A Pair of Pioneers

To support the Slow Ways initiative, Gwyn and Tracey decided to pioneer the route between Caernarfon and Menai Bridge, listed on the website as Caemen one.

We split the route into two parts – 16 km was a bit much for a single session – and did the first section today. We were keeping an eye out for restrictions on the route that might make things difficult for wheelchairs or pushchairs, and spotted something very early on; an extremely narrow pavement under a bridge in Dre (what the locals call Caernarfon).

On reaching the path following the old railway line we assumed that everything would be straightforward, as this is a route we’ve walked, run and cycled along many times over the years. In fact, Gwyn has even done some tree trimming here on an earlier GoodGym mission. Imagine our surprise to find a section of the path closed for resurfacing! However, a well-signposted diversion was in place, and we were soon back on track again.

The mapped route was slightly confusing as we left one section of the path near to Plas Menai – it appeared to go through a tight gate (definitely not suitable for wheelchairs, pushchairs or bikes) that led to a fenced-off dead end in a field, whilst there was a perfectly good, wide shared pavement (for cycles and pedestrians), which we took.

Here is the route that we took, and we’ll report our findings after completing the second part of the route tomorrow.