The welsh tourist town of Llanberis, at the foot of Mount Snowdon, is not dominated by the highest mountain in Wales and England, nor by the other impressive peaks lining the Llanberis Pass, but by a vast slate mine and its spoil heaps. The mine was one of the largest in the world. Its heyday was the 19th century but it didn’t stop working until the 1960s. If I were to be critical I’d say I couldn’t decide whether the natural mountain scenery would be improved more by the rem

Llyn Tecwyn Uchaf I was going to title this post “Llyn Tecwyn Uchaf” but that would look like I’d just dropped a book on the keyboard. That’s the name of this small lake at the northern end of the Rhinog range of hills in the southern half of Snowdonia. Llyn Tecwyn Uchaf I’d been on an overnight trip the night before and came up to do some scouting for future locations. I found this idyllic lake with almost no-one about. That was back in May. I never fully processed the shots

I took a couple of shots earlier this year that have had a big influence on me. They were both shots of narrow, tree-lined lanes. Since then I’ve been taking lots of photos of lanes and going out of my way to find such places. I don’t know if it’s a passing fad or something longer term but I’ve been very pleased to find inspiration in the less obvious. These shots were taken a few weeks ago near the village of Trefriw, in the Conwy valley in Snowdonia. From the village you ca

Some shots from a welsh trip this week. Not as successful as I’d hoped even though the colours were at their best. I didn’t focus in advance on a single location, thinking I’d try a few different places in one day. That’s usually not a good plan for me. I find I get better results when I’ve properly planned the day out in advance, knowing exactly where I’m going. Anyway, a few nice shots. A mixture of the woods just outside Bethesda and one of my autumn favourites, Aberglasly

I think I’m getting better at wild camping as I slept well again (by bivvy-bag standards, at least). A very calm and warm night helped. I got up to a promising sky with a rainbow of colour on the horizon. The air was much clearer after the haze of the evening with a nice bit of mist trapped in the valley above Capel Curig below. There was also a tiny half moon, which looks even tinier in my wide-angle photographs. #wildcamping #snowdonia #photography #landscape #gallerypost #

Crimpiau is a minor top in Snowdonia, an eastern outlier of the Carneddau. It’s only about 450m high but has one of the best views in North Wales that takes in the three highest ranges – Snowdon, the Glyders and the Carnedds. It’s quiet (I didn’t see anyone else the whole time I was there) and has lovely shapes and textures in the foreground. The downside, for a wild camping trip, is that there are hardly any flat grassy areas to put down your sleeping bag. Almost the single

The Glyders from Yr Arddu The morning after the night before (see Part 1), half past four, and the alarm wakes me up after a surprisingly good night’s sleep. Everything is wet, covered in dew and condensation but the cameras and my boots were well wrapped up. Snowdon from my bedroom The sky is very clear, which is nice but sort of disappointing – no clouds to add interest to the pictures. Warm enough though, so I won’t have frozen fingers as I take the pictures. I already kno

Snowdon from Yr Arddu, Llynnau Cerrig y myltt in the foreground Another overnight trip while this fantastic weather lasts. Although I scouted out a different area I ended up not far from my last trip. This time I went to a many-topped hill, more a group of rocky tops, called The Heights, Yr Arddu in welsh on the OS map. A little above Beddgelert, in Snowdonia. I had seen from last time several little lakes and plenty of rocks to add interest to the pictures. The weather was v

As described in part 1, this overnight trip gave three distinct shooting sessions. First, the sunset, which was slightly disappointing. Then the sunrise, which was pretty good. This had the bonus of the sea of low cloud which was the key to part 3, this part. Every year I struggle with bluebells. I find it very hard to get good bluebell shots. The best weather for them is an overcast, ideally after some wetness. The day before had been bright sunshine. I’d seen plenty of flow

Cnicht at sunrise, Moel Siabod in the distance After a night spent mostly wide awake in my plastic bag on top of a hill the alarm went off at 4:45 and I was surprised to find I was asleep. I poked my head out to find everything covered in dew on the outside and condensation on the inside and a beautiful line of bright colour on the eastern horizon suggesting I should get a move on to be ready for the sun. The next surprise was to see a sea of cloud a long way below me. The we

