Not far along the coast from the Oakeley Arms Hotel is a beautiful stretch of coastline that is rich in history and legend. Shell Island lies just south of Harlech on Cardigan Bay and this special part of the coast is not only a privately owned campsite (one of the largest in Europe) but it boasts some…

We know that the whole of Snowdonia is steeped in history and culture, but we like to think that our little corner of this beautiful part of Wales is absolutely packed with heritage. The Oakeley Arms itself dates back hundreds of years and was once part of an historic family estate. And we don’t need…

The nights may have drawn in and the weather might be best described as “grim”, “grizzly”, “mizzly” and “misty”, but does that mean our beautiful Snowdonia is any less beautiful? No, it doesn’t, or so we think anyway! Who needs the clear days and blue skies of summer to appreciate the gorgeousness that is where…

Next week marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most poignant events of Wales’ modern history…….. In the early 1950’s, plans were put forward by Liverpool City Council to flood a Welsh village that was at the bottom of a small valley, in order to supply water for its growing city and suburbs. Fury…

We’ve all heard about the WI, one of the most famous institutions in Britain…. but did you know that it was born in North Wales? No, neither did we until recently. A few weeks ago the British WI celebrated their 100th birthday, and the very first meeting was held in the little village of Llanfair…

If I ask you to cast your minds back….back, back, back through the sands of time, to this day in the year 1215, anyone remember it? Hmmm no, thought it might be too far back for even some of our oldest regulars (!) but it was a date that was to enter the books of…

Some might say that this last week has been pretty exciting for the UK, and not least because of a very special anniversary, for all of Wales, as well as the rest of Europe. Friday the 8th May saw the 70th anniversary of VE Day, or Victory in Europe Day. On this day in 1945, at…

A few years ago on the Oakeley blog we featured the news that one of our most famous local heroes, World War I poet, Hedd Wyn was to have a dedicated museum of his own. The museum will not only be in his home town of Trawsfynydd, not far from us here at the Oakeley…

Last week on the Oakeley blog we featured the news that a new King Arthur Hollywood blockbuster was being filmed in Snowdonia. Have you been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the action, or of any of the stars? Of course, Snowdonia is the perfect location to shoot a film about the legendary Arthur…

If we zoom back in time to the 1860s, to a small church beside the lake in Llanuwchllyn near Bala, just a stone’s throw from us here at the Oakeley Arms, we might well have found the church’s Congregationalist Minister, Michael D Jones, preaching sermons and lessons to his congregation on the passions of being…