Mawddach

A walk from Llwyngwril to Barmouth

“Day return to Barmouth, please” – but we’ll leave the train, on the outward journey, at Llwyngwril, a request stop a little way down the coast. The one-year-old Wales Coastal Path takes us over hill lanes where a red kite quarters the ground. Standing stones and other antiquities suggest it’s an ancient route. We drop down to Morfa Mawddach, where a triangular railway junction once connected the Cambrian coast line to the long-gone line to Dolgellau and, ultimately, Llangollen and Ruabon. The Coastal Path descends to Fairbourne before skirting the estuary to the Bridge – but the path is closed where coastal defence work is ongoing, and my companion suggests a route that follows the disused railway for a little way inland, before cutting across the marshes (the path is dry) to the unlikely row of houses at Mawddach Terrace.

The long wooden trestle that is Barmouth Bridge carries the railway and, alongside, a footpath and cycleway with extensive views inland. Once over, all we need is a little refreshment before joining the train for the long but scenic journey home.