On the downside, I’ve been kept awake since 4pm by a chorus of cockerels outside my tent. On the upside, there’s a decent view this morning ahead of our ascent of Snowdon.
Our campsite is pretty perfect. Clean, spacious and with steam trains and brewpub on site.
I met the engaging Cem from Gwynedd A Mon CAMRA branch for a pint at their regular Pub of the Year, and pretty much Cem’s local.
I’ve warmed to the Parc. It’s a functional club type building with pleasing Marstons touches. The character comes from a good mix of custom, with more drinkers than diners last night. Almost exclusively Welsh spoken at the bar too.
Pool and TV Olympics in two of the rooms were keeping business ticking past 9pm.
A decent sized village of Waunfawr provides enough ale turnover across the six pumps to maintain better quality than I would have guessed.
Cem maintains WhatPub for the branch, and I sympathised with the challenge of keeping track of a continued erosion of lunchtime and weekday opening.
The Parc is open all hours, but steam trains and occasional Snowdon buses have their limitations, so the cheap campsite provides a lot of the later trade.
The first couple of pints were well kept homebrew, the rest of the range, particularly the Summer and Gold have been exceptional (NBSS 3.5) and all at less than £3.
My options at the peak of Snowdon may be more limited.
retiredmartin 
We were notation all caravan/motorhome peopl when we spent a few days in Caernarfon several years ago, so we had no interest in the campsite, though I knew there was a brewpub. Nice to hear you’ve made it there and are enjoying it. Clean, eh? The toilet block?
22 quid including electric sounds good for what must be a popular location.
Someday…..
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*not at all.
Looks like it might be damp though. August?
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Always unpredictable weather Nick.Dry up Snowdon today though.
Campsite basic but clean.and friendly
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There is a cafe type place at the railway station a few feet short of the summit of Snowdon. It is a few years since I was there but I don’t recall any ale options in said building so unless there is a bottle available I would agree with the word limited.
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Bottles at £4 and queues of folk from the train ;-(
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The brewpub should do takeaway quarts & half-gallons.
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Good idea
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For some technical reason, which would well be down to my own stupidity / blindness (I’d make a perfect football referee then) I can’t get the comment box to appear on the Chester article, so I will post hear instead and hope not to confuse everybody.
My quiz answer is that the door has been changed by removing the external handle. I suspect that the blackboard attached to the door isn’t an original feature either. An old fashioned poster has been pinned up inside to defeat the purpose of the window, presumably in a vain attempt to appear traditional.
Is the caravan park the one adjacent to the Dee which you see from the train as you depart towards Holyhead?
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Mudge is having problems too Tom, no idea why, though my.internet is woeful.
No to one yes to.the second
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You may have inadvertently pointed me to a clue in the caption. I am going to propose that there was once a pub cat, which as it is not mentioned in the article I suspect is not there any longer.
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Wrong Tom but right lines
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Cat flap in the door would work. All trace would be covered by the blackboard.
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In May 2014, my brother and I stayed at the Albion for 3 nights. We visited LLandudno, Conwy and Liverpool while we were there. The landlord is supposed to be quite a character, but we did not meet him. His wife took excellent care of us during our stay, going out of her way to cook me kippers for breakfast(her idea).
My first thought when seeing the door was the “No Hen parties or pub crawls, we will not serve you” sign was missing, but after reviewing my pictures, that sign is in the entrance way. Since 2014, the only change is the wood square above the door is painted. So I assume we were there after the change.
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Good to see I’m not the only one having problems.
Is the thing that’s missing any reference to being “family hostile”?
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Glad you’re back ! Yes, the famous “family hostile” part of the welcome has gone, End of Times indeed.
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A few more Chester comments as the other thread still isn’t accepting them:
1. Agreed that the selection of pubs in the city centre has never really seemed to match up to its promise. In the distant past, one of the best was Border’s Olde Custom House, now long since wrecked by Marston’s. The two Sam Smith’s pubs, the Falcon and the Olde Boot, are both well worth a visit.
2. Chester isn’t really anywhere near as posh as the popular image. The Olde Cottage, which I assume you have visited on your travels, is a pretty down-to-earth pub, and that’s being charitable.
3. Odd that the Cross Keys is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. It’s not right in the city centre, but there’s plenty of footfall there. Indicative of problems, maybe?
4. I remember the Piper from my childhood as my dad always turned off there for his “special route” into the city centre. Never been in it, though, and your review is unlikely to encourage me.
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I can see I rated the Olde Cottage poorly for beer but long forgotten, Ship Victory was a boozer.
Very odd about Cross Keys, pubs weren’t heaving except Brewery Tap and Lodge.
Piper looked like an 80’s Greene King local pub built for TV sport.
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