Class on the Llyn

I am often asked, "which is the best hotel in the Llyn region"? I always answer that Plas Bodegroes is clearly best for food and that the Porth Tocyn Hotel is best for views, but that Plas Dinas, near Caernarfon is top for atmosphere and historic links. The son of the house, Anthony Armstrong-Jones, was once married to Princess Margaret, and became the Earl of Snowdon.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge recently hosted a private party there.

The rear view shows that it is a jumble of buildings from different eras, the first being Jacobean / Elizabethan.

 It was much improved in the 19th Century, and is still owned by a member of the local Armstrong-Jones family. In contrast, it did feature in a recent episode of "Four in a Bed" on Channel Four.

 The original furnishing and paintings still adorn the public rooms. 

 The house has a great vantage point over the Foryd, and along the coast to Caernarfon.

The gardens are very attractive and the whole setting is very tranquil, as it is a good distance off the main road. The only intrusive sound is the hoot of the Welsh Highland Steam Train in the distance.

Andy and Julian currently run the house as a hotel.

"They don't build 'em like they used to!"

Ty Unnos above Llithfaen, where the "Captain of the Mob" was arrested.

As you walk in the Welsh upland landscape, you may be surprised to see the settlements so dispersed, spread out without clear and compact village centres. Much of this is the result of illegal encroachments by cottagers onto the land held in common during the 18th and early 19th centuries in a period of rising population. These encroachments were accomplished by the traditional method of the “night house” “ty unnos”. It was the common belief that if a person could erect a house during the night and have smoke arising from its chimney by dawn, then he would be the legal owner of the cottage and the land around it as far from his door as he could throw an axe. A family could not possibly do this alone and without preparation so the ability to produce a house overnight was clear evidence of community support. In mediaeval times settlements would doubtless come and go as building on and farming the common was no escape from the Malthusian trap - it really only gave the people more room in which to starve. However in the 19th century when there was alternative work in quarrying and in shipping such settlements tended to survive and this helps to give the landscape a spread out appearance.

What limited the survival of the Tŷ Unnos houses was the Enclosures early in the 19^th Century when the Common land was divided up amongst the various villagers and the landowners who had rights there. The long straight stonewalls characteristic of this area were built to partition the land. Where a Tŷ Unnos ended up on the land of a wealthy Estate there was “hell to pay” as the Tŷ Unnos tradition was not enshrined in law. Evictions followed and often these were resisted. Just down the lane in front of you survives the house of Robert William Hughes “Captain of the mob” who led the local resistance in 1812. The Dragoons eventually caught him hiding up above his chimney and he was tried, convicted and deported to Australia.

Iron Age built, and still here!

Every time I struggle up the hill to Tre'r Ceiri, I am still surprised to find the fort intact with clear entrances, a continuous wall and with the foundations of the huts still in existence.

Northern entrance which leads to the fort extension.

This photo shows the outer wall, and also demonstrates how the fort relates to the one at Dinllaen.

Circular hut foundations.

The site occupies 5 acres. The foundation walls of the 150 circular huts that made up the village can still be clearly seen, surrounded by the outer, protective stonewalls that in places are still 3 metres high. To the north there is an extension to the outer wall which may have guarded a cattle enclosure. The huts are between 3 to 8 metres in diameter and would have been the foundation for conical roofs of timber and reed. On the north side there are some larger rectangular structures-perhaps an aristocratic quarter. There appears to have been an open courtyard in the middle. The fort is believed to have been built around 100 B.C and occupied during the Roman Era until 400 A.D. However, the Cairn at the hill summit is much older and dates back to the Bronze Age. Opinions are divided as to the reasons for the fort’s existence 450 metres high on a windswept and inhospitable hill, amidst poor farmland and with no water supply within the fort [there is a spring just outside the postern gate but it's hard to imagine permanent occupation through the winter].

One theory is that it was one of a series of hillforts that were occupied for short periods only (but in considerable strength) by a mobile army of Celtic/Gaelic people coming from what is now Leinster in Ireland.Others argue that the positioning of hillforts across North Wales suggest some kind of local tribal groupings and that they may even have been more for show than war. These military groups were possibly what often passed for government beyond the outer fringes of the Roman Empire. No remains of substantial Roman buildings have been found further West than Segontium (Caernarfon) There was a watch tower on part of the Dinas Dinlle mound which related to one on Holyhead Mountain and the remains of a Roman marching camp at Derwydd-Bach(477454) which can be seen from Tre’r Ceiri, and there was a Roman Auxiliary fort Pen Llystyn, on the opposite side of the A487 adjacent to the camp, that was occupied from AD 80 to 130 ish. It's now been quarried away apart from a little bit of the rampart].

