Monday 20 June 2011

Mappy Monday - Panorama from the top of Snowdon


Wales is the only part of the UK in which I have no personal or family interest, so I sometimes feel that I may be neglecting it. I haven't even visited Wales since the 1960s, although I have had some terrific views of South Wales from the air - it looks wonderful in the morning sunlight at the end of an overnight flight from the USA.

So I was pleased to find that I had an interesting 'map' in one of my books. The book in question is Baedeker's Great Britain 1901, a pocket sized volume of nearly 600 pages, including a number of maps and  some plans of major cathedrals. This is the only panorama, though. I've never seen, or at least I've never notices, a mountain panorama before, although I've seen panoramic views of London and other cities. I find the view to the west particularly interesting, with views of Anglesey, the Isle of Man and Ireland.

This is what Baedeker has to say about the panorama:
The view from the top of Snowdon, though scarcely so wild and grand as some of the mountain-panoramas of Scotland, is very extensive and varied, including the greater part of North Wales, a wide expanse of sea, and upwards of twenty lakes and tarns. The view at sunrise or at sunset is particularly fine; but the summit is often swathed in mist for days at a time. The mist, however, is not always an unmixed evil, as some of the finest effects are caused by its surging or dispersal
I made as good a scan of the panorama as I could, without damaging it or the book, as the binding is fairly tight. The book is in pretty good condition, apart from a small tear to one of the fold-out maps and a slight scuff on the binding. I can't remember what I paid for it, but it wasn't a lot. Definitely one of my best bargains.

  

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1 comment:

  1. Thanks Audrey for sharing this panorama. My Welsh ancestors came from Caernarvonshire (Nefyn and Llanystumdwy) so I found this panorama very interesting. Thanks again.

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