Llanbris Pass from Llyn Padarn

This is your classic picture-postcard shot of Snowdon, taken from the old road bridge at the northern end of Llyn Padarn, though it is normally done on a day when the peak itself isn't shrouded in cloud! :-)

I've blipped it because it reminds me of my childhood in the 60s and 70s, during which we spent a lot of time in this area, including swimming in Llyn Padarn from the rocks that you can just see in the distance on the left-hand shore.

My parents used to own a cottage in Dinorwig on the hillside across the lake from Llanberis. We visited it briefly this afternoon, on the way home from the Welsh Slate Museum. I think I gave the current owner quite a shock when she found me in the garden taking photos - I had knocked on the door but no-one had answered.

It was a bit of a depressing visit really. The cottage used to sit in some of the older slate tips from the Dinorwig Slate Quarry which closed down in 1969 though the particular tips near our cottage hadn't been actively used for a long time before that. This was a great place to play, and as kids we pretty much had free reign over the whole hillside right down to the lake. About 20 years ago (or so) European money was used to bulldoze and re-landscape the tips. The result still looks completely unnatural (to me), even in comparison to the man-made slate tips that were there before. I suppose the intention was to make the place look like it used to before the quarrying started but it hasn't succeded in my view. Shame. Anyway, it was good to see the cottage again and driving there brought back a lot of good memories.

First thing this morning, more or less before breakfast really, four of us re-climbed Cnicht (689m - the hill we tried to climb on Sunday but turned back because of the wind). We made it today (Chris, Jayne, Stan and I) though thick cloud meant we couldn't see anything from the top.

Because this blip represents the 60s and 70s I've post-processed it using the Picnik '1960s' effect.