The Lost Cottages - Cwm Eigiau, Caerhun Parish

Cwm Eigiau cottage (I add the 'cottage' to distinguish the building from the valley in which it sits) is a lovely, simple little dwelling beyond Llyn Eigiau, just sitting at the bend in the lake valley where it crooks around to spread out into the bowl of the cwm. The house is sheltered from the north west by the hill behind it, but presumably relatively exposed to the south.

 

Since 1967 the place has been used and maintained by the Rugby Mountaineering Club, after previously being used by the Rucksack Club. This has probably saved it from ruin, and also possibly from development which would alter it massively from the simple home it was used as for so many years. 

The cottage can be hired to stay in. Accommodation is basic, but the location for walkers and climbers is incomparable, with the cliffs of Craig yr Ysfa forming the glowering eastern face of Carnedd Llywelyn not far away. 

 

 

 

The cottage is tiny and very basic. It has been used by climbing clubs for over a century, after the Rucksack Club first rented the building in 1912, apparently as the first climbing club hut in Great Britain. An article by Roger Booth in 2011 about the 'Cwm Eigiau Centenary' (contained in the link above) says the place, referred to as 'the Hut', was 'too insignificant to have its own name', but records would suggest that the name 'Cwm Eigiau' was applied to this home as early as 1694, spelt 'Cwm Eigie'.

From the western end the house almost disappears against the hill, the rocks the same colour as the loose rubble around. 

The inhabitants seemed generally to have used both St Mary's Church in Caerhun, the parish the house stands in, and St Peter's Church in Llanbedr y Cennin which is much closer. The first accessible record for the house is the baptism of Dorothy, daughter of John Thomas of Cwm Eigie and Margaret Evan Pierce, at Caerhun in May, 1694, followed by their children Lucretia, 1698, William, 1700, and Jane, 1703. John Thomas himself was buried in 1709. After John Thomas's death the next event is the Caerhun baptism of Grace, daughter of Hugh Edward and Margaret Prichard, in 1710, so it seems likely Margaret Evan Pierce has moved away. 

 

In 1712 Elizabeth William, infant daughter of Hugh William of Cwm Eigiau, is buried; this entry shows the complication of interpreting parish records. In one set of records accessed, which must be a later copy, this entry doesn't mention the house name, and Elizabeth is given the surname Hughes, in accordance with Welsh tradition, and her father is not mentioned. Conversely in what must be a transcription of the original records, by the Cymdeithas Hanes Teuluoedd Gwynedd (Gwynedd Family History Society), she is given the surname William, her father is named in full, and the house is named as Cwm Eigie. It seems interesting that the later record cleaves to Welsh tradition in the naming, while the earlier one does not, given that the tradition was greatly eroded by the 19th century.

 

The place is securely shuttered when not in use, both against the harsh weather, and vandals. The threat of vandalism is nothing new - Roger Booth mentions the door being burst by Boy Scouts in 1914, possibly on an adventure to find German spies, and the door being opened and the hasp wrenched off in 1919; this time the vandalism was attributed to navvies working on the Cowlyd dam. Reportedly it was the continuation of this vandalism which led to the house being abandoned by the Rucksack Club, making its tenure under their care rather brief. The tenancy was terminated in February, 1921. It's well worth reading Booth's article for a comprehensive history of the Rucksack Club's tenancy, as well as the 1913 and 1918 accounts of its renovation and use.

A plain wooden door with no window, with small windows either side. Judging by photographs of the house from the early 20th century it seems likely that the stone slabs forming something of a path and paved area are original.

 

A certain amount of confusion enters the records for Cwm Eigiau because of its name being the same as the valley in which it sits. There's a similar problem for the house Cwm Cowlyd, just over the hill to the south. How does one know if the house is being referred to, or just the area? I don't have an answer to this. This is especially confusing when different families seem to be occupying 'Cwm Eigiau' at the same time. Is this referring to different houses, or just extended families or very close living quarters? For example, the 1841 census shows two families, of two members and four members, living in Cwm Eigiau, and two families, of seven members and five members, all of the surname Pierce, living in the nearby Tal Llyn Eigiau (here referred to as Tan Llyn Eigiau - the two seem interchangeable).

An extra uncertainty enters the situation because there is at least one ruin in Cwm Eigiau to which, as yet, I haven't been able to attach a name. Named houses around the lake include the inhabited Hafod y Rhiw, the uninhabited Cedryn past the west end of the lake, and the ruined Ty'n Rhos and Tal Llyn Eigiau at the east end of the lake. The increasingly deteriorating Eilio sits up on the hill, more or less out of the cwm, so I'm not sure that this would factor in as a possibility when the cwm is being referred to. 

 

However, there is a single ruin further up towards the west end of the cwm, which seems to be the most remote house in the valley, barring the quarrying barracks between the sheer sides of Pen Llithrig y Wrach and Carnedd Llewelyn. Parish records for Llanbedr y Cennin name 'Maes Gwyn Cwm Eigiau' (c. 1850) and Tan y Graig Llyn Eigiau' (1767 and 1848). I have tended to assume that Maes Gwyn is the unnamed house far up in the cwm, which leaves Tan y Graig Llyn Eigiau as yet unlocated. The reasoning for this assumption is that the unnamed house is quite a distance from the lake, which makes Tan y Graig more likely to be another, undiscovered, house closer to the lake, or even an alternate name for the more generically named Cwm Eigiau cottage. I have seen suggestions of a house near the west end of Llyn Eigiau, under the cliffs, but haven't managed to locate it.

 

With that caveat, the parish records, up until the first available census in 1841, show a variety of people living and dying at Cwm Eigiau. After the previously mentioned records up to 1712, the next entry for Cwm Eigiau occurs in the Llanbedr y Cennin records - a slightly more convenient church to reach from Cwm Eigiau, and the church mostly favoured by inhabitants of the cottage from this point on. This is for the baptism of William, son of William Pierce and Jane his wife, in May 1750, then their son Hugh in 1752. 

 

This is rather a jump in time, but it's possible that the house has had entries but not been referred to by name, or simply hasn't had deaths, births, or marriages associated with it. Rather more scandalously, in July 1753, Margaret the bastard daughter of William Pierce of Cwm Eigiau 'begotten up on the body of Catherine Roberts his maid servant' was baptised in Caerhun (the church in Caerhun doesn't see another baptism from Cwm Eigiau for almost 100 years). I haven't managed to find out if William's wife Jane has died. There are no Janes without a house name attached recorded in the Caerhun or Llanbedr y Cennin parish burial records for this period.

Inside, the cottage is still very basic, but squared quarried stones or large bricks have been built into the inglenook fireplace. Perhaps at one time an iron stove replaced an open fire. Interestingly, the fireplace seems is off centre in the room. Even without the newer insert the fireplace is set to the left, leaving space to the right at the back of the cottage.

