Running to Ty Mawr Wybrnant

I hadn't seen Miles since I came over for a cup of tea in his underground accommodation in October. It was about time we organised something! And the logical place to meet is Conwy Falls Café. That is the headquarters of his company, and he tends to work in the weekend.

I figured that if I was going that way anyway, I might just as well combine it with a run. It is nice to sometimes run away from my surroundings so I had a look on the map. And I got an idea. It was going to be a bit wet, so I didn't really want to run on slippery paths. Forestry roads are better than! And I realised that directly west of the café there was enough going on in that regard.

I also was reminded of the fact that in that area is a house that had to come up in Welsh class one day. The house, Ty Mawr Wybrnant, was where William Morgan was born, and he was the person who first translated the Bible into Welsh (or completed it; someone else had already translated the new Testament. He did a revision of the translation.) And that was quite an important moment in the Welsh language. When I realised it was this close by I decided I should visit one day, but so far never had. This might be the day!

I met Miles in an almost deserted café. That is not a good thing on a Saturday during coffee time! But it was lovely to see him and catch up in person. 

After our rendezvous I thought I'd drive around anticlockwise to Ty Mawr Wybrnant, but the road at some point became private. I improvised a bit, crossed the river, went west on the A470, and took the next bridge back to the southern riverbank. There, the road also seemed private. I just parked up and decided to run the rest.

The view from where I parked 

It started on a path, where I was careful because it was a very slippery day. The forecast had been largely dry, but the weather didn't seem to care about the forecast! It was very wet. I also quite soon became resigned about getting very wet feet. The path had turned into a stream. But only metres from where I had parked up, the landscape was amazingly beautiful. And after the initial slope, I was on a small asphalt road. Not one that my car would enjoy…

Only a stone’s throw from where I was parked 

Selfie before I got too soaked

Mini road next to maxi stream

All buildings in this area are gorgeous 

Suddenly, the house came into view. It was very beautiful! I knew it would be closed, and the small exhibition belonging with it as well, but I didn't care. I just wanted to see the site. And it really was gorgeous!

The house, right by a stream

From the other side

The lichen-encrusted gate

I decided to run a little bit further, as that was uphill, and I would get a bit of exercise. But I didn't want to go too far; it was raining hard, and quite windy, and some of the route was such that there was no way I could move at any speed downhill. I didn't want to get too cold! So soon I turned back. I took a small detour to avoid a path and stay on the forestry road. In good weather I would have done the opposite, but it wasn't anything like that! And when I got back to the car, I quickly took off my soaking upper clothes and put on a nice dry jumper and jacket. I hadn't run any further than I do on my usual loop, but I didn't mind. Time to go home, have a shower, and light the fire, in arbitrary order.

I really want to come back here on a dryer day! I don't know this area very well at all, but it is really beautiful, and it also seems to be very quiet! What more does one want?