Description

Six years after the publication of Letters from Snowdon (1770), which gave an account of his journey through North Wales in a series of letters, Joseph Cradock returns to this recondite, wet, gloomy, but also stunningly beautiful region for further sightseeing and exploration. This time, the author tells of his experiences in a straight-and on occasion brutally honest-narrative, describing the places he visited and the disposition of the inns he stayed in, where at times food was scant, not to be found at all, or secretly supplied with a wink by a generous landlady. His bumpy itinerary takes us not only through Welshpool, Powys, Cader Idris, Dolgellau, Tan y Bwlch, Harlech, Caernarfon, Beddgelert, Bangor, Conwy, Llanrwst, and St Asaph-but also, for the first time, to cataracts and inaccessible beauty spots not known even to most of the locals. There are descriptions of the ever treacherous roads, including the hitherto terrifying pass on the side of Penmaenmawr; the wild landscapes, with its mountains and verdant valleys; the women's idiosyncratic fashion; and the somewhat shambolic theatrical performaces in some of the towns. And, as in his earlier work, there are historical sections, dealing with the Wynn family, the origins of the Welsh language and the country's current name, and the Druids' past activities in what was believed by some-like Henry Rowlands-to have been their central metropolis: the Isle of Anglesey. This 1777 text compresses a great deal of colourful and fascinating information, simultaneously escapist and instructive, curious and harrowing, and of interest those seeking the bewildered first-hand impressions from early travellers to North Wales.