Where to drink when you are twitching in North Wales

By Richard Brass

Among the many creative excuses for disappearing into the middle of nowhere and avoiding responsibility, bird-watching is a corker. It’s healthy, it’s environmental, it shows a sensitivity to the natural world and, best of all, when you grab your binoculars and shoot out of the door muttering something about a red-necked phalarope down at the allotments, it’s hard to be disproved. The drawback is that it can also involve long, silent hours in damp hides drinking tea from a Thermos and watching the wind blow. But right on the spectacular Mawddach estuary in North Wales is a place where you can have quality twitching action from the comfort of licensed premises, without even needing to lower your voice.

What’s it like?

Even if there were no feathered critters for miles, the George would be worth a visit. Out on its own in gorgeous country, this fine whitewashed 17th-century stone building faces straight across the tidal Mawddach towards the mountains of Snowdonia. The light twinkling on the water and the coming and going of the tides on the golden sands are enough to keep plenty of punters entertained, but there’s also a pretty wooden toll bridge, a railway signal left over from when a line ran in front of the hotel and, crucially for the twitcher, an RSPB box right next door, complete with telescopes and impressive lists of birds that have been spotted from here, authenticated and duly recorded to avoid punch-ups.

What to drink?

Unlike the purists out in the field, you can’t smell what the birds had for breakfast at the George, but you get a similar set of feathery sightings and there’s significant compensation in the form of the delicious Brains SA from Cardiff. You may not be head-down in the reeds, but with a pint of Brains to hand, house martins swooping from the eaves above and the resident greylag goose foraging for chips below, you too can feel a part of the landscape.

George III Hotel, Penmaenpool, Dolgellau, Gwynedd (01341 422525)

....neat excuse...

Where to drink when you are twitching in north wales - Food & Drink - Times Online

technorati tags:bird, watching, bird-watching, twitching, North, Wales, George, Hotel, Penmaenpool

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