 

By 1758 the house is lived in by Rowland Roberts and his wife Alice David, who baptise daughter Jane in March of that year in Llanbedr, followed by Robert in 1761, and Jane in 1764. There is some confusion here. Jane Rowland of Cwm Eigiau is buried in June 1767, after the birth of the second Jane, but there is a Jane Rowland living in the house in 1781. Were two daughters named Jane, perhaps distinguished by a second name? If one of the Janes survived why isn't she mentioned in Rowland Roberts' later will? If she didn't, why is Jane Rowland living in the house in 1781?

 

Previous to living in Cwm Eigiau, Rowland Roberts had lived in the nearby Hafod y Rhiw, and Alice David in Eilio just a little further away. Their first child, David, was baptised from Hafod y Rhiw in 1755.

 

To the right of the fireplace there's quite a lot of wall, with perhaps a cupboard built into the right end.

 

Rowland Roberts was buried in 1774. It may be that he was a church warden for Llanbedr y Cennin. Certainly a Rowland Roberts was a church warden before this date, and doesn't appear after this date. It's impossible to tell exactly when he was born. A Rowland, son of Robert Griffith, was baptised in Llanbedr in 1691, but there is also an illegible entry for a Rowland born in 1703. If he were baptised in Llanbedr at all, he could be either of these.

 

Rowland Roberts' will helps to fill out the picture of his family. In it son Robert is mentioned, as well as Catherine, Mary, William, Anne, and David. Daughter Jane is not mentioned.

 

Rowland Roberts had a wife before Alice David, Margaret Thomas, whom he married on 5th May, 1742, at Llanbedr. With her, at Hafod y Rhiw, he had children Mary in 1745 and William in 1747. William was baptised on 4th November 1747, and his mother Margaret was buried on 6th November, presumably having died in childbirth. He then married Alie, or Alice, David on 6th February, 1749 in Llanbedr.

 

Incidentally, Anne Thomas of Hafod y Rhiw, 'a maiden body', was buried in August, 1753. She was probably Margaret Thomas's sister, and had continued to live in the house after her death. Since children were being born to Thomas Owen of Hafod y Rhiw in the early 18th century the implication is that Hafod y Rhiw was Margaret and Alice's family home. Margaret was baptised in 1709, born to Thomas Owen, plebian, and wife Gwenna ath William ab Ellis, along with siblings Jane (1705) and Anne (1706). This means Margaret was around 38 when she died.

I don't know if this shelf to the right of the fireplace used to hold a stove. There seem to have been later alterations to the structure.

 

Rowland Roberts wrote his will in May, 1774, and was buried in October of the same year. He is recorded as being in 'a very indifferent state of health', but of sound mind. He obviously isn't too badly off, since he leaves 5 shillings to daughter Mary, £10 to his son William, £5, a cow in calf, and a press cupboard to daughter Anne, and £5, a cow in calf and the testator's share of the sheep they have between them to son David. Half of everything else goes to his wife Alice David, and half to son Robert and daughter Catherine, unless his wife remarrries. In that case, she forfeits her share and receives £5, and daughter Anne is included in the share of the rest.

 

The value of the estate was £137 8s, which is almost £12,000 today. The inventory includes livestock of 22 wethers, ewes etc, 10 lambs, goats and kids, and black cattle including 7 cows, 5 head of 2 year old black cattle, 4 yearlings, a bull, and 7 calves. There was also a mare, colt, and old horse. £5 worth of butter is also mentioned, and 30s worth of cheese, which in today's money is around £430 worth of butter and £130 of cheese. This presents a picture of a productive land rather than a bleak upland wilderness. Unfortunately the rest of the property is only very briefly mentioned - 'household stuff' worth £13 2s, and husbandry gear worth 11s.

 

The east end of the cottage is more solid than a simple crogloft built of wood, with a stone wall separating the living area from the sleeping areas. The advice to duck is probably for people taller than me. 

 

Following the death of Rowland Roberts, David Rowland of Cwm Eigiau, singleman, is buried in 1775, likely Rowland Roberts' son, especially as he was mentioned in Rowland Roberts' will as set to inherit his father's share of the sheep they hold together. Having been born in 1755, he would have been twenty in 1775, old enough to share the farm work on an equal footing.

 

Downstairs is used as simple sleeping accommodation for hikers and climbers. The small window would make the place easier to heat, especially before window glass became common.

 

Perhaps with the death of her oldest son, apparently the only one farming the land after his father's death, it makes sense that Alice David would re-marry, if only to ensure that she was supported. Perhaps she was younger than her first husband, but without having found a baptism record for either it's impossible to tell. The only clue is that Rowland's first wife, Margaret, was around 38 when she died, and if Alice was the same age it seems rather late, in that era, to start a family. Alice must have been rather unlucky, though, because a bond of 1781 details the death of her husband, William Hughes, yeoman. 

 

It's unknown when they married but there were only seven years between the deaths of her first husband and her second. With no will, no other details of the family at that time emerge, but there is an inventory. William Hughes had been living at Cwm Eigiau, and the inventory exhibited possessions worth £129 16s 3d, worth just over £11,000 in today's money. Most of this wealth is in livestock - for example, four bullocks worth £10, five cows worth £17, and a heifer worth £1 6s 6d. The inventory also mentions calves and hay, and two horses, but none of goats from the previous inventory, and only six sheep. Perhaps the rest were dispersed among Rowland Robert's children on either his death or the death of his son David.

More interestingly, this inventory does write out the household goods in some detail, giving us a better picture of what the house would have been like when it was lived it at that time. The furniture includes a three piece cupboard, a type of cupboard very much local to the Snowdonia area, a wainscot chest, a flock bed, bolster, and bedclothes, a stool and looking glass, and a bedstead. If this were all the furniture in the cottage, it paints a picture of quite a simple dwelling with only the marital bed for sleeping in, but the picture is a little more complicated, as will be seen below, because daughter Anne is still living at the house. It seems that she benefited from the clause in her father's will that included her in the inheritance of the rest and residue if his widow remarried. Perhaps this is where the rest of the sheep went.

 

Other possessions give an intimate picture of the working life in the cottage. There was a tub, a churn, and a pitcher, presumably for washing clothes, making butter, and other activities. A wooden basket and a bag were practical items. Two trenchers and two wooden dishes give a picture of simple eating for the couple, along with six wooden cups. Bellows would have been used for the fire, and a frying pan and three kettles for cooking. A single candlestick is mentioned. Linen and woollen yarn is listed - whether this is linen yarn and woollen yarn, or linen cloth and woollen yarn is unclear, but no spinning wheel is mentioned. Tools listed are a brander and tongs, links and a monkey, a spade, an axe and a marking iron, and two guns with three gun locks. There is also a single saddle. Unfortunately clothes are not listed in detail, but only as 'wearing apparel', but there is a silk handkerchief worth 1s 6d. The rest of the value of the inventory, over £77, is money due as bills or promissory notes of hand.

