I was on the hunt for the second pair of glyphs – symbols and shapes that were discoverable by dowsing at sacred sites, and which I needed in order to satisfy my requirement for creating The Merlin Staff soon. I had an idea that I needed to carve these four symbols into the staff as part of its creation. Carving would be the starting point for our journey, as I was soon to discover. We were going to Dinas Emrys now.
We had taken the “alternative” route to get to Beddgelert. The faster route was probably to go via the A5 and come past Snowdon, but today we had gone via Blaenua Ffestiniog on the A470. Scenic, but slow. However, as this year is all about learning patience, I acquiesced to the situation. So it was mid-afternoon by the time we arrived. No problem, we knew a quick way up Dinas Emrys, and so we set off – late but confident.
Until we met the landowner as we wandered through his caravan park. He queried our presence, and then re-directed our “hapless wandering” back down to the road with directions to visit the nearby National Trust site of Craflwyn in order to find the correct path. We drove the half mile back and parked up. There was a visitor centre with an exhibition all about Dinas Emrys, so we took the opportunity to see what it had to say.
Inside were information boards, videos and beautiful carvings depicting characters from the stories.
When we had had our fill, we re-emerged, examining a map that was neither detailed nor to scale, nor indicative of the contours of the land. So we picked a likely path that ended up at Dinas Emrys and set off, grateful for the shade in the sweltering heat.
We climbed. At first through the shaded beautiful woodland, then soon the path got steeper and broke out into the glare of the sun. Now we were getting hot. How much further until we could see Dinas Emrys, we wondered? The we saw it – but it was still miles away! And the path wasn’t going anywhere near it soon!
We had a decision – abandon now, or press on? We looked around for signs. I sat on the wooden “throne” overlooking the intended hill below, wondering what to do. A gentle wind cooled my fevered brow. We would press on.
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