Last night I took the snap decision to drive the 15 minutes up to Dinorwic, which is an old quarry village sitting at around 300 metres.
There’s an amazing viewpoint that looks directly South up the Llanberis Pass, North over Llyn Padarn and to Anglesey and out West. To the east are the quarries and the gigantic, imposing galleries of Dinorwic quarry, that unfortunately had its gears stalled and eventually stopped in 1969. These tower up the side of Elidir Fach and Fawr like a giant’s stair-case; an astounding feat of human engineering, albeit to the detriment of the mountain. But if I’m honest, the mountain would look strange without the huge gouges cut out of the side of it. And Snowdonia wouldn’t be Snowdonia without a quarry on the side of every accessible mountain! There’s no avoiding slate here folks; both our front and rear gardens are full of it, all the roofs are tiled with it, we have coasters made from it, my PC desk is leveled by pieces of it, I look out the window every day to see Penrhyn Quarry across the way, with its greys, purples and blues of yes, you guessed it….slate. Although, geologically speaking, it’s actually ancient mud.
Anyway, my wife and I took the dog last night before sunset so I could get some photos done. Unfortunately, our native blood-sucking little creatures known as the British midge, were out in force and I was wishing that the strong winds that usually blow across this view point would pick up. Wishful thinking indeed.
I set up the camera and started to snap, zooming in here and there at different points up the Llanberis Pass. After I’d finished and after receiving a text from my wife to tell me the midges were “eating her alive!” I hot-footed it back to the car as fast as I could. Satisfied I’d got some decent pics done, I couldn’t leave without snapping one more shot, as the sun set over the little peak of Pen yr Bigil at 350 metres.
All in a gallery today folks, so just click to open in a Light Box.
Panorama of the Llanberis Pass over Llyn Peris. A little blurred due to over-zealous noise reduction.
12th century Castell Dolbadarn just outside Llanberis.
Garnedd Ugain and Crib Goch with the Parson’s Nose prominent centre-right-upper shot.
Zooming right across the lake. You can just see a person if you look hard enough, to give some scale.
Directly at Crib Goch and its fear-inducing cliffs. For those that don’t know, this knife edge ridge is one of the most exhilarating scrambles; unless you’re scared of heights…
The infamous Crib Goch Pinnacles
Setting sun over dry stone wall.
As the air cools, tendrils of cloud snake their way over the tops of Moel Cynghorion.
Final sunset shot towards Pen y Bigil and the TV mast.
Midge Hell at Dinorwic! Howdy Last night I took the snap decision to drive the 15 minutes up to Dinorwic, which is an old quarry village sitting at around 300 metres.