Perhaps originally this lower bedroom would have doubled as a bedroom and parlour. There's little left to suggest its use. Since the cottage was being used by hikers, who invited me to look around, I didn't poke my head into the upper bedroom.

 

Evidently Cwm Eigiau is home to Alice David at least until 1781, and to her husband William Hughes from some point after 1774, until 1881. But April 1776 sees the baptism of Katherine, the bastard daughter of David Roderick, servantman of Cwm Eigiau, by Anne Rowland of the same place, singlewoman. She would have been about 26 at the time. It is to be assumed that possessions relating to them, such as their beds and plates, are excluded from the inventory for William Hughes, as well as the press cupboard that Anne inherited. It's quite usual for these homes to contain both a press cupboard and a three piece cupboard.

 

By 1778 Anne and David are married, and daughter Alie, or Alice, is baptised, followed by William in 1780. In 1781 William Hughes of Cwm Eigiau is buried. It seems likely that after this David Roderick and Anne Rowland move temporarily to Blaen y Wern in Penfro, since Rowland, the son of David Roderick and Anne, is baptised from there in August, 1783. Daughter Margaret follows in 1786, but no house is named. In 1789 Robert is baptised from Cwm Eigiau, followed by Jane in 1791.

 

1781 sees the baptism of Robert, son of Edward Roberts and Jane Rowland his wife, followed by their daughter Jonet in 1787. Presumably this is one of Alice's daughters called Jane. It may be that they were living in the house while David Roderick and Anne Rowland were living at Blaen y Wern before returning by 1789. By 1794 David Roderick and Anne Rowland have moved to Hafod y Rhiw, where twins Roderick and David are born (David died a month later). In 1822 David Roderig, labourer of Allt Wyllt, is buried at the age of 68.

 

 

 

Above the fireplace at the west end of the cottage. An early 20th century photograph shows a wooden ceiling resting on joists which must be supported by this stone ledge. This may have allowed for a very low bedroom, or a storage space under the roof. The photograph also shows a shelf above the fireplace.

Sometimes in old cottages with a fireplace to one side, a dairy would have been situated in a nook to the other side, but there's not much sign of this on the right. A dairy would have been very necessary, though, given the amount of butter and cheese mentioned in Rowland Roberts' inventory in 1774.

 

The depth of the fireplace can be seen in the thickness of the wall to the left of the window, typical in a cottage like this. 

There is a gap in both the Llanbedr y Cennin and Caerhun parish records around the end of the 18th century (1795-1812 for the Caerhun burials, and 1800-1812 for the Llanbedr baptisms and burials). The next event for Cwm Eigiau is the burial of Edward Parry, Farmer of Cwm Igia, in 1819 at the age of 74. Catherine Rowland, widow, 67, is buried in 1825. Catherine would have been born in 1758, the same year as the first of the mystery Janes. Is it possible that she was Jane Catherine, and went by that name, or is she unrelated to the Rowlands who have previously lived in the house? She could have been married to Edward Parry. 

 

In 1828 Rowland and Jonet Owen are living there, and their son David is baptised.

An interesting insert, again bringing into question what is meant when 'Cwm Eigiau' is written as abode, occurs in 1831, when Thomas Griffith, age 4, is buried. A long form version of the records states that Thomas, the son of John and Elizabeth Griffith, is buried. John is a quarry man, and this is noted as the first burying in Llanbedr from the quarrymen of Cwm Eigiau. Were this family living in the Cwm Eigiau cottage, or in the barracks further up the valley?

The Rowland family possibly have tenure in the cottage in 1833, when Jonet Edwards, 'wife of Cwm Eigia', is buried, aged 46. This could be the Jonet who was baptised 46 years earlier in 1787, daughter of Edward Roberts and Jane Rowland.

In 1835 Mary, daughter of Robert and Anne Hughes of 'Cwm Eigie' is baptised, followed by daughter Margaret ('Margared' in the long form version) in 1837.

 

A small chamber to the right of the main house. Going by an old photo of the house, this appears to be a modern extension, or a restoration of a ruined outbuilding. Apparently now it contains a chemical toilet. One thing that is strikingly absent from most of these cottages is signs of a tŷ bach - an outside toilet. Perhaps the majority of these were built of wood, or were quickly dismantled or ruined. The previously linked articles about the house's use for climbers mention a rule that ‘sanitary arrangements are to be executed in the rocks not less than 100 yards behind the Hut'.

Behind the house, you can see how it's built into the slope, as is typical of so many of these houses, which are generally built along the slope rather than across it.

 

In 1841 the censuses take over to supplement the parish records. At this time 'Cwm Eigia' is host to two families. The first is Robert (an agricultural labourer) and Margaret Edwards, 60 and 45. The second is William and Elizabeth Jones, 60 and 55, with William Jones, 20, and Elin, 14 - probably their children. Both Williams are also agricultural labourers. None of these seem to tally with the Rowland family's occupation, unless Robert Edwards is a relation of the previously mentioned Jonet Edwards.

In 1851 Robert and Margaret Edwards are still in the house, aged 71 and 58. Robert is marked as a pauper, formerly a shepherd, born in Llanrhychwyn parish, while Margaret was born in Trefriw parish. Also in 1851, the Caerhun baptism records show the baptism of Margaret, daughter of Morris, labourer, and Ellen Jones, followed by David in 1852, son of Morris and Anne Jones - is the Anne a new wife, or a transcription error?

 

 

The view along the back of the house, towards the head of Cwm Eigiau.

Another confusion comes into the record with the mention of the Cwm Eigiau Lodge in the marriage records of 1860, as well as subsequent baptism records, but it seems likely that this is a house down in the Conwy Valley associated with the administration of the quarry. There was previously a building near Hafod y Rhiw, a photograph of which is featured in The Men Who Drowned Dolgarrog, by John Lawson-Reay, but it seems more likely that the Lodge in Tal y Bont was once known as the Cwm Eigiau Lodge. One marriage features Catherine Manley, whose father Peter Manley is a gardener - an unlikely occupation up in the cwm. Catherine is marrying William Williams, blacksmith of the Bedol, a public house very close to the Lodge in Tal y Bont. The second marriage features Henry Kersey, a bailiff, which could be a job associated with the quarry administration. Later baptisms involving the lodge list the father, Henry Eden Sullivan's, profession or rank as 'esquire', although the 1861 census gives his occupation as 'proprietor of slate quarry'. Since the house name in this is simply Lodge, entered for Llanbedr y Cennin parish in line with other properties on the main road through Tal y Bont, it seems most likely that the Cwm Eigiau Lodge was the Lodge in Tal y Bont, and this can be eliminated as another name for the Cwm Eigiau Cottage. A slate quarry proprietor would probably be judged rather eccentric were he to choose to live in the cottage.

