My Grandmother's Chair - Gloddaeth Woods

2007-05-07T04:20:00.000-07:00

As it nearly killed me walking up the second part of Nant-Y-Gamar Road the first and second time ( despite being thoroughly shamed by a more mature lady who whizzed up the steep hill like she had wings on her heels ). I took the executive decision to start the walk in reverse.

Rightyho, here we go....

Start the walk from Fferm Lane off Fferm Bach Road, the entrance to the lane is next to the rear access of Lady Forester's ( North Wales Medical Centre).

Walk up the lane and onto the footpath that will take you to a stone wall stile. For the less agile, you can slip around the edge of it, ( I can't, my bum's too wide and my belly's too big lol) follow the footpath onwards, and you will come to a farmhouse on your right. To the left of this is a stone structure which is, or should I say was, a Lime Kiln and next to it is an old limestone quarry that is partially railed off and is known as the Donkey Pit, because of the awkwardness of its site, Pack animals were used to load the lime and one poor beast actually fell into the quarry workings, hence the name.

Keep following the path and you will see the farm - Fferm, which dates from the 17th century, and is connected to the house you have just passed.

When you get to a fork in the path, go left up the hill, part way up on the right next to the wall,is an old stone water trough, which my dogs thought was FAB! and they dived in for a slurp and a paddle.

Follow the stone wall on your right, up the incline and head towards the iron kissing gate at the top, go through this and you are now on the footpath that runs around the edge of Gloddaeth Woods, now known as Coed Gaer.

A little further up, on the right you will see a black & white house, this was the laundry house for Gloddaeth Hall (now St.David's College) and although it looks Tudor, it is in fact Victorian. Carrying on along the path, you will come to one of the entrances to St.David's College (formerly Gloddaeth Hall) parts of the building date back to 1584 and was for 500 years, the residence of the Mostyn's. The motto of the family is "Heb Dduw, he ddim, Duw a digon" which apparently translates to "Without God, without all ; God and plenty." Sadly the house and grounds are no longer open to the public.

The old stone wall that runs along the outside of the college has been witness to many a tryst between local lads and lasses.

In the woods on your left you will see, covered in ivy, a tower, this was the water tower that supplied Gloddaeth Hall and held spring water before the Hall was connected to Llandudno's water mains in the 1880's.

Moving on, at the end of the path you will come across another gate at the end, go through the gate and out into an open field. Keep to the left following the line of the woods til you reach another gate, that will take you into Gloddaeth Woods, the variety of flora in here is wonderful at this time of year.

At the end of this path you will reach the open grassland of Nant-Y-Gamar, so through yet another gate and from here you can either go straight up the hill toward Hen Dwr or around to the right towards the rocky limestone outcrop that looks out over Craigside , you can quite clearly see Villa Marina (Condover House) in the background, which was built by Birmingham architect Harry W.Weedon in approx.1936 and the Little Orme. It was on top of this hill that we (Craig, my OH and myself) sat and had our lunch in the blazing sun, wafted by a gentle breeze, and discussed where exactly we thought My Grandmother's Chair was. Craig had several ideas as there were plenty of rocky outcrops to choose from and also a couple of dips in the grassland in front of us. I however, wandered around the back of Hen Dwr to discover what I thought was MY version of MGC, a wooden bench situated right at the top lol :oD

The views from up here are absolutely out of this world, and on a clear & sunny day everything stands out in all its glorious, natural beauty. The sky was the brightest blue with only the occasional wisp of white cloud, whilst the Little Orme stood out proudly in its coat of beiges, browns, greys and vivid greens surrounded by the deep blue of the sea.

On this, towards the sea is a limestone ledge which i spent a fair bit of time trying to leap around like a mountain goat in my quest, and found that below this rests My Grandmother's Chair , hidden away from prying eyes. This is the PROOF !!! The views as you sit on the chair are superb, you can see both Ormes and have a clear view of the North Shore, Llandudno and its Pier.

Heading back towards the top of the rocky Limestone outcrop you should be able to eventually see Hen Dwr, which has a tower like structure to the far side. This was originally a windmill and was built for Sir Roger Mostyn in the first half of the 17th century, the mill house that was attached to the windmill was demolished when the tower was renovated. Head towards the house and you will find the roadway that will take you back towards the tarmac road of Nant-Y-Gamar.

Confusingly there are two buildings named Nantygamar, and I took the one mentioned in my book as Nantygamar Farm to be the one closest to Hafod-y-Bryn, this farm dates from 1870 and was originally known as Quarry Cottage, as the earlier residents worked the quarries near by.

