The Old Road

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Blaen Y Nant, with Tryfan in the Background, this afternoon. ©Kel Harvey



Had a quiet drive up Nant Ffrancon this afternoon, and took this from the old road. Telford's early nineteenth century road can be seen rear left, still carrying traffic along his original A5, London to Holyhead route over two hundred years on. Although remedial work has been carried out in recent decades, it's still substantially Telford's original, albeit metalled with a slightly more modern surface.

Plenty of tourists around, a few struggling to drive the old westerly-sided road that this was taken from, in cars woefully unsuited to its rougher character - low-profile tyres and sports suspended BMWs don't mix well with cattle grids and potholes. And with extra traffic comes the vexed question of reversing. Some city-dwellers seem barely aware of the function of reverse gear and wing mirrors. This is one reason I drive a so-called city car with bouncy suspension, it's ideal for the roads around here.

I aim to spend a lot more time out there now I'm retired and have acquired a decent collection of both film and digital cameras to record my surroundings; although I don't intend to stick to the pretty bits. I've got a plan to revisit something I did as a commission some years ago, which was to photograph the then current state of all the slate villages hereabouts. I think it could be useful archive material for the future. Also, I want explore and photograph Holyhead, the terminus of Telford's route. Anyone from round here would ask 'What the bloody hell would you be doing that for?' but having worked there a lot over the years, there's a good deal of interesting material in the place, both from a photographer's view and historically.

You have as much time as you've got, no more, no less.

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