I grew up in the '70s (a terrible affliction I've been trying to shake off ever since) and when I was a kid holidays involved stuffing the car full of camping gear followed by a 3 and a half hour drive out along the North Wales coast.The route meant it only took about 45 minutes before we could "see the sea" which we would then be able to see on and off for the remainder of the trip. Being able to see the sea and being nearly there were two very different things.

One major obstacle to our onward progression along the coast road was a tiny gateway in the Roman wall surrounding Conwy (pictured right). The gate was (well still is) just wide enough for a single car to fit through, so there were traffic lights controlling the flow leading to a long queue of traffic either side. This is now a thing of the past I understand as there is now (and has been for quite sometime) a tunnel under the estuary at Conwy through which a dual carriageway passes.

I can remember the long queue through Conwy quite well*. It started off on a boring road heading into the town, but once you got close you went over the river on a new bridge, built next to the old and very narrow one. Then you got a really good (and slow) view of Conwy Castle and finally snaked through the town towards the gateway.

Once past Conwy the road was literally cut out of the shear cliff face, dipping in and out of tunnels when it was necessary. Water trickled down the side of the rocks on the left making mini waterfalls and on the right was an unbroken view of the estuary and the sea (unless you were in a tunnel obviously). I still remember the colours on the rock wall where the water had deposited minerals and the plants clinging to the face in defiance of gravity.

For more info on Conwy see the Snowdonia guide site here.

* I am remembering all of this about 30+ years on and I may (and probably have) got some of the details wrong.