Retro - Porthmadog 3 Barmouth & Dyffryn United 1 (Friendly - 2015-16)

11^th July 2015

Porthmadog  3  Barmouth & Dyffryn United  1 (Friendly)

I sometimes think we take certain things for granted, like for example living where we live in Derbyshire, the beauty of the scenery and the landscape is sometimes forgotten. It’s too easy to fail to recognise just what you have on your doorstep.

Granted, Wales is more than just a quick car journey away, but that said, within a couple of hours you can soon be over the border, and into some of the most fantastic landscapes this nation has to offer.

I’d kind of always known that, but it only really resonated again last season, and that was because I decided to have a purge at many of the Cymru Alliance grounds I’d yet to visit. Trips to Llanidloes, Llandrindod Wells, Denbigh, Llanfair and Penycae relit the fuse for me, and I made it one of my objectives for this season to try and complete all the grounds in the Alliance, and also the Welsh Premier League. Not just because it was a box ticking objective, but because it would involve some beautiful drives through some wonderful scenery, to some spectacular places.

Not only that, Rachael had been with me on some of the jaunts with me, and pretty much felt the same, so while she doesn’t normally harangue me as to what games I was going to be going to, during the course of the Summer she has paid more than a passing interest as to what my plans were regarding Wales.

Porthmadog’s friendly seemed a nice idea, it was a part of the World I’d not been to since a Sixth Form Residential Field Trip that resulted in us sleeping in a mountaineering hut outside Llanberis in freezing conditions! It was a comical trip with the late Malcolm Gander leading us, but I can remember playing football on the beach in Criccieth, counting cars in Beddgelert, and other random trips to places like Capel Curig and Betws-y-Coed. The problems started when we nearly got into a fight with some German exchange students in Caernarfon, and then had a drunken bender one night and were threatened with a swift journey home in disgrace!

That aside, I fancied Porthmadog, Rach booked a nice hotel in Caernarfon (yes, there is such a thing!) and we came up with a few things we could do to while away a couple of days. I’d not quite bargained for how long it was going to take though, my sat nav said just over three hours, but in reality it took four. The journey, once over the border at Oswestry, took us across the bottom of Wrexham, past the spectacular Pontcysyllte Aquaduct, and into Bala. It was then up into the lakes and mountains before dropping down into Porthmadog itself.

We initially went to a very quiet Criccieth and collected pebbles and rocks from the beach to decorate our garden, before heading into Porthmadog itself and down to the harbour for lunch.

With kick off approaching, we set off for Y Traeth, the home of CPD Porthmadog, only to discover that since the building of the new bypass, the main road to the ground was blocked by bollards, so after the usual degree of piss taking, it was a quick detour back through the town and onto the bypass to eventually find the one and only access road that leads to the car park!

Y Traeth is a bloody good ground, it used to host Welsh Premier League football and to be fair, it is without doubt one of the best grounds in the Cymru Alliance. A smart and spacious clubhouse greets you as you enter the turnstiles, with three small stands down one side of the pitch providing plenty of seats. A further ‘Atcost’ seated stand sits behind the far goal, with a larger section of cover, with a limited number of seats adorning the opposite end. The side opposite the trio of stands has no furniture as such, other than the huge obligatory TV gantry and Press Room that seems commonplace at Welsh grounds.

I liked it, it was smart, it was clean and tidy and the welcome, while initially in a foreign language, was a very welcome one!

But while the ground was impressive, it’s the location and the scenery that really takes you back. Whichever way you seem to look, it’s just stunning hills and mountains. With Craig Alltwen to one side and Moel-y-Gest to the other, and not to forget the sound and sight of the steam trains running along the Welsh Highland Railway, I would beg anyone to find a more scenic setting at this level of football.

The game itself wasn’t up to much, Porthmadog were worthy winners in the end against their Welsh Alliance counterparts, but it wasn’t really about the game, it was about the location, and the chance to visit some beautiful places and take in great scenery with my loved ones.

That night, we hit Caernarfon after checking into our lovely hotel, the Celtic Royal, and upon a recommendation from a work colleague we had a fantastic meal at the Black Boy. The next day saw us visit take a walk into the town and also around the edges of Caernarfon Castle and the harbour. 

Later that afternoon we went the short distance to Llanberis, and to be honest, if you think Porthmadog is impressive, the scenery here as you look out across the lake really is truly spectacular, and not only that, just behind you is the home of CPD Llanberis, which got me thinking about a football trip to Snowdonia!

A trip to the fascinating Electric Mountain followed, before we closed our little weekend break with a ride down to Portmeirion, a place I have wanted to visit for many years, and on a beautiful afternoon, it really was a stunning place to visit and have a meal, looking out over the water watching the tides coming in.

By 9pm we were safely back home, a long and tiring couple of days, but so many great memories and such a wonderful place. I would recommend it to anyone, and while the football itself was a little bit dull, it really didn’t matter when you are in a place like this!