Do You Love Map Art? Meet The Rambling Artist
Moel Eilio with Sharon Whitley The Rambling Artist
This week’s route is up Moel Eilio a small peak in the Carneddau mountain range of Eryri, Snowdonia. It is bought to us by Sharon Whitley, known as The Rambling Artist. Sharon is a talented artist based in North Wales. Her artwork is deeply inspired by the natural beauty she encounters during her outdoor adventures. She caught our attention because of the beautiful way she uses maps in her custom artwork commissions, making each one a unique and cherished gift.
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Sharon’s fascination with wildlife, particularly birds, is a recurring theme in her paintings, capturing the essence of the creatures she observes while exploring the great outdoors.
Sharon’s art aims to bring a piece of nature into your home, whether through a beautifully crafted mug for your morning coffee or a custom map painting that evokes cherished memories, an ideal gift for a hiker. You can find details of how to commission a print from Sharon at the end of this post.
Living close to the stunning landscapes of Snowdonia and the Welsh coast, Sharon spends countless hours immersed in nature, walking, swimming in lakes and the sea, and finding inspiration in the serene environment.
Moel Eilio Route by The Rambling Artist
Moel Eilio in the Carneddau is a minor hill which I’d never been up before but had admired from afar and imagined it must have fabulous views from the summit due to its location. It shares its name with the more popular hill above Llanberis.
Start at Surf Snowdonia, Dolgarrog
I walked with a friend this day and we met at the car park at Surf Snowdonia, turned right onto the main road and after crossing the bridge over the Afon Porth Llwyd, made our way up the minor road signposted to Porth Llwyd Pottery. The pottery is well worth a visit, if only to see the amazing renovated cottage which is beautifully done.
We carried on up one of the steepest roads I’ve ever climbed and met a local guy who lived at the cottage further up the road. He recommended we take a path to the right which had been blocked off to vehicles – although I can’t imagine any vehicle could get up there! We took this although we could have also carried on up the road as well.
Our route eventually took us to the gorge of the Afon Porth Llwyd. In the 1920s this was the scene of a major disaster when the Eigiau dam was breached, releasing millions of gallons of water down the gorge and wiping out the village below.
As we approached the top of the gorge we stopped for a swim in a beautiful waterfall pool , a popular swim spot for locals I would imagine. After our swim the path eventually took us to a minor road where we turned left, crossed the bridge over the Afon Porth Llwyd and soon saw the Coedty reservoir ahead and our destination Moel Eilio, looking rather lovely!
At the road end we took the path which leads up to the col below Moel Eilio and made our way up a fairly obvious path towards the summit – the path eventually petered out and it was a matter of finding the best line to the summit which as expected gave us fabulous views to Llyn Cowlyd between Creigiau Gleision and Pen Llithrig yr Wrach and also to Llyn Eigiau and the high Carneddau. We returned by the same route but there are also other alternatives to make a circular walk should you wish.
This is a really lovely route in an area which sees little footfall and the swim in the waterfall pool was an added bonus!
To get in touch with Sharon about her artwork head over to www.theramblingartist.co.uk or find her on Instagram @ramblingartist
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By Hilary Pullen
Meet Hilary, Editor of Get Outside – the Ordnance Survey Blog. Hilary is based in North Wales and loves hiking with her dogs in the mountains of Eryri and Bryniau Clwyd, you can find her on Instagram @nearlyuphill and read her guides to walking in North Wales on her blog. Drop her an email hilary.pullen@os.uk if you are interested in posting an article on Get Outside.
