Conwy Falls, Fairy Glen and Snowdonia Slate Trail

The walk starts at the Conwy Falls, approached through a turnstile besides the A5 road. A fenced walk follows the edge of the craggy precipice, overlooking the confluence of the Conwy and the equally tumultuous Afon Machno. It then goes down to a viewpoint in front of the falls, which are two great gouts of snow white water foaming down either side of a towering rock buttress. All is safe going until the fencing ends. From there on, intrepid scramblers can get right down over rocks to the base of the falls for a really dramatic perspective.

Nearby is the Penmachno Woollen Mill and the adjacent mill shop displays their excellent products. Half hidden in the glen is a sliver of a stone bridge clothed in moss and garlanded with creepers. It spans a pretty rock gorge and is called the Roman Bridge. But it is probably much more recent. The romantic Victorians labelled as Roman anything older than records could date.

A short walk on, is an isolated stone house on a forest road opposite the Machno Falls. These falls are smaller than those on the Conwy, but can be approached much more closely. In fact, when the river is not in spate, it is possible to walk over the smooth rocks on the lip and look down the deep chasm that the water has gouged out.

Perched under steep side of the falls and almost smothered in trees and undergrowth are the remains of Pandy Fulling Mill. Here woven woollen cloth was beaten with hammers, driven by a water wheel, to soften and amalgamate the fibres.

Beside the house is what looks like the entrance to a small mine - except that it would only admit a man on all fours. The tunnel runs for some 10 yards up the hillside. If you crawl inside in spring, you may see fluorescent lichen shining in the dark. The same lichen is found in the Scilly Isles, but it is normally a Mediterranean species. The mine is in fact a potato clamp, or store. Once common on the Welsh hills, this type of type of clamp was made by digging a trench up the hill slope, roofing it with slates, then piling the earth back on top. The potatoes kept well as they were stored in the dark and at a constant temperature.

There are views over the junction of the Machno and Conwy rivers, as the latter rushes through a narrow ravine in a succession of cascades. From Pandy, the forest road runs downhill through mixed forest. Two rudimentary lay-bys have paths down to the river, some 100 feet below. One leads over a soft carpet of pine needles to a precarious viewpoint directly above the Conwy Falls. The other affords no good sighting of the river, but has a steep track down to a fisherman's path beside the water.

At the end of the road is a charming, old stone bridge over the Afon Lledr, leading onto the Betws-y-Coed to Ffestiniog road. From here, another anglers path runs through Ivy Glen beside the Lledr to its meeting with the Conwy. Nearby, back on the road, is a derelict toll house. Until the early 19th century, all the roads around here were owned by turnpike trusts.

Further on, Beaver Bridge spans the Conwy at the head of a swollen section of river called Beaver Pool, where cormorants feed. There are no beavers, but otters have been seen and once upon a time there was a monster with an appetite for fair maidens. The story goes that the monster was eventually dragged out by a bullock team and dumped in a bottomless lake on Snowden.

Over the bridge is the Fairy Glen Hotel, an old coaching inn. From here, a farm road goes uphill, parallel to and just below the A5, all the way back to the Conwy Falls. This is now a section of the Snowdonia Slate Trail, an 83 mile long walk which runs from Bangor to Bethesda. On the way along the road is the entrance gate to the Fairy Glen, with steps cut in the rock down the great gorge. The walls are precipitous, and the floor through which the Conwy thunders is of huge boulders and rock shelves. This is no place for the timid or ill-shod walker. The path at the bottom has not been levelled, so you need to exercise extreme caution.

The farm road passes through small, steeply sloping, stone-walled sheep pastures, with magnificent views of the Lledr valley to the west and the towering rock bluff of Dinas Mawr ahead. Then it becomes a narrow path through woods, turning from a grassy to a rocky surface, with a sheer drop to the Conwy. The river can be heard, but not seen, 200 feet below.

Much of this walk is through woodland, some of it planted for forestry. Old oaks dot the open ground and mingle with more recent beeches. In parts larch and sika spruce outnumber the broadleaf trees, but there is a pleasing absence of regimented conifers. Grey squirrels frequently cross your path, pine martens hide in the trees, and rabbits and foxes abound.

Watch out for dippers feeding in the rivers, and for pied and grey wagtails. Buzzards soar overhead, peregrines nest not far off. And there have been sightings of goshawks. Woodpeckers, several varieties of tits, jays and crows are numerous. It is altogether a very natural, enchanting wild area, yet never more than a few minutes walk from a road.