Sunset from Cnicht A fine weather forecast encouraged me to try my first wild camping trip of the year. The plan was go to Snowdonia and set up near the summit of Cnicht. This is a modestly-sized but extremely attractive hill just east of Beddgelert. Some people call it “the Matterhorn of Wales”. It doesn’t look like the Matterhorn, it’s just very pointy. It stands by itself, which gives it fantastic views all around. My bed for the night on Cnicht summit Usually I report thi

Coed y Brenin Whenever a walk has a significant stretch in managed woodlands, like Forestry Commission woods, I always get lost. It isn’t my fault. The paths on the ground and the paths on the map don’t bear any relationship to each other. The woodland managers make new paths and tracks whenever they want and when you’re hemmed in by conifers all directions look the same. Coed y Brenin in south Snowdonia is no exception to this. However, the wider area, outside the dense mana

Mawddach Estuary Some weeks ago I took a trip to the Mawddach estuary, with the seaside holiday town of Barmouth at its exit to the sea. Although part of the Snowdonia national park the hills around here are never crowded. This is good for those of us that make it there because the views are truly wonderful. This was my second trip and I still haven’t managed to do it justice. I took these shots as the sun dipped near the horizon. Mawddach Estuary Shooting almost directly at

Lliwedd and Moel Siabod are prominent, with Nant Gwynant between. There’s a wonderful texture to the wild hillsides around Cwm Bychan. I’m not synesthetic but when I look at the red rocks and the purple heather I think of “bite”, a certain al-dente quality that I always admire when I see and feel it. The rock around this area is very red, different to most other parts of the national park, and surrounded by heather. This area is just above and to the east of Beddgelert in the

“The Heights” is the anglicised name of Yr Arddu, a hill of modest height but tremendous character just east of Beddgelert, North Wales. You approach along winding and undulating single-track roads. My first attempt was thwarted by a large flood across the road. Every stream was full and water was leaking out all over the hillside after much heavy rain. I went a few miles round and found another way. This part of Snowdonia is not heavily visited and I didn’t see another perso

Here are some shots I took of Nant Gwynant yesterday. This is the valley in Snowdonia that runs from Beddgelert northwards, to the junction where the Llanberis pass turns left and then onwards to Capel Curig. On the north side of the road is the Snowdon range, very well known with lots of people. On the south side you have wild lands with very few walkers. The views of the Snowdon range are tremendous but unusual. Snowdon is seen clearly but from an odd angle that most people

We did a walk in Snowdonia a few days ago starting from Nantmor, near Beddgelert. The terrain is wonderful, with rocks, heather, grass, bracken, and great views to Snowdon. Or at least, Snowdon in the clouds. The lovely autumn textures made up for the lack of mountain top views. The lake you can see is Llyn Dinas. #snowdonia #photography #landscape #gallerypost #wales #olympus

After a good trip the week before, I took another trip to Beddgelert in North Wales to capture the Aberglaslyn Gorge with its autumn coat on. It may not be the last time, as peak colour is still to come. I went further down the gorge this time and found even better compositions of shape, texture and colour among the rocks and trees and eddies of the river. It is really a tremendous place in autumn and I think it will still be worth a visit in winter when the trees are fully b

View the route on plotaroute.com 7 miles 1100 metres ascent The route I found in the book starts at Blaen-y-Nant, half way up Llanberis pass at a lay-by. The book calls it the Cwm Glas horseshoe. It approaches the knife-edge Crib Goch north ridge by avoiding the sheer cliffs of Dinas Mot via a weakness in its north-west flank. After the much quieter north ridge, it follows the classic horseshoe route along Crib Goch’s very popular east ridge, along to Garnedd Ugain and to Sno

Mynydd Mawr rears above the hamlet of Rhyd Ddu with a steam train just about to arrive in the station on picture left. www.plotaroute.com/route/507006 8.6 miles 950 metres ascent This route is a less popular way to top out on Snowdon, with some nice airy ridge walking near the top and plenty of squelchy bog trotting towards the end. Views are, as usual on Snowdon, either tremendous when clear or non-existent when the clouds come down. The tottering rocks of Craig y Bera on th