100 British Bus Routes: Route 3
Porthmadog to Pwllheli
9 February 2025
ABOVE: Caelloi BV22 HCA, a Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora, passes the Eisteddfod Stone Circle on the outskirts of Porthmadog, whilst on route 3 to Pwllheli. All photos in this article were taken on Wednesday 18 September 2024.
Runs: Daily (no late evening service Weekdays / no evening service on Sundays)
Operator: Caelloi
Weekday daytime frequency: Approx every 60-90 minutes
Estimated Peak Vehicle Requirement: Two buses
Off-peak journey time (weekdays): 35-40 minutes
Estimated route length: 15-16 miles
Operator: Caelloi
Weekday daytime frequency: Approx every 60-90 minutes
Estimated Peak Vehicle Requirement: Two buses
Off-peak journey time (weekdays): 35-40 minutes
Estimated route length: 15-16 miles
Oh bother! A few weeks ago I wrote about Porthmadog as part of my trip around Wales (that trip starts here and the Porthmadog pictures are here and here). I knew this article was also coming (it was researched the same day), but I didn't keep any of my Porthmadog scenic pictures back for it!
That's the trouble - Porthmadog is so beautiful, that I wanted to share it with both of my readers as soon as I was able to! So the only really scenic view that I haven't already used is this dubious picture of the point where the West Highland Railway line spills onto the High Street. Why dubious? Because there is a very similar view, from a slightly different angle, in one of the earlier articles!
ABOVE: The link from the Welsh Highland Railway passes in front of me and turns to its left, onto the High Street and across Pont Britannia, to reach the Ffestiniog Railway Station and line.
Ivor the Engine would feel at home here, and that's appropriate because, like Ivor, I'm towards "the top left-hand corner of Wales", albeit not quite at the extremity that forms Anglesey. But Porthmadog sits in the shadows of Snowdonia, on the estuary of the Afon Glaslyn, and route 3 is going to take us along the coastal route at the very northern side of Cardigan Bay, across part of the Llŷn Peninsula to Pwllheli.
I came to this route in 2007 with some young family members - then aged 10 & 7 - who had never been on a non-London bus before. They couldn't believe how fast it went and how long the gaps between stops were (well, stops that we actually stopped at, anyway). Route 3's involvement in this series was probably sealed that day!
Nowadays, the service is run by local independent operator Caelloi - "the oldest operator in the UK" according to its website, having been established in 1851. Route 3 is its only foray into local bus operations.
We pick up on Porthmadog High Street, where the bus has just completed a circuit of Porthmadog Park - the bus stops adjoin this small open space. The vehicle is modern and comfortable, being a 22-reg, 10.8 metre-long Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora.
ABOVE: BV22 HCA again, arriving at the finish / start point of route 3 in Porthmadog High Street.
Late on a Wednesday afternoon, it's clearly been a busy journey in, and the journey towards Pwllheli is going to be a busy one as well, judging by the number of people boarding here.
Although our objective is south-west of here, we're pulling out to the north-west, and will shortly turn to head due north out of town.
There's a route variation here. Of the 12 daily trips, four (five in the other direction) take a short-cut to Pentrefelin, missing the north end of Porthmadog and the village of Tremadog entirely. (Make your choice of supermarket before you board the bus - the short-cut journeys offer Aldi and Lidl in quick succession; the full route provides Tesco instead!)
Behind Tesco, looking very close but actually a few hundred yards away, is Old St John's Church. Built in the 1870s, it is constructed of rock-faced Deudraeth stone with Bath stone dressing. The tower was added in 1898 (Coflein). It looks amazing with the hills behind it, but it's impossible not to get Tesco in shot as well from this angle!
ABOVE: Tesco, Porthmadog. Behind is Old St John's Church.
Porthmadog has no fewer than three railway stations, albeit only one is part of the National Rail Network. We pass this station (on the left as we head out of town), with the West Highland Railway station just opposite; the two routes run parallel for a short stretch to the east.
Whilst the town of Porthmadog is lovely, some of the bus stops look somewhat unloved. Outside an abandoned Zion Baptist Chapel, just beyond the railway station, is a bus stop flag that lists several long-gone routes. The timetable panel appears to be up-to-date, but the case could do with a clean... Presentationally, it's very poor - doubly-disappointing given that one of the flagship Traws Cymru routes calls here.
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ABOVE: Google Maps suggests that routes 3, G23, S4 and T22 serve this stop, but route 3 is the only one to be listed on the stop flag here (left), alongside a load of routes that presumably called here once, but no longer do. The timetable case (right) appears to be up-to-date, although the G23 is not mentioned (unless on a separate panel that I missed).
We leave the town and join the A487 Tremadog Bypass, where we find the Porthmadog Eisteddfod Stone Circle. This is not an ancient monument of unknown origin, but a 1987 construction of 12 stones to mark the occasion when Porthmadog hosted the National Eisteddfod of Wales. The National Eisteddfod is the largest cultural festival in Europe, a unique celebration of Welsh arts, language and culture, which is held in a different part of Wales every year. The first documented competition that might have been the forerunner of the modern event is attributed by several sources as a bardic event that took place in Cardigan Castle in 1176.
ABOVE: Porthmadog Eisteddfod Stone Circle
And so the number 3 ventures into the village of Tremadog. Like Porthmadog, it was founded by William Maddocks (1773-1828), who bought the land in 1798. What stands out for me in Tremadog is the way that the village buildings sit right against the sheer cliffs, creating an astounding vista...
ABOVE: The centre of Tremadog
Many of the buildings here date back to Maddocks' construction in the early 1800s. The village is described by many sources as "substantially unaltered" since Maddocks' time..
