Had a leisurely breakfast this morning as we were off to the Centre for Alternative Technology (just up the road) and they didn’t open until 10am. Breakfast was left out for us. Juice, cereal, fruit and a couple of boiled eggs – quite satisfactory.
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| Center for Alternative Technology |
The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) is advertised as Europe’s leading Eco Centre. It was started in the early seventies in the disused Llwyngwern slate quarry and our visit there was quite an amazing experience. All things from electricity production from sun, wind and water to appropriate building designs and sustainable living. One building had 20kw of panel on its roof. That’s what we need at home! There were lots of models demonstrating different processes; wave action producing electricity; the power of a windmill which could lift up a person and so on.
CAT also offers postgraduate degrees as well as shorter residential courses; and publishes information on renewable energy, sustainable architecture, organic farming, gardening, and ecologically friendly living. The centre also runs education programmes for schools and sells sustainable products through shops, restaurants and a mail order department.
Just getting into the place was an experience. From the bottom of the valley, you travel up a very steep slope to the site in a water balance railway. Two cars operate, one going up and the other down. Water is pumped into a tank in the top car (a computer decides how much water is needed) until it is heavier than the bottom car. It then descends (gravity) pulling the bottom car up the hill. At the bottom, the water is released and it starts all over again.
We finished our time there with lunch. We’d had a bit of rain while there. Fortunately, there were enough undercover areas for us to dash from one spot to another without too much difficulty.
CAT also offers postgraduate degrees as well as shorter residential courses; and publishes information on renewable energy, sustainable architecture, organic farming, gardening, and ecologically friendly living. The centre also runs education programmes for schools and sells sustainable products through shops, restaurants and a mail order department.
We finished our time there with lunch. We’d had a bit of rain while there. Fortunately, there were enough undercover areas for us to dash from one spot to another without too much difficulty.
After lunch, it was on the road to Portmeirion a quirky little town built by a very eccentric Clough Williams-Ellis, started in 1925 and finished in the mid-seventies. His idea was to develop the site without spoiling its natural beauty. He has borrowed from all cultures and used bright colours and different styles to produce something quite unique. Some of the buildings are set up as shops and displays, others are used for accommodating tourists (from £155 per room per night). The village is used a lot for movies and TV series (an instant set) and the 1960s TV series ‘The Prisoner’ was filmed here.
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| Portmerion |
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| Snowdonia National Park |
The Mountain Lodge is a step up in accommodation from the last couple of nights – a double bed and an ensuite!! It’s also used as a Yoga Retreat so quite a lot of people here with that in mind. We joined them for a very delicious vegetarian buffet for dinner. Met a woman there, originally from Manilla (near Tamworth), who ventures out here regularly just for the yoga involvement.
