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Betws-y-Coed

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HeatherO
HeatherO
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3 out of 5
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3
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Editor Pick

St Michael's Church and the Lower Town

  • September 23, 2007
  • Rated 4 of 5 by MichaelJM from Nottingham, England
Off the main road in Betws-y-coed is the 14th Century Church of St Michael and all angels. It has a great position overlooking the river Conwy and it’s speculated that the current church was built on the same site as an earlier building. There’s free unlimited parking near to the church in contrast to the rest of the town where there’s an hourly charge.

St Michael’s is no longer in use as a parish church although it still has occasional use for local funerals! Inside this small dark church there’s a wooden altar dating back to the 17th Century and its stained glass goes back to the late 15th and early 16th Century. It’s widely reported that troops of Oliver Cromwell garrisoned the church during the civil war and having alienated themselves with the local population by stealing local livestock to keep them well fed, it’s believed that they also cooked inside the church. Certainly there is evidence of a fire within the church and this is speculated that to happened during the troops occupation of the church. In the early 19th Century the church assumed the role of being the village school with a local saddler taking on the job of being the village’s first schoolteacher.

Inside the church (if it’s not open you can get hold of the key from the railway museum) four of the original roof trusses remain but more interesting, in my view, is the “sleeping” effigy of a knight. This revered knight was Griffith the grandson of Prince David who was the brother of Prince Llywelyn who offended King Edward by not pledging allegiance to the King. David in turn organised a Welsh rebellion and became leader of the troops against Edward I and having being captured was beheaded at Shrewsbury in 1283. By contrast to his ancestors Griffith campaigned as a Knight of the Black Prince and was buried with full military honours.

Outside the grave yard, if you’re in to them has some tombs dating back to the 17th Century and two lych-gates. Lych-gates are roofed entrances to the church yard where the coffin bearers could rest their heavy weight (especially if it was raining) before making the final sombre march to the church entrance.

In front of the church is the town’s railway station and a walk over the bridge will lead you to the town’s main shopping area. Just outside the station entrance are numerous converted buildings that now provide for a number of exclusive craft shops selling locally made clothes, heavily aromatic candles, a delicatessen with fine locally prepared foods, a craft shop and a couple of cafes. This is a popular stopping off point for local tours and has a fine view across the village’s “common land” to the main street.

A note of caution – we couldn’t find a single ATM in Betws-y-coed and although most places take “plastic” you could feel a little exposed without at least some cash in your pocket.

From journal Beautiful Betws-y-Coed

Editor Pick

Pont-y-pair and the Upper Town

  • September 23, 2007
  • Rated 4 of 5 by MichaelJM from Nottingham, England
Heading up to the top of the town and you’ll no doubt be tempted to check one of the several gift and craft shops on route. These are not your usual “tacky” gift shops and there are temptations for lovers of sweet things with locally made honey and various sweets. Of course if you want a bit of memorabilia with Betws-y-coed scrawled across it you will surely manage this goal, but keep an eye out for the less brash locally made pottery. Potteries abound in this area some of them originating back for centuries – it’s chunky stuff, but this is, in my view, a much better keepsake than one painted with a welsh dragon or traditionally dressed welsh-woman.

Right at the top is the walker’s shopping paradise with no less than four specialist shops selling walking and camping gear – best time to visit is late or early season when the sales are in full swing.

But it’s the bridge at the “top of the town” that’s the most popular place for visitors to assemble - cluttering the rocks to take picnics. It’s probably the most photographed place in town and over the years has been a favourite subject with artists.

Pont-y-pair (the Cauldron Bridge) was designed and partly built by Howell a local mason from Bala, who died around 1475. It is clear that he conscientiously tried to blend them into the local landscape and the shape and contours of the bridge show how Howell made maximum use of the available rock formations.

The poet W.H.Davies suggests that “it’s a poor life this, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare”, and this site really demands that you give it time and “stand and stare”. It does make demands on your ocular and aural senses as the river cascades over the well-worn rock with what appears to be amazing force and yet the pace of the river is not overly brisk and within yards of its menacing thud over the outcrops it adopts a real sedentary pace. Indeed you could momentarily believe it had stopped flowing.

I couldn’t resist clambering over the rock down to the water’s edge, but in a pair of well-worn sandals it was a wee bit precarious in places. Still, I survived to tell the story and captured, as best I could, the feel of this bridge in photographs. The arches point to a much more vigorous water flow in the past, but I was grateful for its steadier flow because this allowed me to get “up close and personal” with the river.

Now I just look forward to sharing the photographs with my father who regularly used to cycle her from his home-town of Liverpool. Guess it’ll prompt the odd memory for him and a few more stories for me to listen to. That’s the great thing about beauty spots such as this!

From journal Beautiful Betws-y-Coed

Betws y Coed

  • November 9, 2002
  • Rated 2 of 5 by HeatherO from Plymouth, United Kingdom
There were cheap tourist trinket shops, expensive craft shops, and loads of mountain specialist shops. The Tourist Information center had several craft activites, including smal workshops with local wood carvers and potters.

We always found it crowded with lots of coach visitors. They charged for parking in the car parks, but allowed people to park for free on the narrow roads which lead to a lot of traffic congestion.

From journal Peaceful Wales

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