ABOVE: The early evening journey on route 3 has just dropped me off in Tremadog, on its way back to Porthmadog.
The two variants of route 3 come together again before the village of Pentrefelin, one of at least seven Welsh villages to carry this name.
The major intermediate traffic objective on route 3 is Criccieth. Whilst this is the legal name of the community, it is also spelt in some circles as Cricieth, and the Town Council, which has the power to change the legal name, has reportedly been petitioned "on multiple occasions" to adopt the Cricieth spelling.
ABOVE: Looking broadly south-eastwards from Criccieth gives us a view of the coastline of Cardigan Bay, towars the likes of Harlech.
This popular seaside resort is dominated by the ruins of Criccieth Castle, a 13th-Century castle which is believed to have been built by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (c. 1173-1240), the Prince of Gwynedd, and extended by his grandson, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (c. 1223-1282).
The castle doesn't seem to have had the best of luck (notwithstanding the fact that it's a ruin)... It was captured by Edward the First of England in 1283, beseiged in 1294/5 and again in 1404, becoming a ruin by 1450. The remains were designated a grade-I listed building in 1949, and both the castle proper and its outer defences are scheduled monuments. It still makes a fine sight on the approach to the town.
There are fine close-up views of the Castle as we reach the Town Centre.
After Criccieth, we head a mile or so along the main A497 before pulling off into the village of Llanystumdwy. David Lloyd George (1863-1945), the last Liberal Party leader to be British Prime Minister, was brought up in Llanystumdwy and is buried there. His grave was designed by Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis (1883-1978), who was also the creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion, south-east of Porthmadog.
Another few miles' drive takes us through Chwilog (2011 population 640), and on to Afon Wen. The latter is a small hamlet, but its population must be swelled exponentially by the presence of the Hafan y Mor Holiday Park at its western extremity. Once a Butlin's holiday camp, the site is now owned by Haven. The extent of the park, with the Pwllheli railway line running through the middle of it, can be gauged by Google's aerial view.
This is of course the reason for my having been on the number 3 in 2007, when I recall it was either jointly-run or competitively-run by two different operators. Buses make a small double-run into a specially-constructed bus stop outside the entrance, and are let through the park entrance gates in order to turn around and pass through the exit gates to serve the bus stop.
It gets a little busy when my bus meets the one covering the service in the opposite direction. The other vehicle is a Scania K280CB Higer Fencer f1, quite a rare beast in normal bus service operation in my experience. It looks like a sturdy vehicle, though:
ABOVE: Caelloi YT73 BPZ, a Scania K280CB Higer Fencer f1, at the Hafan-y-Mor bus stop, en route to Porthmadog.
Hafon-y-Mor is an important stop with significant churn on my trips, and I suspect that a lot of the busy-ness of route 3 (but by no means all of it) is down to the holidaymakers staying here.
I think I stayed in Hafan-y-Mor on four separate occasions, but I never went to Pwllheli on any of those visits! So this is new territory for me now as we turn left out of the site and head for Aberech.
A group of youngsters are waiting for the bus here, but the driver seems to know most of them by name (and they know him - in fact most people on this route seem to know him)!
We're only a short distance from Pwllheli now, and pass the railway station on our way into town.
ABOVE: A Class 158 Transport for Wales train waits at Pwllheli with the 1742 departure to Birmingham International, via Porthmadog, Machynlleth and Shrewsbury - and due into Birmingham at 2252.
We arrive into Pwllheli at 1728 - 38 minutes on from Porthmadog and bang on time. Buses set down on Y Maes ("Town Square" in English), where the town car park is also located - looks like this also doubles for the Market Place on Wednesdays.
ABOVE: Journey's end - Y Maes, Pwllheli. The Bus Station is just out of view on the right.
Pwllheli has a population of just under 4,000. The name means "salt water pool". The town grew around the shipbuilding and fishing industries, and the granite quarry at nearby Gimlet Rock. It was given its charter as a borough by Edward, the Black Prince, in 1355. It is reportedly something of a focal point for the people of the Llŷn Peninsula.
It is also where Plaid Cymru, the political "Party of Wales" was founded. Initially, home rule for Wales was not an explicit aim of the party; it was all about keeping Wales Welsh-speaking, with the aim of making Welsh the only official language of Wales.
Just off the Town Square is the Penlan Chapel in Gaol Street / Stryd Moch. The first chapel was built on the site around 1672, with various rebuilds up to this version of 1863. There's a detailed archtectural description of this building on the Coflein website.
ABOVE: Penlan Chapel, Pwllheli
Pwllheli's town planners or artwork procurers are not without a sense of humour. Inspired by the town's seafaring and fishing traditions, a sculpture of a fish was installed in 2011. Created by artist Benjamin Storch as part of a Gwynedd Council community arts programme, the head (see below) pokes out of the pavement outside The Mitre public house on New Street. But the tail is on the other side of the junction, near the Town Square (see Google Streetview).
ABOVE: The Pwllheli Fish Sculpture
This is a lovely spot, but I only have half-an-hour before the bus back to Porthmadog, so there's limited opportunity to appreciate the Harbour, or to get a decent photo of it (but have a look here).
Then it's back to the Bus Station, just off the Town Square where buses drop off. My bus back to Porthmadog is parked up on the stand awaiting departure time. There's not much else happening here at six in the evening...
ABOVE: My fifth and last view of BV22 HCA, parked in Pwllheli Bus Station awaiting the 1805 departure to Porthmadog. There are two more round trips to undertake before service end, and the bus will come off duty for the night at 2053.
This is a lovely bus ride in the "top left-hand corner of Wales". Despite the rural surroundings, it's a popular service and takes us through some delightful coastal scenery. GIve it a go if you're in the area!