'It was the best place to take families... now it has been destroyed'

LOCALS DECRY RIVER BANK AND BEACH EROSION – BUT NRW SAYS IT'S DUE TO FLOOD MANAGEMENT, WITHOUT WHICH THERE COULD BE CATASTROPHE

- By ANDREW FORGRAVE Countryside and Tourism Editor

FOR generations of local people, a shingle “beach” in a rural Conwy village was a cherished attraction.

Toddlers took their first paddle here and youngsters fished with nets as parents watched on while enjoying riverbank picnics and barbecues.

But this week, a regular visitor, who often takes his dogs to the spot in Llanfairtalhaiarn, was left horrified when he saw what had become of the place.

Not so long ago it was an idyllic scene; the tree-lined riverbank gently sloping to a wide shoal where families often launched inflatable dinghies.

Now the riverbank has been eaten away and the ‘beach’ has disappeared.

"I was gutted,” said Len Lloyd, a semi-retired tree surgeon.

“I live eight miles away in Pandy Tudur, but I love coming here to take my dog for a swim.

"What's happened here is appalling. Instead of a gentle slope down to the shingle, there’s now a sharp 4ft drop.

“The beach has gone - the riverbank has been damaged so much you can see tree roots instead of shingle.

“This was the best place in the whole area for families to take their kids for a trip out. My own daughter used to paddle here.

“Tourists, too coachloads used to come to the village in the 1950s, when it was known as the Switzerland of North Wales.

"You'd see cars parked up right along the riverbank and the beach was always packed with little ones.