 It is just this side of the present main road, the A487, directly due West. The “celtic” army on your side of the border would have descended on the area, occupied the fort for a few days, terrified the locals, dispensed justice and mopped up any food surplus, and then moved on leaving perhaps a skeleton staff to maintain the fort and to maintain what the Mafia would today call “Respect” and an orderly border with the Romans. There is no evidence for any slighting or Roman occupation of Tre'r Ceiri and there was definitely additional building during the Roman period. Also Roman pottery from the site shows that they were trading with them. I suspect that after an initial bloody conflict the Romans came to some accommodation with the local tribes. After the conquest in about AD78 they started withdrawing troops towards the end of the century leaving only a small garrison, suggesting a peaceful but under the thumb type coexistence.

"Town of the Giants"

This is the English translation of Tre'r Ceiri - one of the best Iron Age Hillforts in Europe. But actually, the word for giants is "cewri" nor "ceiri". The word "ceiri" is the plural of the word "caer", as in Caernarfon which means fort. So Tre'r Ceiri actually means Town of the Castles, which doesn't have quite the same legendary ring.

It has two good footpaths leading to the fort which is situated on the summit of the southern most hill of the Yr Eifl range, often referred to (incorrectly) in English as "the Rivals". One route starts from a lay-by on the B4417. This is a steep ascent. The easier route can be started at the village of Llithfaen from where there is a road which becomes a lane, which becomes a track, that heads off north-west from the village. This is a 2 kilometre walk but the gradient is not severe. On a good day the views can be fantastic.

This is the WRONG hill, the highest of the three peaks.

The correct hill is the smaller one to the south east.

Halfway up and looking west. The Heather around here looks superb.

View from the summit looking east, with Snowdon in clear view.

Looking south across Cardigan Bay towards Cadair Idris.

Nice work if you can get it!

One of our jobs in North Wales is to host and guide visiting journalists. In the first week of August we hosted Dan Rubinstein, a Canadian Journalist who was writing a piece for Enroute magazine which is the house magazine for Air Canada. The weather was pretty good and such jobs are always a pleasure - especially as Dan was very well informed on the latest developments in walking across the world. Here are some of the places that we took him:

Plas Dinas Country House Hotel, just south of Caernarfon. A great place to stay if you want the feel, facilities and atmosphere of a house fit for the gentry. It was the home of the Armstrong-Jones family.

The Ty Unnos above Llithfaen.

Tre'r Ceiri Iron Age Hillfort.

St Beuno's Well.

St Beuno's Church, Clynnog Fawr.

In case you think that a week with Peter Hewlett is all about Iron Age forts, churches and posh hotels then rest assured that Dan was also taken to Glynllifon, Abersoch, Felin Uchaf, Bardsey Island and all the fleshpots of Aberdaron!

Catering for groups

We have now invested in extra furniture and cutlery to cater for large groups in Manaros. We can feed up to 20 for a celebratory meal, either as a buffet or as a sit down banquet. For the first time in 2014 we have teamed up with a pilgrimage group who are on a training course. They are staying at the neighbouring house at the top of the field, Afallon, and in Manaros, but all meals will be taken in our house, with a caterer from Pwllheli doing all the cooking and ourselves doing all the hard work! If you have a group larger than 8, who want to eat together in Manaros and enjoy the facilities during the day then we can always find extra accommodation nearby so that the whole group can holiday together. If you want any catering, be it just breakfast or a celebratory meal made with local ingredients, then I would be happy to quote you prices and menus.

Bucket and Spade Heaven

Sometimes, those of us who work in tourism tend to concentrate on all the new facilities and activities that now abound. We now have 5 TVs in Manaros, WiFi throughout and a Wii console, in addition to 5 bathrooms! Perhaps we overlook the simple things, the things that we remember from our youth. Here is a photo of three of my grandchildren (all cousins) beavering away on a sand castle on Aberdaron beach.

Their parents did the same thing on the same spot some thirty years ago. Nothing to beat it. All is well.