A five mile walk around the Nantlle quarries, Y Fron and the Dorothea quarry.

We parked in the layby at the blunt end of the Lake at Nantlle, it was a clear sunny morning so off we went through the village past the last house. Here we took the first public footpath on the left. We proceeded up hill through two or three fields, we noted that there had been a lot of work to rid them of bracken. We passed an abandoned stone building, this would make a nice cottage. Over the stile here passing through a small paddock then another stile following a track uphill and then down to ford a stream. Uphill now passing another ruined building, I noted the abandoned VW pickup had gone. After a short while the path swung to the right then to the left eventually putting us onto the lane through Y Fron. We passed an assortment of cottages eventually reaching the school, here we took the footpath on the left, proceeding in a straight line until we reached the abandoned quarry, here we turned right, passing on the right a small lake over which we see all of Y Fron. Now we passed through a few walled paddocks eventually picking up a lane which passed the two abandoned quarries, one of which has been filled with landfill and now produces the methane. Further on we pick up a tarmacced road eventually meeting a junction with one of the saddest looking phone boxes I have ever seen, here we took the left road and proceeded on to the next junction. Taking the road to the closed tip we spotted the tunnel to the right, under we went now on the pilgrims trail. The path now obvious in a walled and fenced down hill trail. We came across another old building, here we sat looking over Talysarn and the quarries and ate our lunch. Then we continued down to the road at the bottom. Here there are two choices left down the lane or straight on through the old Dorothea mine workings, we took the latter going into the park, turning to the left for a hundred or so yards and passing through a gate in the fence, up and down passing the old pump house, then left and right eventually coming out onto the last few hundred yards of the lane. Just before the end of the lane take the footpath to the right by the craft wokshops and proceed in a straight line through a few gardens then take the exit to the road and the car was in sight. Three hours twenty minutes and 5.13 miles, very enjoyable, we saw three buzzards and for this time of year a large number of butterflies. The views from all parts of this walk are very good, Snowdon, the Nantlle Ridge, the sea and everything around.