 

 

The chimney seems particularly small. It's possible that the flange near the bottom was to sit over thatch which, in this area, could have been of gorse or bracken. I don't know if the short local rushes were ever used as thatch.

Accounts of the takeover of the cottage by the Rucksack club imply that the place was being looked after to a certain extent, even if no longer lived in. Since roofing materials were discussed in a letter by Tim Wyldbore, perhaps the roof was in bad order, and there are mentions of large amounts of cobwebs and dust. Roger Booth mentions the 'intermittent use' of the hut by shepherds; probably this had been going on since the place became unoccupied.

Looking across the valley from the cottage, with the Cedryn Quarry to the left, and a rectangular enclosure, possibly for sheep, just down the slope.

 

In 1861 the census lists three families for Cwm Eigiau. The first is Richard Griffith, a 50 year old agricultural labourer born in Amlwch, Anglesey. The second is the first evidence of a quarrying family living in the house. The head of the household is Henry Jones, 33, a slate quarryman born in Llanllechid. With him live his wife, Jane, 39, born in Llanllyfni, and two boarders, slate quarrymen John Maurice Jones, 48, born in Llanllyfni, and William Owens, 18, born in Llanrwst. The third family is William Parry, slate quarryman, 35, born in Bethesda, his wife Elizabeth, 31, and two boarders, Griffith Lloyd, a 52 year old agricultural labourer born in Llanllyfni, and David Thomas, a 43 year old slate quarryman born in Llandegai. It seems unlikely, although possible, that these nine adults all crammed into this one tiny house, so perhaps another dwelling is also being put under the umbrella of 'Cwm Eigiau'. There is no logical order to the houses listed in this particular census, so it's impossible to tell if they were all sited close together in Cwm Eigiau or not. The equally small Pen y Ffridd, on Tal y Fan, was in 1901 lived in by twelve people.

The next, and final, parish record entries for Cwm Eigiau are the burial in Llanbedr of babies Jane Prichard, at 15 weeks, in 1865, and James Chapman, 4 months, in 1868. Neither of these names tie in with the 1861 census names. Neither do they tie in with the 1871 census occupants. 

 

It has become obvious that the inhabitants in the house are coming from further afield over time, with an influx of quarrymen from other quarrying areas of Caernarfonshire, but in 1871 the house is inhabited by Scots. The head of the household is John MacCall, 36, shepherd, with other occupants being Duncan Stewart, servant, 28, Peter MacLaren, servant, 25, and John MacKercher, servant, 18. All were born in Scotland. In 1881 the house is lived in by Scotsman Robert Hope, 28, shepherd, his wife Catherine, 22, born in Caerhun, and daughter Isabella, aged 1. After this point as far as the census is concerned the cottage is either shown as uninhabited, or not mentioned at all. Another baby, Robert, is born to the couple in the county of Caernarfon in 1886, but it is unknown whether they were still living in the cottage at that time.

The cottage of Cedryn isn't far away, making this spot less isolated than it would seem. Cedryn is another miraculous survivor. Although no longer used, the roof is still sound.

Another interesting point of Cwm Eigiau's history is mentioned in the Welsh language pamphlet Adgof Uwch Anghof o Llanbedr-y-Cenin a Chaerhun, written by Parch T. Roberts around 1907. This little booklet details many of the locals of these two parishes, including Evan Evans, shepherd of Cwm Eigiau. The dates for these accounts are not clear, but Evan Evans died in 1854, at the age of 37, having moved from Cwm Eigiau to Mysoglog, or Soglog, some time earlier. The writer indicates that the land at Cwm Eigiau, as well as 'Daliai y Rianws' (possibly Erianws, down in the valley), was held by 'Owens y Castle, Conwy'. Evan Evans had come from Ysbyty Ifan and lived in Cwm Eigiau with his wife Cathrin, referred to as Catsan in this account, and five or six children from the age of about 27, having been born around 1817. He had become a Calvinistic Methodist, and a preacher, walking about the upland valleys to chapels to preach. After six years, however, he had a falling out with his employer, Mr Owens, and left Cwm Eigiau to live at Soglog, still an upland dwelling but rather more accessible than Cwm Eigiau. He subsequently died after some kind of explosives or gun accident at Coedty, leaving a widow and seven children. This is treated in more detail in the Soglog entry on this blog.

Theoretically, this should put Evan Evans and family in Cwm Eigiau in the 1851 census, but this isn't the case. The 1851 census is unusual, however, in only showing one family of two people in Cwm Eigiau, so it's possible that the Evans family simply weren't there on that day.

 

The track leading from Cwm Eigiau cottage towards Llyn Eigiau, with the defunct dam in the distance. This quiet upland area must have been incredibly changed by first the slate quarrying, which turned the valley into an industrial site, and then the building of the dam. It also seems to have changed from largely housing locals who moved between houses quite near to each other, to accepting incomers from other parts of Wales and beyond. Now it houses almost no one.

The Lost Cottages - Penrallt Inco, Llanrhychwyn Parish

High up on the hill above Trefriw, where the ground levels a little and slopes gently up to Llyn Cowlyd, sits the cottage of Penrallt Inco. For the name I'm using the form found on the 1888-1913 map, because various accounts have it as Penrallt Inco, Penrallt Ynco, Pen’ralltdinco, and Tanrallt Digwm. Rather ominously, the majority of the information about the place comes from newspaper reports in 1877 about a possible murder, and the crime of sending threatening letters.

 

The house is at Ordnance Survey grid reference SH 77140 65761, directly on a public footpath that leads down to the valley.

 

Walking down towards Penrallt Inco from the road. Formerly a track would have passed the house, but there is little to no evidence of this now. The track is remembered in the line of the public footpath.

 

Penrallt Inco can be seen at the centre of this section of the 1888-1913 Ordnance Survey map, with an established track running down from the now-metalled road above, all the way to the valley floor near Dolgarrog. Not far away is Tyddyn Wilym, erstwhile home to Gwilym Cowlyd, a noted local poet. Nothing appears to remain of his home under modern barns.

 

The house of Penrallt Inco is so lost in a jungle of bracken and overhanging trees that it's almost impossible to decipher. The map above shows two distinct buildings, and there's an implication in records that an older house was abandoned for a newer one - a 1907 newspaper article states  'Pen'rallt (now re-built), thirty years ago was a dilapidated farm', but I found nothing more modern looking than boulder-built structures on the site. This may be the most recent structure, since it's shown as roofed on the map above, but it has obviously been abandoned for a long time. However, the vegetation was so thick I could have missed a mansion a few yards away.

