An old slate mining complex, now a slate mining museum, lies across the road from the Snowdon Railway station, on the other side of Llyn Padarn, and it has it's own little train, so if you can't go on the mountain railway, there's always this one.
A stormy day at the lake, with Dolbadarn Castle in the distance. The castle was built mid-13th. century, to protect the narrow Llanberis Pass. It sits on a rocky outcrop at the foot of the pass, on a narrow spur of land which separates Llyn Padarn and Llyn Peris. The remaining tower stands to a height of several stories, but the remaining walls are reduced to foundation-level rubble.
There is no firm evidence as to who built it, but the most likely person is Llewellyn The Great, Prince of Gwynedd, who died in 1240. Snowdonia was the heart of his domain, and the location and time fits the political climate during his reign.
Because I don't have any decent photos of Dolbadarn at this time, I won't go any deeper into its' history and that of the Welsh Princes. You really need to see it up closer to understand more.
You can just make out the little Llyn Padarn train chugging its way along the opposite shore of the lake.
However, here's a view of it as painted by J.M.W. Turner, that really encapsulates how that one remaining tower is representative of an important brooding whole.
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