Of course, you know by now that we think there are loads and loads of brilliant things about the beautiful area where we live and work. Stunning Snowdonia has some of the country’s finest mountains, most beautiful scenery and best beaches…. and that’s to name but a few of the fabulous things you’ll find here.…

Happy Birthday Dylan! Today would have been Dylan Thomas’ 100th birthday! The Welsh playwright, poet and writer was born on the 27th October 1914 in Swansea, and became one of Wales’ greatest, and greatest known, literary figures. Thomas began writing poetry in school, and when he left, he was briefly a journalist until his first volume of poetry “18…

Historic Wales Well, we already know that the Oakeley Arms is situated in one of the most stunning areas of Snowdonia (and who can blame us for being a teeny bit biased…..), but we’re finding it completely fascinating that we continue to find out brilliant snippets of history and legends about our lovely little spot ,that we never…

New Heritage Centre for Bala It’s not something that many teenagers would undertake these days, but a new heritage centre in Bala called Mary Jones World, is set to celebrate a special walk that a 15 year old girl completed in 1800. Mary Jones was no ordinary teenager, and even for the time, her feat…

Slate Expectations We’ve been the proud owners at the Oakeley Arms now since 2003, but we’ve often wondered about the history of this magnificent Grade II listed building. After doing some research we’ve found, of course, that the Oakeley’s story is inextricably linked with that of the renowned Oakeley family of nearby Tan-y-Bwlch estate. From…

Earlier this week we blogged about the 150th anniversary of a local lifeboat station, and we’ve now got news of another 150th birthday! No, it’s not one of the Oakeley regulars…..it’s the birthday of one of the fabulous steam engines of the historic Talyllyn Railway, just a short hop from us here at the Oakeley…

Commemorate the 100th anniversary of WWI Today, the 4th August is the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I. At 11:00pm on the 4th August 1914, Great Britain declared war with Germany, and life would never be the same again for the millions of people affected by the Great War. There are celebrations…

Building Blocks Here at the Oakeley Arms we are very proud of our lovely hotel’s long and fascinating history. The Oakeley’s story is so intertwined with that of the local area that the old building is almost as much of a historical landmark as the ancient hills, rocks and mountains that surround it. We are…

Marvellous Maentwrog Here at the Oakeley Arms, you know how much we love the beautiful area that we are lucky enough to call home. The Oakeley Arms is situated right on the edge of Snowdonia, in the beautiful Vale of Ffestiniog, which stretches from the dark, slate-filled hills of Blaenau Ffestiniog down to the estuary…

The year’s longest day Tomorrow will be the day we know as the Summer Solstice – the year’s longest day with the most daylight hours. Since the shortest day on the 21st December, we’ve been building up, minute by slow minute, to get to this point in the year; with many of us gazing with…