Touring North Wales Continued
Travelling around North Wales in 1771 was an adventure. There were few roads that we would recognise as such. Sir Watkin and companions travelled on horseback; the baggage following in a cart where the road allowed.
The baggage cart had to cross by ferry at high tide the treacherous sands of the Traeth Mawr, near modern day Porthmadog.
Traeth Mawr, Paul Sandby,
© Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum Wales
Sir Watkin used guides to ensure the party did not get lost, and employed locals, as sherpas, to carry the baggage when the cart was not available. The three lads who carried the baggage from Pont Aberglaslyn to Caernarfon received a shilling each for all their hard work, yet the guide to Snowdon earned 2s 6d and the boatman at Llanberis 10s 6d.
Sandby found inspiration in the new industries, as well as the picturesque.
The Iron Forge between Dolgelli and Barmouth in Merionethshire, Paul Sandby, 1776.
© Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru National Library of Wales
Paul Sandby spent his time sketching the scenes that would inspire his best art. Perhaps the dramatic scenery around Pont Aberglaslyn gave him the inspiration to highlight the romantic in his aquatints.
Saddle sore, the party arrived back at Wynnstay on September 4th, having ridden some 220 miles in all. After travelling the final twenty-three miles home from Holywell via Mold and Wrexham, Sir Watkin and Paul Sandby were probably unaware of the impact their tour would have. Sandby went on to produce twenty-two aquatints of North Wales that were more than just a visual record of the tour. The publication of his XII Views in North Wales in 1776 changed attitudes about Wales and landscape art in Britain.
Touring North Wales
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