Conwy Castle and Town Walls and Bryneglwys Slate Quarry starting at Deganwy

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Conwy Castle and Town Walls

   Edward I built Conwy Castle in just four years, from 1283 to 1287, as part of his campaign to subdue the Welsh, and the result is one of the most impressive medieval fortresses in Europe. Designed by the master mason James of St George, it stands on a rock above the estuary of the Conwy river, with eight massive towers and high curtain walls, and the town below is still enclosed by its original walls, with twenty-one towers and three gateways. Walking along the walls gives superb views of the town, the castle, the estuary and the mountains of Snowdonia. The castles and town walls of King Edward in Gwynedd were inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1986.

   Read the complete Conwy Castle and Town Walls write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Conwy Castle and Town Walls is where the day begins. Next is The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales.

2. 2. The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales

   Llanberis sits at the foot of Snowdon, Yr Wyddfa in Welsh, beside the lake of Llyn Padarn, and across the water a whole mountainside has been carved into giant terraces. This is the Dinorwic quarry, once one of the largest slate quarries in the world, where thousands of men worked until it closed in 1969, splitting slate for roofs across Britain and beyond. The galleries climb the mountain in steps, with inclines, ruined buildings and waste heaps everywhere, a landscape both scarred and strangely beautiful. In 2021, UNESCO inscribed the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales, recognising the quarries, villages, railways and harbours that made this region the slate capital of the world.

   Read the complete The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Harlech Castle.

3. 3. Harlech Castle

   When Edward I built his castles in Wales, he was not interested in subtlety. Harlech, raised between 1283 and 1289 by the master mason James of St George, sits on a rocky crag above the dunes of Cardigan Bay, with concentric walls, massive gatehouse and round towers that still look ready for a siege. It is one of the castles of Edward I in Gwynedd listed by UNESCO, together with Caernarfon, Conwy and Beaumaris. The sea once came almost to the foot of the rock, and a staircase down the cliff allowed the garrison to be supplied by boat; the coast has since moved, and now there is a broad plain of dunes and a golf course between the castle and the water.

   Read the complete Harlech Castle write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 83 km into the recorded legs you reach Harlech Castle. Next is Bryneglwys Slate Quarry.

4. 4. Bryneglwys Slate Quarry

   High above the village of Abergynolwyn, in a side valley where the sheep outnumber everyone, the spoil heaps of Bryneglwys tell you that this quiet corner of southern Snowdonia was once an industrial place. Slate was cut here through the second half of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, and the whole reason the little Talyllyn Railway exists is to carry it down the valley to the coast at Tywyn. The quarry finally closed just after the Second World War, and the railway, which should have died with it, was taken over by volunteers in 1951 and became the first preserved railway in the world. You can still walk up from the old incline at Nant Gwernol into the quarry workings, past roofless barracks and wheel pits, with streams running through all of it.

   Read the complete Bryneglwys Slate Quarry write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Bryneglwys Slate Quarry, about halfway. Next is back through Harlech Castle.

5. 5. back through Harlech Castle

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Harlech Castle write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Harlech Castle sits at 147 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales.

6. 6. back through The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales comes up about 256 km into the recorded legs. Next is Conwy Castle and Town Walls.

7. 7. Conwy Castle and Town Walls

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Conwy Castle and Town Walls write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Conwy Castle and Town Walls closes the day.