubt that you’ll be “ripped off”!

Cadair View Lodge’s accommodation in Southern Snowdonia can be found on www.cadairviewlodge.co.uk along with a wide range of things to do and places to eat.

This blog was written as part of Nikki Pilkington’s 30 Day Blogging Challenge

How To Cheat At Blog Writing

I promised that I’d write a blog after Saturday’s walk above the Mawddach Estuary and I intended taking lots of photos too but I didn’t.

The day started off bright and clear.  The walk across Barmouth Bridge from Morfa Mawddach was very pleasant, the warmest that we’ve started a walk in a long time.  We stopped to watch the seagulls sitting on little blobs of sand that were rapidly shrinking as the tide came in.  One sat on his island until the water reached him before flying off.  We also saw several oyster catchers searching for their breakfasts.

After the toll, yes, they were collecting money even though it was only 8.30am, we stopped again to look at the boats in the harbour.  Which one would be bought if the lottery numbers came up.

And then the hard work began.

There’s this lovely hill on the way out of Barmouth.  Well Nick thinks it’s great – I always think that I’m going to die before I get to the top of it!  Once again, thankfully, I managed it and that was the majority of the uphill done for the walk.

I’ll pass you over to Nick’s blog and photos (this is the cheating bit) and will butt in again at the end.

Read the real blog about the walk

I do have a photo to add.

We’d stopped to have a look down from a bridge at this river.  I got my camera out and then the heavens opened!  Water-proofs on and cameras away.  This was the last photo of the day.

I can also add that we crossed the path of a couple who were walking the Cambrian Way.  They’d started Saturday morning’s leg from a B&B in Barmouth and were making their way to Cwm Bychan where they were going to camp on Saturday night.  The rain that caught us towards the end of our walk would’ve reached them when they were up on the tops somewhere.  Rather them than me.

I promise to write my own blog next time and not pinch someone else’s… honest!

Whilst you’re over on www.ilvenworld.blogspot.com check out Nick’s “postcards” from his holidays and have a look at the samples of his books that he’s posted there.

Thanks for reading

For accommodation near to this walk check out www.cadairviewlodge.co.uk  This website also contains a huge range of other things to do in the area.

Testimonial Pine Tree Lodge – 16th April 2011

View from deck of Pine Tree Lodge, a Cadair View Lodge Ltd log cabin in Snowdonia

Thank you so much for the stay, we absolutely loved it! The lodge was cosy and comfortable on a great location! We went to Go Ape at Coed y Brenin in the day which was brilliant fun! Then we came to find the lodge and settled in. We went to the pub to book a table at around 4.30 but ended up staying til 9 because the atmosphere was great!! Dinner there was fantastic and the pudding was to die for! Returned to the cabin for a cosy night in!

Great weekend. 

We’ll definitely be coming again!