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These tips are fascinating and a famous Welsh poet, T H Parry Williams (1887–1975, who lived at Rhyd Ddu) wrote about how every piece of slate we are walking on has been through someone’s hands.

Parry Williams was the first poet to win the double of Chair and Crown at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, which he achieved at Wrexham in 1912 and repeated at Bangor in 1915.

When you emerge from the tips continue following markers over boggy ground until you reach and cross the railway and arrive back at the village car park.

The summit of Snowdon from Bwlch Main

WALK THREE

The Watkin Path and Yr Aran

The summit of Snowdon peers over the lower slopes of Y Lliwedd, viewed from Nantgwynant

It was Sir Edward Watkin, a rich and influential railway owner and one of the brains behind the original idea to build a Channel tunnel, who directed the building of the Watkin Path, as a donkey track, at the end of the 19th century. Today it forms the most demanding route direct to the summit of Snowdon, and is here coupled with an optional add-on, embracing Yr Aran, a quite marvellous vantage point, and one that is often overlooked. However, tacking it on to this walk makes for a demanding day, one that should be contemplated only by strong walkers.