Beyond the Bridge

First and foremost, thank you so much for the lovely comments, hearts and stars for yesterday’s sunset blip. They are all very much appreciated, and I’m so glad you agreed with my choice of main! 


I don’t think I’d realised how far behind I’d fallen with my comments and responses, and I’ve spent some time today trying to catch up, so once again it’s a late blip I’m afraid. 

This morning’s sunshine comes as something of a surprise, but by the time we head out for the Conwy Valley, the clouds are ominously dark. We’re hoping for a walk round Llyn Geirionedd - a beautiful lake within Snowdonia’s National Park - but the mist turns to drizzle, then to rain, and as we cannot even see the hills, it seems sensible to abandon plans. 

By now we’ve reached Llanrwst, so it’s an opportunity to blip one of our area’s most photographed sights - a little riverside cottage called Tu Hwnt i’r Bont. A month ago, this 15th century former courthouse, would have been bright red  - covered with Virginia creeper. By now, of course, the colour’s gone, but at least we have the compensation of the autumn golds and bronzes from the background trees. 

Now a Tea Room - serving the best scones I’ve ever tasted - Tu Hwnt i’r Bont is named for its position ‘beyond the bridge’. And what a bridge it is. Pont Fawr (prosaically Big Bridge) was built in 1636, reputedly designed by no other than Inigo Jones. It’s beautiful, but totally impractical for modern traffic although it more than tests the nerves and tempers of today’s drivers, it’s high arch meaning it is impossible to see what’s coming from the opposite direction! 


More information on both house and bridge can be found in these links. 

https://www.tuhwntirbont.co.uk

https://historypoints.org/index.php?page=pont-fawr-llanrwst