Aberglasyn Pass

October 22/2012

The day was cloudy with mist hanging about the tops of the higher peaks so we chose a lower level walk that still had the feel of being in and amongst the mountains.There is something special about walking into one valley and then up and over into a different one through a pass.

Climbing up through Cwm Bychan we notice that one of the pylon's wheels has collapsed and is lying as if on a stretcher. There are numerous pieces of industrial waste scattered on the mountain. As a child in the Rhondda I used to play on the mountains with the rusting ruins of machinery left over from the coal mining. The way that rust flakes and tastes like blood is a strong memory. 

At the top of the pass is the fingerpost. I love these posts because they remind me that there are always choices about the differnt paths to take. Today we are walking down towards Llyn Dinas.

As we descend we talk about a sense of belonging and, for me, what it means to be Welsh but not Welsh speaking. My paternal grandmother was first language Welsh. She married a Cornish tin miner who had come to the Rhondda to work with the pit ponies.

Down in the valley we walk alongside the river Glaslyn. These past few days the trees have suddenly turned. Those colours of autumn - the process of dying and decaying so visually beautiful.

At Sygun Copper mine we stop for tea. We sit outside and talk about absences and presences. How sometimes on the mountains in the distance a cave entrance can look like a black boulder. This metal cog was lying against the wall. It has an absence and presence of its own.