Sometimes a chance encounter can transform your appreciation of an\u00a0area, and that is about to happen for me. I\u2019m heading up Craig y Garn mountain to catch the sunrise over the Ll\u0177n peninsula and the first rays are already stealing over the tops of distant Cadair Idris, rousing giant shadows from under the trees. Cliff, who also happens to be my landlord for the week, points to the house on a\u00a0hill above the bog: \u201cWhere you\u2019re staying was my great-grandmother\u2019s house \u2013 or at least what is now the living room. She kept one pig, one sheep and one cow, and made buttermilk where the conservatory is.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Llyn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/471.png\")
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Below the house, mostly out of sight, is the local village. \u201cThere used to be a pub and a shop. The school had 150 in it when I was there 70 years ago.\u201d He grins. \u201cI didn\u2019t speak a word of English till I was seven.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tale of decline in rural amenities is a common one, but I am here to investigate an area that is pushing back hard. The Ll\u0177n is leading the way in opening community pubs, restaurants, cafes and shops, facilities that, combined with the Wales Coast Path, make it a great area to explore.<\/p>\n
For Cliff, the rural decline was a family lived experience. \u201cGreat uncle Bob left on a ship from Caernarfon in\u00a01900 and joined the Klondike goldrush. Lots of people here were slate miners so could get jobs in North\u00a0America.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, throughout the late 19th century, parts of Wales were gripped by emigration fever. Posters went up advertising passage on \u201cfine fast-sailing barques\u201d, usually with a \u201cballast of slates\u201d. After many adventures, great uncle Bob settled in\u00a0Whitehorse, in Canada\u2019s Yukon, and is buried in its Pioneer Cemetery.<\/p>\n
Kevin Rushby on Craig y Garn. Photograph: Kevin Rushby<\/p>\n
I leave Cliff and run up to the summit. The shadow giants have all disappeared, but the view is still dazzling, a reminder that the Ll\u0177n is an extraordinary place. To the east, Yr\u00a0Wyddfa (Snowdon) is white with ice. Looking west, I can see the Irish Sea on both sides and on the north coast a trio of conical mountains, like\u00a0volcanic plugs. The tallest, Garn Ganol (561m), is an extraordinary granite intrusion that was once a busy mining area, one of only two sources in the world for curling stones<\/a>. Nearby is one of the first-ever community pubs in Britain, the Tafarn y Fic<\/a>, established in 1988, where I aim to\u00a0finish my first walk.<\/p>\n double quotation markIn Llanystumdwy, they have a fun little honesty shop outside and a stage for concerts<\/p>\n I start right under Garn Ganol peak, heading down a steep and spectacular valley towards a shingle beach and the\u00a0village of Nant Gwrtheyrn<\/a>. The settlement was abandoned when the\u00a0mines closed, but local doctor Carl\u00a0Clowes<\/a> set about reviving it as\u00a0a\u00a0cultural centre in 1978, with courses in the Welsh language. (The doctor\u2019s cultural impact didn\u2019t stop there: two of his sons played in the rock band Super Furry Animals, a big part of the Welsh musical renaissance of the 1990s.)<\/p>\n From the beach, the path winds up over a headland to St Beuno\u2019s chapel near the hamlet of Pistyll. This simple church is more like an ancient sacred cave with its bare stone walls and straw-covered floor. From here, I loop back over the hill to Tafarn y Fic in\u00a0Llithfaen.<\/p>\n Tafarn y Fic in Llithfaen was bought by locals in the 1980s to prevent it closing down<\/p>\n Back in the 1980s, this village was in decline, but its relative isolation proved a vital factor in triggering community action. With alternative pubs and shops a long drive away, the defunct Victoria Hotel (the \u201cVic\u201d, which transliterates as Fic in Welsh) was bought out by locals and reopened. When I drop in for a pint, there are teenagers playing pool and darts while a couple of locals are working on their laptops by the fire. Across the road is a community shop.