After my unsuccessful few days around the Mach Loop, I moved hotels to the Ship in Dolgellau to start the Snowdonia in Spring Tour lead by Robert Harvey.
The Snowdonia National Park officially adopted its traditional Welsh name, Eryri, in November 2022. Our tour had been booked before and for simplicity I have retained its original name.
Day 1: Friday 12 May 2023: Dolgellau
This was the day that I moved on for my Snowdonia in Spring (Photographic) Tour. My next hotel was in the centre of Dolgellau. After packing the car I left my boots in the sunshine – still soaked. To start the day we had a late full Welsh breakfast at the Red Lion. Frustratingly as we ate a Hercules flew over us on its way to the Bwlch…
After breakfast I left the hotel . The weather forecast was now excellent. I had lots of great advice to head for the Mach Loop but I decided to head straight to the Royal Ship Hotel in Dolgellau. On the way I stopped at the petrol station by Starbucks for the cheapest diesel that I had seen in months.
Dolgellau in the morning
The Royal Ship Hotel was easy to find and my guess to left to the car park was correct. The car park was on the right down the one way street through an archway. The turn in was fun as there was a delivery van parked directly opposite. I was lucky and there was a space despite there being only a limited number of parking spaces. I was too early to check-in but was told at reception that it was OK to leave my car there while I waited.
I had the rest of the morning to explore Dolgellau.
I stopped in the square for a coffee and a cake.
My morning had been spent exploring Dolgellau and hearing the USAF F-15s and F-35s going around the Mach Loop – I should have taken the advice and gone there first!
Before the introductory presentation I had time to check in and do some limited unpacking and preparation for the start of the tour.
Barmouth Harbour
The minibus was parked in the large public car park and we made our way there. The first photo location was the beach at Barmouth. Once in Barmouth we parked in the same car park that I had been in a few days earlier.
This time with a train going over the viaduct.
Reference: The Photographer’s Guide to Snowdonia and North Wales – Page 73
From the beach we made our way to park near the bridge.
Barmouth Bridge
Walking up the footpath we then had a clear view.
Looking up the estuary.
The bridge had a pedestrian walkway running alongside the railway track.
And we were lucky enough to have a train come past.
Reference: The Photographer’s Guide to Snowdonia and North Wales – Page 74
The Last Inn
Down Porkington Terrace for the car park was The Last Inn. It was about 5:30 pm and the place was packed.
We did manage to find tables and by nearly 7 pm we we were back out and on our way to the last stop of the day.
Panorama Walk with a view of the Mawddach Estuary
From the A496 we turned left and drove through a small group of houses and then kept going until we reached the top of the hill.
The view looking back up the estuary was indeed worth the walk. One of our challenges was to take a seated person in the foreground with the estuary behing.
References : Photographing North Wales – Page 130 and The Photographer’s Guide to Snowdonia and North Wales – Page 74
We had a very early start on the next day so once back in my room I laid out my clothes and camera gear ready.