 

 

 There are some walls possibly forming a yard or small outbuilding at the end of the house.

I hadn't been particularly aware of this ruin until I read the reminiscences of John Owen from the early twentieth century, when he lists various houses of yr Allt Wyllt, and comes to a house called Lletty. Owen writes:  

 

Lletty. – This is a cottage situated close to Gwyndy, where Mr. John and Mrs. Catherine Roberts lived. They had two sons, named Robert and Rhys. This Catherine Roberts was a maid servant at “Pen’ralltdinco” at the time of the disappearance of the old maid “Jane Griffiths” (otherwise called “Siani Siag”). This unusual incident created a great disturbance in the Valley. Jane Griffiths was a house-keeper to a farmer. One day the house-keeper disappeared. The police were informed, and a careful search was made throughout the district. Bloodhounds were used, and divers engaged to search the lakes and ponds of the district, but no trace of the old lady was found.

 

Newspaper accounts of the incident expand the facts. Jane Griffiths was actually Jane Owen, forty-five, working in 1877 as housekeeper for a farmer named David Robert Griffith. She was evidently something more than housekeeper, since she had supposedly given birth to two children fathered by Griffith, one which died and one which was adopted by a family in England. She was possibly pregnant at the time of her disappearance.

 

At around five in the morning of 19th April she had given her notice to Griffith, after working for him for four years, and left the house. Supposedly she had £120 with her, paid to her by Griffith; £48 for her six mountain ponies and possibly some sheep, £30 to clear a mortgage she had on the farm, and the rest debts due to her from neighbours. Griffith seems to have told police either that she was met by a man, or that he last saw her alone at a stile some three hundred yards from the house, in the direction of Rowen. Other reports, however, state that she was a cripple on crutches, and unable to walk far. They also say that she was a bad tempered woman, and the relationship between the two was often stormy.

 

After Griffith reported her missing, sixty men aided in the search. Searches continued for some time, with cliffs being scaled, lakes being dragged, and bloodhounds used, but all to no avail. Jane Owen was never seen again.

 

 

 This may be the end of the house which housed the fireplace, looking at the amount of collapsed rubble at this end. The place looks like it would have been a traditional cottage, possible a crogloft, with a large inglenook fireplace at this end.

 

The story concerning Jane Owen became more complicated when David Robert Griffith was arrested the following May for sending a threatening letter. He was described as an intelligent man, an avid reader who could read and write in both Welsh and English. He was known as a farrier and for his understanding animal disorders. It's said that he was a kind neighbour, but not if his enmity were roused. Neighbour Gwilym Cowlyd stated that he carried a gun with him when he walked in the area for fear of him.

 

Allegedly Griffith had written a letter in September 1876 to Edward Elias of Gorswen, near Rowen. The letter (translated from Welsh by the newspaper) read:

 

Edward Elias. – Sir, – If you don’t get the wife of Cowlyd to divide the sheep that are between her and Moses Ardda, we shall destroy you all, and kill you, as the Lord liveth, and shall destroy all that she has as well. Moses, Tynwyd, Dolgarrog, must divide also or else we shall fire him into flames to the devil, like Griffith Rowlyn. Moses is stealing our sheep fearfully, and if you don’t make them up without delay, you shall see something fearful in haste. Send a man to Cowlyd without delay, or else take your chance. – Rebecca and children.

It seems that the letter was designed to incriminate one of Griffith's neighbours, Moses of Ardda, against whom Griffith bore a grudge because Moses had been telling people that Griffith's son was the father of his servant girl's child.

 

Moses Thomas of Ardda, Dolgarrog parish, was 41 in the 1871 census, living with wife Anne, 35, and son William, 4. By 1881 they had two more children, Mary Jane, 8, and Grace, 3. Griffith Rowlyn was likely Griffith Williams of Rowlyn Uchaf, 74 in 1881, and, if my conclusions about Jane Owen are correct, living on the same site as Jane's family - there are two entries for Rowlyn Ucha in the censuses of this time. I haven't identified Tynwyd, or the 'wife of Cowlyd,' who is named as 'Mrs Edwards', 'formerly Mrs Jones of Cowlyd' in a newspaper report. Who 'Rebecca and children' are in all this is also unknown. The only Rebeccas I can find in the surrounding parishes live in Maen y Bardd township, which covers the Rowen area.

 

Griffith denied the charges put to him, but by July he was serving 18 months hard labour in Caernarfon Gaol for the offence. Whether he returned to Penrallt Inco is unknown, but had certainly moved on by the 1881 census, and he died about twelve years later, in George Street, Llanrwst. Supposedly his house was looked after by a man, Robert Davies, as no woman could come near him. His death is recounted by Davies in a 1907 newspaper article: 

 

Bu yn wael am rai wythnosau cyn marw. Holasom lawer ar Robert Davies a oedd David Griffith wedi dadlenu rhywbeth yn nghylch diwedd “Shian,” ac y mae geiriau yr hen wr pert a duwiol yn fyw ar ein cof – “Marw mawr, welwch chwi! ie wir, marw mawr! Faswn i ddim yn licio marw yr un fath: na faswn wir! Be ydi ‘dihofryd,’ deudwch?” –  “‘Diofryd,’ ydych yn ei feddwl?” – “Ie, dyna fo reit siwr. Yr oedd o (David Griffith), yn fy nhyngu ar ‘ddiofryd’ na nawn i ddim deyd ei fod o wedi deud wrtha i mau y fo ddaru.”

(Unfortunately my Welsh isn't good enough to translate this accurately, but Ann Corkett has kindly translated it:

 

He was ill for some weeks before he died. We questioned Robert Davies a lot as to whether David Griffith had revealed something about “Shian”’s end, and the (?)pleasant/dapper and Godly old man’s words live in our memory – “A (?)frightful death, you see! yes indeed, a frightful death! I would not like to die like that; I wouldn’t indeed! What is ‘dihofryd’, tell me?” – “Do you mean ‘diofryd’ (oath)?” – “Yes, that’s it I’m sure. He (David Griffith) swore me on oath that I wouldn’t tell that he had told me that he did it.”)

Trees are collapsed over the building, making it even harder to explore.

Jane Owen's story resurfaced a couple of times in local newspapers after the excitement of Griffth's trial died down. In 1881 a woman living at Aber Llyn, between Llanrhychwyn and Betws y Coed, saw some children playing with tresses of grey hair near a small stream near Llyn Parc. She took little notice, until she realised the hair appeared to have scalp attached. After she raised the alarm, the lake was investigated by a diver from Holyhead, who thought he saw some bones. The lake was then dragged, and bones discovered, but nothing conclusive was proven.