Further on down the road on your right, you will see two more stone structures, these two lime kilns date from the early 18th century. The signs of past quarrying can also be seen. Work at these quarries started around the middle of the 19th century and continued until 1953.

Moving on you will reach Nantygamar Cottage, parts of which date to around the 1850's and also Tegfryn, which started life as an army hut in Kinmel Camp near Prestatyn. Tegfryn was moved, which saved the building ,as the other huts at Kinmel were smashed and burnt by Canadian troops, when they mutinied and rioted in 1919, and erected here in about 1920.

Just before the junction of Nant-y-Gamar,Tan-y-Bryn and Bodafon Road crossroads, there is on the right set into an old stone wall a beautiful wrought iron gate, blink and you'll miss it as its already being claimed by the ivy. Is this an old forgotten back route into Tan-y-Bryn ? I wonder...

Past the gate you come to a row of cottages on your left. These are Quinta, Rose Cottage and Trevena and were converted from a Coach house, stables and grooms dwelling that were built near the end of the 19th century by Charlton Hall, but more from him shortly.

Turn left at the crossroads and immediately right, on the corner is Bryn Gwynedd, i've not managed to find anything out about this building yet but it does have a rather interesting plaque on the front. A short walk on from there you will reach Tan-y-Bryn which was originally run as a boys school by Charles Felix Visnier Hall. Charles Hall was actively involved in the research, exploration and mapping out of the legendary lost lands of Llys Helig. At the entrance to the drive, one of the pillars has a plaque in memory of the old Tan-y-Bryn boys.

Amble gently down the road back towards Lady Forester's, to the gates and gardens of Rapallo House, a beautiful black & white building, which for more than 60 years was the site for Llandudno's local museum ( until the museum was moved to Gloddaeth Street in November 1995 ). Started by Francis E.Chardon, who was apparently a enthusiastic collector by all accounts, he left his home and entire contents to Llandudno Town when he died aged 60,in 1925. "Rapallo" was the maiden name of his mother after who, the house is named. Sadly this building too is no longer available for members of the public to view.

My partner and I, not forgetting our two dogs, were much relieved to reach the "ole Mint Imperial" ( my aging white Peugeout ) to collapse in various heaps as we recovered before setting off for home. It was a wonderful walk and one no doubt I shall repeat again as the scenary constantly changes and the views I never tire of, there is always something new to see.

And so ended my quest for My Grandmother's Chair.

The Search For My Grandmothers Chair - Gloddaeth Woods

2007-05-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

Sometime ago now, I found in a charity shop a small red guide book produced by Ward Lock & Co. about Llandudno & North Wales. Being a local, albeit one that has moved into the area I turned straight to the Llandudno pages and this caught my eye :

Short Walks

"My Grandmother's Chair."

A seat formed of large flat stones a few hundred yards to the north of Gloddaeth Woods. Follow the shore road past the Hydro until Nant-y-Gamar Road is reached, and then the route lies along that.

To reach the seat from Gloddaeth Woods, make for an old mill on the hill, bear to the left round the wood until a farmhouse comes into sight on the road below, and then walk to the right. The stones will be found on the slope of the hill.

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I'm a member of Old Llandudno Enthusiasts and posted a message on there to see if anyone knew exactly where this was as when I walked up there the first time, I could'nt find it for love nor money and Nant-Y-Gamar Road nearly killed me lol. Bear in mind that this book was produced in 1934-5 so I had no idea if MGC even (My Grandmother's Chair ) existed anymore. The hunt was on !!!

After a few suggestions by forum members, it was decided that a walk was in order to find it and was duly arranged, only to find that My Grandmother's Chair remained a secret, although we had lots of ideas as to what had happend to it ie:- worn away by the weather, removed by a local for patching up walls, buildings etc or even overgrown by gorse or woods. Because it was a beautiful day and also as it was the first time we had met Craig Ollerton who runs Olle we spent most of the time chatting and completely forgot to take photos.

About a week later I decided to re-do the walk again, but with my OH,one digi camera (as I forgot to take it the first & second time) and also my two dogs in tow.

The weather was beautiful (yet again !) and the scene was set, both myself and my partner just had this feeling that it was STILL there... Somewhere.... lol

As I've rambled on a bit here :o) I'll type up the route we took on a new blog post.

Walks Around Llandudno

My Grandmother's Chair - Gloddaeth Woods

The Search For My Grandmothers Chair - Gloddaeth Woods