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Criccieth Castle
Criccieth Castle, Wales                                                                                               © Watercolour by Ole Jacobi, July 1997

Llanbedrog to Criccieth
Monday 21 July 1997

From Llanbedrog to Criccieth, we went over the same terrain as yesterday, at least some of the way. Another very hot day which turned in the afternoon to thunder. It was hard going in the heat, and we had to take more pauses than usual. In one of these, we had tea on the lawn in front of a nice old-fashioned tea-shop close to a river in a nice old-fahioned village with an old stone church and several old stone houses. These places still exist and are relatively quiet, though more and more cars passing through will surely kill them in time. While we were having tea, an ominous thunder started up, and we unrolled the plastic protection on our bags. It didn't get really started though, so we got off again towards Criccieth. We arrived there just as the rain started in earnest, and found our B&B on the Marine Parade in a small guest house, one of very many similar ones with a glorious view over the sea. Unfortunately it had turned a bit misty, so we could not see Harlech Castle on the other side of the Bay. But Criccieth had its own castle, of Welsh origins but conquered and adapted by Edward I to form part of his Welsh defences. Another incredibly lovely evening over the water after dinner at a very good restaurant.