DRWS-Y-COED

NANTLLE, CAEMARFON

Nice and long and never too steep, cutting through rugged hills parted by a criss-crossing of stone walls, this climb is perfection. You rise away from Nantlle, pass over a couple of small lumps, and then not much else happens for a little while, giving you ample time to soak up the scenery. As the road bends right at a junction, where you’ll see a track leading down to a farm, the climb starts to demand more of your attention. Twisting subtly left and then right, it ascends. The gradient is a testing 10% in places, but most of the time it’s not bad going. In fact, no matter how steep it is, it would be impossible to suffer up this hill – it’s just too beautiful. You simply won’t want it to end, but end it does, at a brow following a right-hand corner where (not for the first or the last time on my visit to this part of Wales) I just had to sit down and soak it all in before pressing on.