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Weekend at Snowdonia National Park - 10, 11 April 2004 Snowdonia National Park is one of the most popular and much celebrated parks in Britain. It occurs in the scenic Wales region, and comprises of mountains, coasts, moorlands, and Welsh villages. The park is not as restricted to public access as national parks in India are, and though a visitor is free to roam around wherever he wishes to, the weather is a key factor to one's wanderings in the region. Wildlife, though little and not in anyway comparable to the abundant wildlife found in India, is much protected and held in pride by the British.
I had two days of the long Easter weekend to go around Wales. Having booked a hotel
at a coastal town called 'Bangor' in Wales, I left Liverpool on Saturday morning by train,
and changing trains at Chester, reached Bangor by noon. From the hotel, a 30 minute walk
took me to the nearby Penrhyn castle. Built centuries back, it stood in good stead and was
situated amidst scenic grasslands and woods. Though not very big, it was indeed big,
and was well maintained by the National Trust of Britain.
The second day morning I took the bus to a town called Llanberis at the foothills of Snowdon. At Llanberis, a mountain railway operates between Llanberis and the Summit of Snowdon. But due to snowy conditions in winter, the train goes only upto a station called 'Clogwyn/Rocky Valley', some 300 metres below the summit. The summit is 1085 meters high. I had taken a return ticket for Clogwyn, but as the train went up, I saw a well used path going up the mountain and many people hiking on it. So, at Clogwyn, when the train stopped for a 30 minute break, I got off and started hiking up to the summit. The weather was not favourable, and at many places visibility was very low. But there were a large number of people going up and down the track, and one gets the feeling that one is going on a pilgrimage at a remote place. But despite the enormous amount of people visiting the peak - half a million a year, a board read - the garbage and litter level was close to nil. It showed the respect they give to the place, and the awareness they have about the environment and its protection. Needless to say, it reminded me of Gopalswamy Betta at Bandipur National park in Karnataka, which is 400 metres taller than Snowdon, inhabited by tigers, elephants, bears, panthers, deer, snakes, and a whole variety of birds, and still least celebrated - if at all - and littered with the garbage brought by my fellow countrymen. Another aspect that amazed me was the number of dogs that came up to the summit - I guess 1 in every 20 persons brought along a pet dog. Dobermann, Alsatian, Poodle, Dalmatian, Terrier, Labrador, and many other breeds that I couldn't identify. And one man was bringing his young infant - less than a year old - in a perambulator to the summit. And I did tell him that I am amazed. From the summit, it took two hours to walk down and reach Llanberis. Again while walking down I saw two raptors high above, but didn't identify. A good guess will be buzzards. After an hour at Llanberis - there was a ruined castle nearby that I went around while waiting - I took the bus to Bangor. From Bangor I took another bus to Llandudno, another beautiful coastal town. After spending time at Llandudno trying to photograph sea gulls, I missed the 2026hrs train to Chester, since I went to the wrong railway station, and then taking the 2130 train reached Chester at 2220, and at 2245 took the train to Liverpool. Thereafter I reached Liverpool central station at 2345. Written: April 12, 2004 |
Again, the history of kings, princes,
comes into picture when one visits such historic sites; but didn't hold much interest for me.
It is indeed amazing that someone would want to live in such a big house (call it castle).
Towards evening I walked back to the hotel. Due to the Daylight Saving Time, the sun seemed to
be up longer, and was indeed up till 8pm. The highlight of the day was sighting two raptors,
soaring high above a watercourse near the castle. The first raptors I saw in Britain. But I
couldn't identify them. The region has Peregrine Falcons, Buzzards and Harriers. The ones
I saw were not Falcons, and hence they could be either a Buzzard or a Harrier. But they were
bigger than a harrier.