I’ve always been a city boy at heart; I grew up and went to school in South London, went to university in Canterbury, and have travelled mainly to capital cities. So spending a week in North Wales for me was a bit of a departure. Foliage in most directions, livestock a stone’s throw away and, mediocre phone signal, all thing I’m not very used to. Nevertheless, my time in Wales ended up being a time of many new experiences.

Climbing a mountain

I’d like to think I’m a fit and healthy person because of my regular gym attendance, however climbing Moel Famau really tested my fitness. 

My original assumption, when offered to come along, was it would be an incredibly long walk–with some amazing scenery which was true. What I didn’t realise was how different walking in the city is compared to walking in the countryside. A walk in the city might entail one following a designated path, possibly with signs, on flat paved terrain and the odd bit of grass. The walk I took in North Wales was at first akin to the city, pavements, tarmac roads, signs, right up until we veered off the obvious path to one that was barely noticeable. One so narrow and muddy I even questioned the possibility of a car driving through it. When walking along these roads I always made it a point to walk behind someone, not only because we were walking against the wind and I would receive less of the icy cold gust trying to push us off course, but because my inexperienced city mind couldn’t determine which section was okay to walk on and which wasn’t. One wrong step could result in my entire foot being completely covered in mud, which was a risk I didn’t want to take. So with eyes almost glued to the feet of the person ahead of me, I took the exact same steps they did unless they made a miss step, in which case I would take a gamble and place my foot elsewhere.

Once done with the muddy roads we climbed over a style and found ourselves in a public farmland used to graze sheep. Although the livestock was quite close to us, they always made sure never to be in our touching distance by trotting out of our path. I was relieved at the prospect of walking on more grassy terrain than before as it would provide more stability, yet the land here was possibly more slippery than before and trying to avoid small piles of chocolate raisins on the floor (which I later found out was sheep droppings) didn’t help.

The journey from this point onwards was pretty much expected based on what I experienced a few minutes before. I occasionally stopped to look around at the diverse scenery which included Lord or the Rings-esk leaf covered floors with broad mossy trees some of which had fallen down and required ducking and weaving to get past. The peak of the mountain was pointed out every now and again, and the more I looked at it, the more I thought our progress towards it was quite slow.

Eventually, we reached a place nicknamed the ‘Zig Zag’ due to its highly uneven ground, and the placement of the rocks, one is required to move in a zig zag motion to climb it, this section by far was the hardest part of the journey. Completely brown with erosion which stood out because of the tall grass on either side, I stared directly at the steep path and took a deep breath before commencing. Placing my feet on the dry mud covered rocks was fine at first, but after a handful, I started to get out of breath, the air became thin. Climbing in such a way where my legs had to reach as high as my chest for each step constantly started to take its toll, quitting was not an option so I thought to myself, the best way to get through this, is to get through it as quickly as possible. With that I started a light sprint to the top, pain coursing through my legs, cold wind whistling through my ears, I was determined to get to the top no matter if I had to climb with my hands. 

After what felt like an eternity, a group of giant Christmas trees came to view, with a fenced off forest section on the left side of it. Once at the top of the zig zag I found a patch of grass in front of the trees and sat on it, soiling the palms of my hands, and the back of my jeans. I took in deep breaths and watched the others zigging and zagging beneath me. I was glad that obstacle had been overcome, but there was more climbing to go.

The final destination was a fort right at the top, from where I was standing there was about 15 minutes of climbing left, not insurmountable, but I wasn’t sure if my legs were completely up to it. With perseverance on the mind, I stood up and began walking. The ground here was entirely different, steep, not as steep as the zig zag, and covered in rocks. Hand-sized, flat sharp rocks that made a crunching sound as if stepping on cracked plates. I had to stop and take a break every few steps because my right leg needed the recovery time. My body was so warm after all the climbing I was thankful for the cold wind on my face. Once at the top, the views I saw made the whole trip worth it.

My view from the centre of the fort showed some breathtaking scenes of; the Welsh horizon, hills, valleys, and other mountains in the distance. It was surprising to see family’s which young children at the summit, did they climb up the same way we did? How unfit am I? I later found out there was a car park halfway up. A part of me wanted to take that route in the future, but I’m honestly glad I took the route I did.

Village shop carols

We have off-licence or corner shops in the city, many of which are chains so it was a surprise for me to see a completely independent one in Wales. Stocked with many of the items one would find at a typical convenience store, but in a slightly smaller environment, with a cafe area, and homemade Welsh fudge–from the slopes of Moel Famau (of course). The whole place has a modern 'hipster’ feel, so it wasn’t a surprise to me hearing they will be hosting a carol service with minced pies and mulled wine, what worried me, however, is if there would be enough room for the whole village.

On opening the door I was greeted with a wave of warmth, followed by the sound of combined conversation from; a group of tall, middle-aged men at the cafe side of the shop, engaged in light-hearted conversation with the bartender. A group of elderly people behind them some of whose backs almost leant on the wall of groceries. I stood in front of the freezer starring at the carol singers in the corner, on the other side of the shop door. There must have been between 50 and 60 people squeezed all around the place, including young children, which created a cosy, homey atmosphere like no other I had experienced before. About five carol singers sang in harmony, reading words from light brown pieces of papers in front of them. It was great hearing people join in with the subconsciously swaying their heads to the tune.

I left the shop briefly afterwards and therefore missed the second wave of carol singing, which I assume was some kind of string band based on the sounds I heard whilst walking away. I did, however, come back for the third and possibly final group of performers who were a group of saxophonists. I’d never been so close to a group of musicians before, I could almost hear their fingers moving up and down on the keys as they played. The first few songs were slow ones, which added to the ambience of the shop and didn’t really disrupt the conversations that were taking place. As the music picked up, more people turned to stare and began clapping and smiling along. A woman with frizzy hair down to her chin even started dancing and grabbed someone (who I assume was her partner), to dance with her. 

Mulled wine depleted, and happy faces leaving the shop, it was clear the event was successful. I hope the shop gets a lot of future business from that night, and if they were to do it again at the end of this year they could possibly sell some more Christmas related items.

It’s clear in this post that the new experience I had most to talk about was climbing the mountain however, there were many other things that took place which I haven’t mentioned, I might include them in future posts. If this is how 2016 ended, I can’t wait to find out what cool new experiences are waiting for me in 2017.

Note: The last two and the penultimate mountain images in this post were generously provided by Simon Dalton.