WeDiscover – Treasure hunt and the smallest house in Britain

To celebrate the end of this WeDiscover programme, we took the Gappies on a trip to the town of Conwy for a treasure hunt. Chris and I collected Thalia and we met Laura and MJ at a café in the town centre. It was a fitting way to conclude the programme as the last time Chris and I were in Conwy, we were distributing flyers and spreading the word about the programme to the local community. Now, we were returning with a group of Gappies who had benefitted hugely from the programme.

The treasure hunt was a creative way of exploring the city. It consisted of various directions, pictures, and clues to answer different questions about the town as we walked through it. Like the beach clean, this was a mindful way to travel, making you look up and down, scouring places you wouldn’t usually think to. Conwy is a historic city, built around the walls of a castle, making it an interesting one to walk around. The treasure hunt took us along the harbour, where we saw what is billed as ‘the smallest house in Britain’, with the previous inhabitant at 6’3”. At the same height as me, I’m not sure how he managed without developing serious back issues. Most of the clues weren’t too challenging to answer after a bit of looking, but it was here that we paused, stumped by one of the questions. It was after a while that MJ used their excellent deduction skills, noticing a sign in the picture that was missing when we visited, deducing that that’s where our answer was supposed to be.

We continued through an archway into the town square, looking at the name below the statue, Llewllyn Ap Iowerth, a Welsh Prince who founded the Abbey, before heading down the road and into the church gardens. Here, we had to scan the names on the graves, always an interesting way to learn the history of a town, finding out what the main industry was. Unsurprisingly, ship-building was common in Conwy.
The treasure hunt concluded back where we started, ending the day with lunch by the sea. Even since our first day out in Llandudno, it’s clear how the Gappies have grown, with conversations seeming much easier for them. We chatted about the programme, celebrating the end of the typical WeDiscover schedule but talking about the different things we have planned for their future as part of WeBelong. It was a lunch full of ‘thank you’s all round, and the team even received our very own hamper full of snacks from MJ (which I will return to the office when I’ve picked my favourites).

This was a celebratory day out but it’s far from the end. As part of WeBelong, we’ll continue with our mentoring, delivering a reduced timetable, and fitting in many more trips in the future.