Yesterday, four of us met in a little lay by on the A470, just past the Ty Gwyn Hotel to do a circular walk up to Capel Garmon. First of all we had to walk single file up the hazardous A5 until we reached the public footpath that was to take us up a very steep zig zag woodland path to a lane that went into the village of Capel Garmon. The weather forecast had been dry but very cold with high winds so we had all donned on our finest Winter gear but instead there was light rain, no wind and a mild temperature , so by the time we reached the lane we were really quite warm. The walk up to the village is up a gradual slope passing open farmland and before too long we had arrived in Capel Garmon. It's changed a lot even in my lifetime because I can remember calling at the local shop and post office to ask for directions when I was out working. Sadly that shop has closed and is now a second home and both the Chapel and Church have closed too. On my previous walk here the White Horse Inn had also closed and was looking very neglected. Thankfully though the pub now looks clean and tidy as apparently a local farmer with ten children bought the 400 year old pub in 2015 and with his family has made a good job of refurbishing it.
It was still raining when we arrived there so we took refuge in the bus shelter and had our refreshments there. We had a quick look around the Church yard and the old school before setting off to see one of the finest Neolithic Burial Chambers in the area. It's often called the "Tomb with a view" because of the panoramic views you can get from the site. Sadly yesterday with the rain, the visibility was restricted and we could only just make out the snow covered tops of Siabod. Then it was downhill all the way to the Conwy Falls Cafe where we enjoyed a very nice latte. The cafe, designed by Sir Clough Williams Ellis is really nice and attractive and well worth stopping at when passing by, A short walk along the A5 took us to the start of the path that is all that remains of the toll road built by the Capel Curig Turnpike Trust at the beginning of the 19th century. It's steep and narrow and must have been difficult and dangerous for the stagecoaches to use but it became redundant in 1815 when Thomas Telford build the A5 which is higher up. The track leads to Pont Ifanc and the A470 and there we turned right to walk back along the road to our cars. It was a nice walk of just over six and a half miles and the weather didn't spoil the walk as it's just nice to meet up with friends again