Spring has well and truly sprung this week here at the Oakeley Arms. The sun is out, the birds are singing and the whole area is a riot of rich and vibrant colours as the leaves start to unfurl and spring flowers push their way through the earth.

Bluebells are one of Spring’s quintessential flowers. These delicate and pretty blooms are found in abundance across the country during the early months of summer and this little flower has a special place in our history and culture. A single bluebell is itself a thing of beauty, but a vision of thousands of them spread over a meadow or across a forest floor can be breathtaking. Although bluebells, or Hyacinthoides non-scripta to use their binomial name, are commonly found in wooded areas, they do also thrive in open habitats like the wide cliff tops and meadows along the Welsh coast.

So we though we’d celebrate with a Snowdonia bluebell walk where you might just spot some of these gorgeous little flowers. This walk begins in Harlech, about 20 minutes from the Oakeley Arms.

Where:              Harlech, Gwynedd

Distance:          Approx 3 miles

Start:                Bron-y-Graig Uchaf Long Stay Car Park (from Harlech High Street, follow road past shops and then church on left. Turn left for     car park – short stay is closest to main road, long stay is around corner). Nearest postcode for sat nav is

Grid Ref:           SH 582 309

Maps:               OS Explorer OL 18: Harlech, Porthmadog & Y Bala

Directions:        1: Leave the car park and turn left along Parc Bron-y-Graig Road. Pass stone wall on right, then in between bungalow and house, find narrow footpath to right. Follow this to road then turn right for a few steps before turning left up Pen y Bryn lane.

2: By the cemetery gates continue ahead along a rougher track and continue, passing the gates to Llys Bach. Soon after, bear left for a signed path which comes out by a house. Walk ahead and go through narrow gap to reach gate.

3: Go through and continue to path junction, turning sharply right, climbing up through woodland. As the path emerges into open space, veer away from a stone wall and bear left up a field to the top.

4: Walk beside the gorse at the top until you see a way-marker on the wall ahead. Cross the wall by the marker and go straight up to another way-marker post by a track. Go left here to another way-marker and follow to gates by houses.

5: Through gate and follow the walled path between houses and continue to an old barn. Walk round to the left of the barn and cross a stile to walk up a field and through a wall gap. Turn left, through another gap and then bear right along the field to find a gate. Through it and turn left.

6: Bear right at the fork and then walk through gate to Garth Mawr house. To the right of the house walk through gate then turn left to cross a wall. Walk over the field to a stile in the wall. Cross it and stay ahead, bearing right towards a wall and walk beside this (keeping wall to left).

7: Walk to top of field then turn right and cross stile, continue along the track, past a ruin and over another stile in the wall.  Walk along the path through gorse bushes, over footbridge and stile to meet road.

8: Turn right and walk for approx ¼ mile until you find stile on right. Cross it and stay by the wall until it heads right, where you bear left and uphill. Cross the stile in the wall and continue, aiming for the ladder stile in the wall.

9: Cross the stile and walk through the gate into a lane. Cross another stile to walk past a house. Follow the lane now, turn right at the t-junction and continue downhill, enjoying stunning views across the coast. As you descend towards the town, turn left by the Lion Hotel and walk along the High Street. After a pretty cobbled square on the left, turn left up a steep footpath (opposite a convenience shop) which leads past the church and back to the car park.

**Please note that these directions are for guidance only. The Oakeley Arms can accept no responsibility for any loss, damage or injury resulting from the use of this information. Always take a map with you and be prepared for the weather for turn. Do not venture out in bad weather.