 

In 1907 the story came to the fore again, when bones were found near Coedty, Dolgarrog, about three quarters of a mile from Penrallt Inco. John Williams, working for the Aluminium Works in Dolgarrog, was blasting with some other men when he discovered bones hidden under a slab in a hole in the rocks. Although some of the bones crumbled to dust, a piece of skull and a left thigh bone were identified. These were examined by a doctor and said to be from a small person, who showed signs of rickets.

Perhaps modern DNA examination could have told us who the bones belonged to. As it is, there's no way of telling if these were the bones of Jane Owen. Perhaps more interestingly, if the bones found in Llyn Parc were from a different person, there are the remains of at least two unsolved deaths in the hills.

There are, of course, multiple possibilities for Jane Owen's disappearance. The obvious thought is that she was murdered by her employer, an apparently vindictive man who struck fear into the hearts of his neighbours. But she was supposedly leaving his house with a large sum of money. If she did meet a man, as Griffith claimed, this man could have killed her for her money. She could have left alone, pregnant and disabled, and met by some kind of accident. She could have crawled into shelter in the rocks near Coedty if the weather had turned bad - a distinct possibility in a Welsh April - and died there. There is nothing conclusive about this story except that she is certainly dead by now.

 

 At the opposite end to the fireplace, there are curious suggestions of a blocked up opening in this end wall - unusual since doors and windows are commonly in the long walls at right angles to the fireplace, rather than in the short wall facing it, unless leading through to another part of the building. There was so much bracken and growth that the layout was very hard to discern. Winter would be a better time for exploring.

 

The dog rose rambling over the walls seems to speak something of domestication in this area.

 

 

 More fallen tree limbs obscuring the view of the site.

 

At first I had thought I couldn't find Penrallt Inco in the censuses, except for in the 1911 census, where it's listed in Llanrhychwyn parish as being uninhabited. The map boundaries would seem to indicate the house was in Llanrhychwyn parish, and should fall somewhere near Tyddyn Wilym and others in the area. However, in earlier censuses the house appears in the Trefriw parish census. In 1841, the first preserved census, the place is lived in by farmers Robert and Margaret Griffith, 55 and 50 respectively, and their twenty year old son David - the David Robert Griffith of the story above. Interestingly, under 'place of birth' in the 1851 census all three are down as simply 'British Subject.' I'm not sure what conclusions to draw from this but perhaps it indicates a reluctance to give information to the census taker. It's only in this census that the house is named as Penrallt Inco. In all others it is simply Penrallt.

By 1861 the census says that all three were born in Trefriw. Robert, now 74, is a farmer of 72 acres, and his and Margaret's son still lives with them. In this and the previous census David - now down as 'David R.' - is listed as married, but no wife ever appears.

By 1871 Robert Griffith is widowed, aged 84, and blind of old age, but he's still listed as a farmer of 62 acres. Although he's lost his wife the household has expanded. David R., now 52, is still living with his father, but Robert's grandson 'R. D' - presumably the son of David Robert mentioned as impregnating a servant girl in one of the newspaper reports - is also living there. At the age of 18, he's listed as a scholar, which is relatively unusual for a boy of that age in this era. David Robert is also marked as widowed at this point. The other two household members are Robert Davis, a 49 year old labourer visiting the property, and Ellenor Jones, a 20 year old servant. All are listed as having been born in Trefriw.

It's after this that the property disappears from the records, apart from the one mention of it as uninhabited in the 1911 census. It would be harder to distinguish from other Penrallts once the family left the property because there's no continuity, but I don't believe it appears. Presumably in this time Jane Owen has come to work for David Robert Griffith, and perhaps servant Ellenor had moved on. The implication in the newspaper reports is that his son still lives with him - they speak of David Robert visiting neighbours along with his son. It seems likely that the place was lived in until David Robert Griffith was committed to prison in 1877, and perhaps then abandoned.

In the 1881 census David Griffith, 62, and son Robert D Griffith, 28, are both living in Pandy, Trefriw, as two of six boarders of William and Margaret Evans. David is of independent means, while his son is a labourer.

 

As for other records - David Robert Griffith was baptised in the Llanrwst Tabernacle chapel, the son of Robert and Margaret Griffith of Berthllwyd, Llanrhychwyn, on 5th February, 1818, having been born on 23rd January. He’s listed in the Trefriw parish burials as David Griffith of George Street, Llanrwst, buried 24th November, 1888, aged 70. A probate report for 14th December, 1888 tells us that his personal estate on death was worth £213 11s 6d. He is described as ‘Veterinary Surgeon a Widower who died 21 November 1888 at 4 George-street’, and administration was granted to Robert David Griffith of 63 Dorrit-street off Park-road Liverpool, ‘Railway Checker the Son and only Next of Kin.’

There's so little information about Jane Owen that she is impossible to trace conclusively. The implication in the newspaper reports seems to be that she was local, and there is a Jane Owen of the right age living in Rowlyn Ucha from the 1841 through to the 1861 censuses, the daughter of Anne Owen, a widowed farmer. In 1861 she is still unmarried at the age of 29. Rowlyn Ucha is relatively close to Penrallt Inco, so perhaps this is the right person. Her family offered money for news of her fate, so it's obvious that she still had a concerned family around her at the time of her disappearance.

Another view of the end wall, although it's hard to see in the photo what looked like a blocked up opening.

 

Another titbit from the John Owen accounts perhaps suggests an origin for the house name of Penrallt Inco.  "Dolygarrog- This place took its name from Carrawg Ynyr, The plain was called Dol Carrawg and the cliff above is Clogwyn Ynyr, which in later times became known as the Inco Cliff. Tradition has it that it was in a farmhouse at the top of this cliff that Inigo Jones, the famous builder, devoted himself to his English expedition during the Civil War."

I hopes this cut wood might be something remaining of the original timbers, but it was just a rotting pallet.

What seems to be a small, crude window.

This is possibly another small window, now blocked.

Looking back towards what may have been the fireplace.

Just outside the structure, a narrow doorway through the ruined walls.

The corner of the house is roughly built, but the stones are quite large.

Possibly a blocked up doorway or window in one of the ruined walls of a chamber built onto the end of the house.

One of the small windows in the end chamber.

Another small window. If the later structure was built in the late Victorian, this seems like a very old-fashioned building for the time.

It's clear to see that this structure was built onto the end of the house at a separate time, and is of a more crude construction than the mortared house wall it abuts.

A last look at the area which may be the newer building.

These conifers are typical of the area around these upland houses, where ruins are often marked by conifers of various types, presumably planted by the inhabitants as wind breaks or for fuel.

Curiously, there are telegraph poles and wires leading past the house. The wires have been brought down by fallen trees, but none of the structure looks terribly old.

A view of the second structure on the site, a little further up the hill, which may simply be outbuildings, or an older house abandoned or turned into outbuildings when the newer one was built. Still, nothing at all looks more modern about either structure, so it could be that the accounts I've read are misleading.

