I remember walking around Cwmorthin as a child, and that my parents told me that it was a place of importance. However, looking back I never truly understood its significance. I knew that it was somewhere important but hadn’t understood why. I also recall thinking it was grey and untidy – it felt as if people had left the place without clearing up. Totally different to the soft green landscape of Pen Llŷn.
Today walking the paths and mountains of Snowdonia is one of my hobbies, and I regularly walk along these important landscapes. There is something very unique in these grey and untidy areas. The lessons we learn growing up help us to open our senses to more wonders. Walking up towards Cwmorthin towards Rhosydd quarry the past comes alive to me. I can hear the water turning in the wheel, the crackle and the sweat. There is something unostentatious in walking the same path as the people who worked here in such hard and brutal times.
Learning about these areas and how the landscape has been formed not only honours these people but also creates the feeling of belonging. By walking the slate path I’ve learnt that the grey ruggedness is integral to our history, and as a result contributes towards the unique beauty of Snowdonia.