<\/p>\n The pioneering Tafarn y Fic proved an inspiration to other villages in the\u00a0area. My next walk is along the south coast from the village of Llanystumdwy, where Tafarn y Plu<\/a> (The Feathers) stands. Here, they have a fun little honesty shop outside and a stage for concerts. \u201cIt got so busy last summer that we ran out of beer,\u201d the barmaid tells me. \u201cLuckily, all the other community pubs sent barrels over.\u201d<\/p>\n Llanystumdwy is famous for its most successful son: David Lloyd George. The great political orator grew up here, deeply immersed in Welsh nonconformist liberalism, factors that are arguably still at play in the strong tradition of collective action. Not that community spirit is necessarily benevolent: when Lloyd George came back to speak here in 1912 as chancellor of the exchequer, suffragette hecklers<\/a> were beaten unconscious by locals.<\/p>\n Dylan\u2019s in Criccieth makes for a stylish lunch stop on the coast path. Photograph: John Davidson Photos\/Alamy<\/p>\n I walk through the village, past the lovely stone bridge and the great man\u2019s grave in the woods. There is a museum<\/a>, too, closed for winter at the time of my visit. Back on the coastal path, I reach Criccieth, a lovely town with an impressive castle, still much as it was when sketched by JMW Turner back in\u00a01798, having been left in ruins by Owain Glyndwr\u2019s forces in 1404.<\/p>\n Just beyond, on the town beach, is a\u00a0lovely art deco building, now Dylan\u2019s restaurant<\/a>. Designed by Clough Williams Ellis, known for nearby Portmeirion, it was not actually built until the 1950s and now makes a rather stylish lunch stop on the walk.<\/p>\n double quotation markNo wonder artist JMW Turner loved the area: there is always something going on with the light<\/p>\n The coastal path here follows the long, broad beaches with stunning views of Harlech Castle, the Rhinogs and Cadair Idris mountains across the bay. No wonder Turner loved the area: there is always something going on with the light. The sea is suddenly snarling with whitecaps or else washed with an orange blush. As the bay narrows into the estuary, a steam train puffs out across the causeway and a squadron of curlews lands on one of many sandbanks.<\/p>\n I was hoping to catch the northern branch of the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Line<\/a> to Caernarfon and pick up the coastal path again, but that plan is foiled by a landslip. In summer, however, this would be a great option. The two heritage lines, one up to Caernarfon and one to Blaenau Ffestiniog, are fine examples of community effort too, having been rescued from oblivion by volunteers and enthusiasts who even built four new kilometres of track after the Electricity Board unhelpfully flooded part of the line in 1954. Together with the mainline to Pwllheli, they are a\u00a0convenient means to starting or finishing non-circular walks.<\/p>\n Ty\u2019n Llan community pub and hotel in Llandwrog, where Welsh is the main language.<\/p>\n Once I reach Caernarfon, I find a lovely ancient town with a newly redeveloped old slate-loading quay, Cei Llechi<\/a>, right under the famous castle walls. The coastal path here follows the Menai Strait, circling around Foryd Bay bird reserve, then the long beach at Dinas Dinlle. Just back from the beach in the village of Llandwrog is the latest addition to the roster of community ventures: the Ty\u2019n Llan<\/a> community pub, restaurant and hotel. This vibrant and extensive project is testament to the growing confidence and capability of the community-ownership movement. It\u2019s also a great spot to start learning Welsh, as it\u2019s the main language of the\u00a0public bar. So, iechyd da \u2013 cheers!<\/p>\n The trip was provided by the Wales Coast Path<\/a> which follows the Ll\u0177n peninsula for 96 miles. Pen y Braich Uchaf<\/a> cottage sleeps six and is bookable through Sykes Cottages from \u00a3714 a\u00a0week. Tafarn y Plu<\/a> will reopen in autumn 2026 after a \u00a32m upgrade<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cliff is sitting in his farm truck scanning the hillsides with powerful binoculars. \u201cIt\u2019s the rams,\u201d he says.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-451731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}