Lake Vyrnwy / Llyn Efernwy

Hello again people and pooches. Joe the Cocker here on our way back from South Wales on our tour of Wales. We decided to stop at somewhere scenic to break up our journey from South Wales so that we could stretch our legs. I had been very busy snoozing as my chauffeur paid attention to pointing the car in the right direction. Driving can’t be difficult surely, especially when that nice lady tells him when he should turn left or right or go straight on?

Sorry, I digress! When we turned up at the Lake Vyrnwy car park, I patiently waited while he purchased the parking ticket. No sooner had I jumped out of the car, I was forced to pose on a large wooden seat withan imageof the lake curved. It took my human a while for him to get the shot that he wanted as, apparently, I would not face the camera. Obviously, I was looking around at the place that he had brought me. It looked like I would be chasing squirrels in the very near future!

So, what does he do? He puts my lead on and forcibly drags me away from the direction of the trees. We passed Bethel, currently the RSPB Centre, which was also opposite a very nice cafe, bike hire, and craft centre called Artisans. He didn’t even want a coffee!

Ah, it was the dam he wanted to see and photograph while the area was relatively deserted. Although we have visited the lake a few times before, it is usually chokka! He has cycled, walked, and even ran around it in the past. I don’t see that level of fitness in him now. Maybe it was before his hair turned white and he put a few (a few, ha!) pounds on.

We headed along the road over the dam as he kept trying to get me to pose for photographs. He had no such luck as I wasn’t in the mood to be his muse. I was busy having a mooch and a sniff around.

The five mile long reservoir was created in the 19th century to provide Liverpool Corporation with drinking water. The large stone dam was the first of its kind in the UK.

The Afon Yfernwy can be seen meandering its way along the valley on the southern side of the dam.

The northern side of the dam holds back the huge mass of water, reaching five miles into the distance. A 12-mile road encircles the lake and is popular with cyclists, runners, and hikers. The lake is popular with anglers due to its abundance of trout.

The reservoir is another contentious episode of Welsh history. Along with Llyn Celyn, Lake Vyrnwy was another forced acquisition of Liverpool Corporation. Another village was drowned without the residents being consulted. In the mid-19th century, the village of Llanwddyn consisted of thirty-seven houses, a church and two chapels, three pubs, and several shops. These were all demolished, and the residents were either rehoused or forced to leave.

When we had crossed the dam we turned right and headed into the woodland. I sprinted down the large flight of steps that would eventually lead us to the water level. I almost dragged my slow-coach human off his feet as he stopped to photograph the dam wall.

We headed into the RSPB managed woodland where you can hear and see rare birds, if you are lucky, such as peregrine falcons and pied flycatchers. Around 90 species of boids and 9 species of bats have been recorded in these woods.

My human couldn’t resist taking a few more snaps of the dam, or was he just looking for a sneaky rest break as we descended the hillside?

Our last glimpse of the dam was as we entered the forest. Some of the trees in the forest are absolutely huge. One douglas fir has grown to over 60 metres tall, the tallest in Wales. Another douglas fir grew to over 64 metres, the tallest in the UK, but sadly was damaged in the winter of 2010/11 and had to be felled. Now,  that’s what I call a stick!

Some eerie wood carvings were alongside the footpath and part of the sculpture park that was created in 1995.

A footbridge crosses the river that would take us back to the car.

We were lucky enough to spot a kingfisher hurtling along above the river. My human fumbled with his phone to photograph the multicoloured bird while I imagined chasing it. It was too fast for both of us. My human cursed that he couldn’t catch a photo, but as you know, he is too slow to catch a cold.

It was a tranquil spot with just the sound of the river cascading over the weir and the hundreds of birds singing in the trees.

Obviously,  I couldn’t resist a dip in the water. My human calls me a Cockerdile!

A boardwalk took us over the boggy banks of the river before we headed into the car park.

My human joked with me about leaving no trace!

We walked straight through the car park and headed towards the cafe. My, oh so kind, human had spotted a sign for doggy ice cream. Ye! A treat for a good boy. I was gutted when I heard that they had sold out. Sad face emoji!

My human tried to placate me by buying a £3 natural treat for me. I went to eat it and it tasted awful so I left it. He wrapped it up and took it home with us. He tried several times over the next few days to get me to scoff it. No way, Pedro! It was gross and ended up in the bin.

Till next time!