North Wales

Wales is a country of extraordinary - and extraordinarily varied - beauty. We all know of the mountains, of course, and of the lakes; and of the remarkable man-made features - the castles, the ancient monuments of long barrows and standing stones - left to the landscape by the country's long and turbulent history. What may surprise the first-time visitor, however, is Wales's exceptional scenic diversity. A moderately short journey will take you past deep, pine tree and rock-sided ravines; expansive moorlands supporting lonely farm buildings and isolated wind-sculptured trees (not to mention innumerable sheep); lush green valleys; and magnificently austere mountains rising directly from the coastal edge.

And then there is the weather! During the first week of our first visit, the weather was uncharacteristically fine: long, hot sunny days ending with some of the most dramatic sunsets we have ever seen. On our second week the books were well and truly balanced: hard rain and temperatures fell. At one point on Midsummer's Day, the temperature dropped to 10C; and that evening, while we photographed the coast a short distance from Harlech, we searched through our pockets for pairs of gloves.

Our first visit to Wales was not to be our last.