There's not much to see here apart from tumbled, moss covered walls.

 

The view along the structure possibly shows a doorway to the right, but, like the other, there is so much vegetation and ruin that it's hard to decipher.

Leaving the house, the problems of exploring this one are obvious. The bracken is chest high and almost impenetrable. A winter visit is definitely warranted.

Bethesda to Cwm Eigiau: Tracing a Fatal Journey

On January 9th, 1865, three men set off from Bangor to walk to the Cwm Eigiau quarry, some 500 metres above sea level on the edge of the Carneddau mountains. It seems likely that they had left the quarry on the Saturday to spend Sunday at home with their families and attending church, before returning on Monday. They had been travelling back and forth between the two places for around two months, working at fitting up machinery at the quarry, so this must have been a familiar journey for them. Walking across the high Carneddau in the depths of winter, though, can easily be fatal when the weather is bad.

Watch a video of the walk here.

The men started from Bangor; they worked at the Menai Foundry in Hirael, a business which belonged to John Owen & Co. until the 1950s, but is now National Tyres & Autocare. William Jones, 44, was a smith. Owen Jones, 50, was a millwright; in the 1861 census he’s described as a ‘pattern maker in the iron foundry’. William Owen was also a millwright, the son of the boss.

They reached Bethesda through a combination of walking and lifts, stopping at Halfway-house for a glass of ale. On reaching Bethesda they took two or three glasses at the Ship Inn (the location of the Ship is uncertain), before passing through the Pant Dreiniog quarry - now a grassed area tight against the centre of Bethesda. William Jones having bought 3 shillings worth of rum in the Ship Inn, for the road, as it were, they then stopped at the George Inn - Y Sior - for more ale, and a bite to eat of the food they had in their pockets.

Y Siôr, on the Carneddi Road, Bethesda. I'd hoped to be able to drop in for a drink - non-alcoholic - but this wouldn't have been practical with the dogs, and even less practical since the place doesn't open until 4 on a Friday. The then landlady of the George Inn, Mrs Parry, remembered the men's visit and described William Jones as 'a little worse for drink.' Owen Jones, although he had drunk as least as much, did not seem to be affected.

When they left the inn it had started to rain heavily. William Jones popped back to light his pipe and left the other two men waiting outside; after a time William Owen went to fetch him, and found him sitting by the fire chattering with the landlady. (The accounts aren't entirely clear as to whether this was the landlady of the George Inn, or another house.)

 

We walked up out of Bethesda on a beautiful, fresh spring day, that must have been vastly different to the freezing rain that the three men encountered in 1865. Some of great slate quarries can be seen in the distance. A quick glance at the 1861 census shows the majority of people living here were employed as slate quarrymen. We passed a man on the walk up here who said 6000 people used to be employed in the quarries.

 

 

 Either we slightly missed our way here, or, I think, it was just that the footpath access wasn't great. Two footpaths converge here and we were coming up the path that goes through the gate just out of sight on the right of the picture, not up the defined track on the left. The gate was padlocked closed. Next time I think the other route might be easier. It seemed rather apt, though, that this route took us past a tiny hillfort called Pen y Gaer, since we live under the shadow of the larger Pen y Gaer on the other side of the mountains.

 

 

Looking back down over Bethesda, and, I think, over the site of the Pant Dreiniog Quarry, which you could hardly tell was once an industrial landscape.

Passing Moel Faban, with its traces of Iron Age settlement.

Walking up the track past the hills Llefn and Gyrn. The newspaper articles relating the story of the three men refer to the 'Llanbedr Road' - where the path splits either side of Carnedd Gwenllian to take you either down to Llanbedr or across to Cwm Eigiau - and looking at the old maps it's easy to discern a whole network of ways that have essentially become lost to the modern world. These paths are used by walkers, but it's apparent that before the advent of the combustion engine and the need for tarmac, in some ways our travel in this area of the world was far less hampered by geographical barriers like mountains. The peaks are criss-crossed with roads, if you're only willing or able to use leg power instead of wheels.

 

 

On the edge of Gyrn, we stopped for a moment's rest in a small quarry. Perhaps the three men might have found shelter here. The accounts tell of the men sheltering in a pen, and of Owen Jones and William Jones begging William Owen for a drop of the rum they had with them, because they were so cold and tired. It sounds as if William Owen had offered to carry the rum because he was afraid of how affected the men were by drink, although there's no testimony to William Owen's level of intoxication. At times he also carried Owen Jones' bag.

 

Walking past Gyrn, which looks as if it were made simply by dropping down a heap of rubble.

 

In places the track up along the side of Drosgl, towards Bera Bach, is very good indeed, and looks as if it's been made to take vehicles of some kind. 

 

Heading up to Bera Bach. If we had been three men making for Cwm Eigiau in a storm, we would have carried on around the edge, but I've never been up Bera Bach before so I decided to go up to the top.

 Looking back down the broad valley towards Bethesda.

 

 

 Reaching the top of Bera Bach, which, like so many of these Carneddau peaks, is littered with fractured stone.

 

 

 It's thought that once the mountains of Eryri were as high as the Himalayas are now, so what we're seeing in these tumbled heaps of stone are the deep insides of once huge mountains, broken down over millennia by the ravages of water and frost.

 

 

 For a long time we didn't feel as if we were gaining much height, but it was a steady climb from Bethesda, and a steeper one past the edge of Drosgl. Suddenly on Bera Bach, 807m, we seemed to be at a proper mountain elevation.

 

 

Looking from Bera Bach towards Carnedd Llewelyn. The newspaper reports about the tragedy made much of the men crossing Carnedd Llewelyn, which is only about 20 metres lower than the top of Yr Wyddfa, but in fact they would have gone around the edge and never got quite that high. The newspapers seem to be using 'Carnedd Llewelyn' as a catch-all for the whole area.

 

 

 Bera Mawr on the left, beyond Bera Bach, with Llwytmor rising beyond. Ironically, Bera Mawr is actually lower than Bera Bach.

 

 I have always loved these dark mountain pools that sit up on the flat peat land between the peaks, with their astonishing range of colour mixing sky blue and a peaty black, the yellow-green reflections of the ravaged grass, and the ochre of slabs of stone.

 

 

 Another mountain pool with a deceptive layer of sediment. Sometimes the dogs plunge into these and discover they're deeper than they expect. In wintery conditions you have to look out for these under the crust of snow.

 

 

 Heading up towards Yr Aryg and leaving Bera Bach behind. The view of Ynys Môn was discernable to the naked eye, and at times we could see the full length of the Menai Strait, but it was so hazy that it's hard to make out in photos.

 

 

 Reaching Yr Aryg, just west of Carnedd Gwenllian (formerly Carnedd Uchaf). Just beyond here the road splits, the left fork taking one down to Pen y Gaer and into Llanbedr, and the right branching off to Cwm Eigiau.

