June 2025 Archives

At the end of March, I visited Wales and had a stop off at Dolgach Falls to see the waterfall and have a walk. I was not sure if I had ever visited the falls before, but when I saw them, it came back to my memory that I did visit before back at the end of September in 2004, although I did not walk up to the top (or I do not remember doing so). So, on this visit, I had a wander to the falls, which is via a well-paved and accessible pathway.

The valley with the falls make it a perfect place for ferns to grow with the moisture and the humidity. 

There are some decently-maintained steps up the steeper parts of the trails around the falls.

After checking out the falls, I walked up to get more views and saw more falls.

The views were beautiful, and this is a great time to visit them before the foilage is completely out.

A lot of the paths were very steep, but the views were amazing.

I walked to the top of the falls.

And then I walked back down the other side.

I recommend a visit to the falls. There is a small fee for all-day parking. I spent about an hour exploring the falls and enjoying the nature around me.

When I was in Wales at the end of March, I stopped off at the ruins of Aberystwyth castle. The castle dates from the Welsh war of the 13th century, and it was a location of the Royal Mint during Charles I and eventually had its downfall after Oliver Cromwell. This castle replaced another one that was located not too far away, and a town sprung up around the castle.

The castle is a short walk from parking and next to the seaside with views stretching out across the sea. There are some gardens around the walls of the castle.

I had a look around the ruins with views over the city.

The castle ruins and grounds seem to be a popular park and spot for walkers with their dogs or just to grab a bit of peace and quiet.

Upon leaving, I caught another view of the castle with multiple brightly-coloured terraced houses along the seafront.

I visited Dolaucothi Mines at the end of March, and this mine system dates back over 2,000 years and was in use by the Romans. It was mined until World War II, and it is a site managed by the National Trust today and no longer mined. I arrived for the tour of the mines, which are only on certain days throughout the year and which are worth going to in order to learn about the history of the mines and to go on a guided tour. I was able to learn far more about the site from the tour, although the mines are currently not accessible at all due to the bats that live inside the mines and safety concerns.

We were told about the rocks and how the Romans used the mines. There was a fort located not far away, which probably guided the mines. 

While I and a small group waited for the tour to begin, we looked at the small museum that held some Roman items and read some of the material. The entrance into the modern mines is via a shalf that is 146 metres deep, and the shaft was flooded, so pumps would have been in operation to pump out the water. The structure worked like a lift to bring up rock. The sheds on the other side were the inner workings, which was done via steam and then electricity.

It was only when the modern shaft was dug that the Roman artefacts were discovered, such as a water wheel fragment to remove the water and Roman tools that were left behind. Before that, no one realised that the mines were started by the Romans.

Inside the shed is an office dating from the time in the 1930s where the mines were used. The mining ceased by 1938.

The tour started with a walk up the hill. We were told that the gold mining here likely started in the Bronze Age, and the Romans mined inside the rock for the gold veins. Vast amounts of soil and rock had to be moved and piled up, and it is not sure if those who did the labour were slaves or local people. Much of the dug tunnels have not even been explored due to the large size of the activity and parts of the tunnels collapsing.

From the top of the hill are the views and the general location where the Roman fort would have been.

We came upon on tunnel, which is the lower Roman tunnels.

Further up the hill, we came to another tunnel (we did see the other side as well), where we peered through the gate inside. 

On the walk, we had some nice views and saw the boundary of the operations and mining carts.

We crossed one place where the barracks used to stand for the local workers in the 1930s. From here, we started to walk down the hill and came across more entrances to tunnels or caves.

At the bottom, we had a wander around the equipment in the sheds.

There is also a gold-panning location on site where visitors can try their luck. I found some, but it was Fool's Gold.

I enjoyed the visiting to Dolaucothi Roman Mines and learnd a lot. The tour guide was very good, and it would be interesting to visit the tunnels at some point.

On my end of March visit to Wales, I had a quick stop at the ruins of Cymer Abbey. It is a small set of ruins actually located next to a farm and a caravan park, but there's a few spots of parking down a narrow track, and the site to explore is not very large. There were many daffodils in bloom here, and they looked beautiful.

The abbey was founded in 1189, and all that remains is the structure of the church. However, the abbot's house was reused as a farmhouse. The monastary was a small one, and there were only five monks living here in 1388; the site was in decline.

The church was small and a simple design.

The daffodils were really beautiful here and added to the beauty of the ruins.

The abbey is free to visit.

When I was in north Wales at the end of March, I visited Dylanwad Wines, a wine shop and cafe in Dolgellau. There are a large selection of wines and other spirits for sale here, and I found the staff to be knowledgable about the products. I first opted for the tasting of the champagne from Cordeuil winery before moving on to try a selection of white wines.

The three tasters from Cordeuil that I tried were the "Brut Tradition", the "Brut Rose", and the "Brut Vintage". I was told about the winery, the champagnes, and shown some photographs of it. 

I then opted for some wine tastings, and I had a board with cheese and nibbles. I did not realise just how filling the cheese board selection would be! I had a selection of different Welsh cheeses, which were all very nice, crackers, grapes, chutney, and wasabi peas.

I was then given a small taster of six different types of white wines, two of which were wines in a can. I do not like red wines, so they were able to substitute white wines in place of the red.

The staff were friendly and knowledgeable. I would recommend stopping in if you're in this part of north-west Wales.

When I was in north-west Wales at the end of March, I visited Holgates Ice Cream Shop, which is located near Tywyn and not too far from Aberdovey. The staple flavour of ice cream is "honey", but it tasted like vanilla but is made using honey. The honey ice cream can only be bought at the shop here, and it is famous and made fresh every day.

In addition to ice cream, there are sweets and other desserts on offer. People can also customise their ice cream, and I got chocolate curls on mine. The ice cream really was delicious.

This post covers my visit to Llanthony Priory at the end of March. The priory was Augustinian, and it has beautiful views over the Brecon Beacons mountains area in Wales. The ruins are free to visit, and the site has a hotel amongst the ruins that was formerly accommodation but converted to a house around 1800. The ruins themselves date from 1100 at the location of a ruined chapel, and the church was built dedicated to John the Baptist.

The most memorable here were the amazing views over the mountains.

The house is located amongst the ruins and functions as a hotel.

The ruins are free to visit, and there is a large parking area next to them.