The postal worker delivering Christmas mail on the most remote and breathtaking route in Wales

A postal worker is gearing up to deliver Christmas cheer on one of Wales’ most remote postal routes.

Farmer’s daughter Ali Garbutt has worked for the Royal Mail  for 11 years, and has served the Abergynolwyn route, in Gwynedd, for five of those.

Regarded as a lynch pin of the tight-knit, rural, community, she delivers the mail which continues to play an important role, with mobile phone signals intermittent in the remote location.

But Ali’s daily delivery round gives her a view of some of the UK’s most inspirational landscapes as well as the occasional heart-stopping close up of a fighter jet carving through the skies above.

Ali said: “I love being part of a small and caring community where everyone knows everyone else. But it’s getting out there every day and seeing the breathtaking countryside that makes my job so very special.

“When I’m out on my route, I can enjoy the spectacular landscape while interacting with the wonderful local people who I’ve known all my life. There’s nothing else quite like it.”

The 50-mile postal route covers a combination of rugged mountains, lakes and is one of the busiest parts of the UK for low flying jets on practice missions.

And as part of her daily postal round, Ali passes through the valley of Cader Idris, the 1,995ft mountain surrounding the area, and across the scenic Tal y Llyn lake.

She also passes Castell y Bere castle, which was built by a Welsh prince Llewelyn the Great in the 1220s, and Mach Loop, an area where RAF planes regularly fly as low as 250ft during training exercises.

The area attracts a number of plane spotters, particularly during the summertime, when most of the flights occur.

It is also one of the most popular in Wales for walkers and hikers, is also steeped in history and Welsh mythology.

The mountain’s name is typically taken to refer to the mythological giant Idris.

Cader Idris is also said to be one of the hunting grounds of the mythological Welsh king Gwyn ap Nudd and his dog Cŵn Annwn.

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