 

 

 The splintered top of Yr Aryg, at 866 metres, isn't regarded as a mountain in its own right, but it feels enough like one when you're up there.

 

 

It's a bleak and beautiful wilderness up here. On the side of Yr Aryg, with Owen Jones out in front, William Jones and William Owen were caught by such a violent squall of wind that it threw them to the ground. William Owen recounted winds that pitched them 'some yards distant,' and spoke of having to cling to the heather to stop himself from being blown away. Once they were passing over the top of the great hump of land and reaching the eastern side, with the cliffs of Dulyn and Melynllyn nearby, there would have been a very real fear of being blown over the drop.

 

 

It seems the trio had passed Yr Aryg, coming to what's described as the '“gate” of the hill', probably where the path splits around Carnedd Gwenllian. They had a discussion on whether they were on the right road, and carried on a little way towards Cwm Eigiau, but somehow William Owen ended up out in front of the other two men. How this happened isn't really addressed. William Owen is supposed to have said 'I made the best of my way, thinking that they would do the same.' It's hard to know if this was a case of being tired of walking with two reluctant travellers, of William Owen simply getting to a point where he was most concerned about his own safety, if they argued about the way, or if they just became separated as each tried to progress through the storm. However it happened, William Owen lost the other two men.

He arrived safely at the Cwm Eigiau quarry by half past five, after night had fallen, no doubt vastly relieved to be somewhere with warmth and shelter at last after a terrifying experience on the hills. The other men didn't arrive. The following Tuesday was too stormy for anyone to venture over the mountain for news, and a letter he wrote on Thursday to report the incident was miscarried. His next letter reached Bangor on Saturday. A succession of men went out searching, including quarrymen from Cwm Eigiau, fifteen men from the Pant Dreiniog quarry with their overseer R Owens, and 35 men from Caebraichcafn quarry with their overseer Mr Francis. John Owen, the owner of the Menai Foundry, also joined search efforts.

 

 

William Jones must have turned back after William Owen became separated. It's unclear whether all three men lost each other or if William Jones and Owen Jones continued together for a while. At any rate, William Jones must have decided to make his way either back towards Bethesda or towards the junction of the roads between Llanbedr and Cwm Eigiau. On Friday, 24th February, forty-six days after he went missing, his body was found on the top of Yr Aryg. He was described as being found ‘lying on a heap of stones, exposed to the storm, without any shelter whatever near him; his eyes and mouth open, his head and back frozen to the ground and a part of one of his shoes torn’. Perhaps he was wandering and lost, because one of the searchers stated that  he was ‘between 100 and 200 yards from the path which would lead him to his destination’. William Jones was buried on Monday, February 27th, in the Bangor New Cemetery. He left behind a widow, and a daughter by a former wife.
 
Owen Jones' body wasn't found until the Sunday, the 2nd of April. Shepherd William Jones from Bron y Gadair, a relatively well-to-do farm nestled under the side of Pen y Gadair above Llanbedr-y-Cennin, went up onto the mountain with a lad and his dogs. They were following the path from Llanbedr to Bethesda, but the dogs apparently caught sight or scent something half a mile away, and raced off over the snow. The lad with them was taken so ill at the sight of the body that the shepherd didn't report the find until the next day. Then he travelled to Bangor, with his dog in tow, to inform John Owen of the Menai Foundry, and the relatives of the dead man. The body was brought down to the Victoria Inn in Bethesda, although it was frozen so hard one witness said it 'was like a piece of solid ice.' An adze had to be used to recover his pocket watch.
 
Owen Jones was buried in the Bangor New Cemetery on the Tuesday following, leaving a widow and seven young children. For their benefit an entertainer known as Professor Whitworth put on one of his 'unequalled entertainments', involving magic, ventriloquism, and 'laughable chemical experiments'. He was advertised as having performed in front of Queen Victoria, the Emperor and Empress of the French, and other crowned heads of Europe, and the performance raised £17.19.7 for the widow and her family. (Professor Whitworth seems to be a story entirely in his own right - read through some fascinating newspaper stories about him here, included his being jailed for larceny, his 'homaeopathic' charitable giving, and his complete inability to speak Welsh.)

Another meandering mountaintop pool.

 

 

Walking towards the edge of Carnedd Gwenllian, looking back towards Yr Aryg.

 

 

 Bethesda is far in the distance now, disappearing into the haze.

 These rocks struck me as we walked around Carnedd Gwenllian, with their vertical splits, but diagonal lines of erosion across them.

 

 After passing Carnedd Gwenllian we were finally on the eastern side of the Carneddau, and we stopped for a bit of lunch. From reading the accounts of the men's crossing it seems that this was where William Owen was battling through raging wind.

 

Although the footpath from Carnedd Gwenllian to Cwm Eigiau is quite clear on the map, it doesn't seem very evident on the ground. The path that passes from Drum over Foel Fras, Carnedd Gwenllian, Foel Grach, and Carnedd Llewlyn shows as a great scar across the tops, but we had to branch off towards the south east. We ended up some way east of the path, I think because of a natural inclination not to gain too much unnecessary height on the edge of Foel Grach. We were far enough from the cliffs of Dulyn and Melynllyn that it wasn't a worry. The land is quite boggy in areas, though.

 

The view down Pant y Griafolen, with Dulyn hidden below the nearby cliffs. It was so hazy that nothing much beyond this edge of the Conwy Valley was visible. 

 

 

Still cutting across the east side of Foel Grach, and the boggy land starts to become punctured with rocks.

 

 

 It seems incredible that such a small stream can carve out such a deep channel through the peat.

 

 

 The land is much drier here, and feels like a very special place to walk through, with all the split rocks scattered over the yellowed grass.

 

 This little series of rocks always makes me think of a dragon's spines, poking up through the earth.

 

 At last we're coming down into Cwm Eigiau. Although this valley is high and remote, it's considerably more sheltered than the mountains above. The quarry can be seen on the other side.

 

 With the sun setting by around 16:20, it was night time by the time William Owen was walking down here, exhausted at the end of his journey. It's not exactly a gruelling hill to walk down, but it is hard, with all the tufts of grass and patches of moss and rushes, and the streams splitting the land.

 

 

 Closer to the quarry, the levels and spoil tips can easily be seen. Although the quarry is a small one it still dwarfs the buildings on the site.

 It's impossible to know which building William Owen would have staggered to. Perhaps the work day had ended when he arrived around 17:30. Hopefully he arrived to a warm room and hot food and drink. One set of what seems to be lodgings here still has bits of render left on the walls.

 

 

 A view from near the wheel pit over the ruins of what must have been the workshops, perhaps where the men were fitting up the machinery.

 

 

The path home at last, a long walk down the valley to the car park beyond the lake.