Castell Dolbadarn, Llanberis

Today we went off on a drive with the kids in the hope of finding snow. We didn't find any at an altitude we could get at with the children, so in slight disappointment we passed Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), which is England and Wales' tallest mountain and surpassed only by two in Scotland. We carried on down towards Llanberis, thinking of driving back past Tryfan and giving the dog a run. Llanberis is rather a shock, where the pristine mountains beaten down by nature suddenly give way to mountains carved apart by slate quarrying. It's also the home of Llyn Padarn and Dinorwig Power Station. This hydroelectric power station is neatly hidden at the heart of the mountain, and can be visited on a rather fun tour down the tunnels by bus. These Welsh quarrying villages always look a little bleak and run down, but Llanberis carries on majestically despite that, with plenty of attractions for tourists.

The other thing Llanberis has is Castell Dolbadarn. I was always taught that in general English castles (such as Conwy and Beaumaris) have round towers, whereas Welsh ones (such as Dolwyddelan) have square, but the keep at Dolbadarn is very definitely round. According to Wikipedia this was part of a newer phase of development when the Marcher lords had started to adopt the idea of round keeps. The twenty year older parts (the castle was started in the 1220s) had square towers, but nothing remains of these but walls of two or three feet high. The castle is easily reached from a small car park nearby (just have wellies for the puddles and try not to take the sump off the car driving in), and is a very short walk up a reasonably easy track. Only the keep and some very low remains of walls survive, but it's free to go up to and look around. Think of it as a starter castle in your 'Tours of the Welsh Castles' pack.

Driving into the heart of Snowdonia, rather blurry because it's gloomy and from a moving car.

I absolutely love the rock formations round here.

Snow, but not enough snow low enough down. Down here it was raining.

A rather hasty shot of Snowdon from a moving car. There was no chance of stopping.

Very close to Snowdon the valley suddenly becomes rather tamer, much more like the lowlands.

At Llanberis we got out and took the short walk up to Castell Dolbadarn, which cuts an imposing figure on the shores of Llyn Padarn.

The castle and a little glimpse of the mountains beyond.

The smallest of the sproglets climbs up the steps to the tower entrance.

Some rather gorgeous graffiti on the slate slab at the top of the steps.

A more straight-on view of that graffiti.

Inside the castle keep.

Looking through one of the narrow windows over Llyn Padarn.

Looking down into the bottom of the tower. I'm not sure what the ring of stones down there was in aid of.

Another look through the window over the lake, and you can see the remains of the rest of the castle, all built of these narrow slate slabs.

Another view over the remains.

A rather dubiously worded noticeboard that tells you about the keep, but nothing about the rest of the castle, unfortunately.

It looks a bit more imposing from down here.

Lovely square bit of architecture attached to the round tower.

A view up the lake back towards the mountains. I think the children made me take this.

And there's some of the ruined mountain, cut into terraces by slate quarrying.

Closer up on the slate quarry.

A last look at the castle from down near the car park.

So we drove on and stopped by Tryfan to give the dog a bit more of a run. That's Llyn Owgen in the foreground. Sometimes planes from RAF Valley swoop along here and disappear down into the land at the end, which is quite a sight to see.

There's Tryfan itself, probably my favourite mountain. It looks like a pile of stones.

And a final rather blurred view of some of the snowy peaks blending into the sky, just before we drive away. It was past 3pm and the winter dark was falling fast.