A group of English women, including one from East Lancashire, have said they won’t be returning to North Wales - due to what they called the "anti-English" attitude of locals.
Amy Hurst, 56, from Clitheroe, was on a walking holiday in Llanberis, a village at the foot of Mount Snowdon in Gwynedd, with seven women aged between 55 and 70.
But they said they encountered "astounding hatred for the English" at every turn during their four-day trip in Snowdonia.
They claim they were shouted at in the street, drinkers in the pub made anti-English jibes, and found it hard to get served in restaurants and pubs.
The group are part of ‘Women that Walk’ a group set up in their town to encourage women to get out in nature.
Florist Amy, a mother-of-one, said: “The hatred for the English in North Wales is astounding, we will not be returning.”
Amy said the group first noticed something was awry when they arrived at their Airbnb property on Friday, September 30.
“When first arrived there, we were walking down the street when one of us remarked on there being a funeral care place," she said.
“A guy walking past overheard us and said ‘it’s free for the English'.
“It was a bit strange!”
The following night, Amy claims the group entered a pub where it's alleged one local punter said: “Let’s not bother with these, they’re bloody English.”
Amy said: “We had to tell them to leave us alone.
“We ended up leaving pub and one of our group challenged the man and asked him why he felt the way he did - he turned into a cowering little boy!
“We felt a bit scared, it just felt very threatening.”
Amy also claims at a restaurant the group visited the following day everybody was served apart from them – though she admits it could have just been bad luck.
She added: “The vibe was awful all round – we were all shocked at how bad it was.
“I've been to Wales a few times – but this was really anti-English and probably anti-women too - I will not be going back.”
Amy said despite their experience with the locals, the walk they did up Snowdon - Wales' highest mountain at 1,085m tall - was “incredible” but she was left surprised by how they were treated.
“It’s hardly Barcelona, where they want the tourists out because there are too many," she said.
"I wouldn’t recommend going there to anybody.
“It's such a beautiful place but the people were just off – we basically just got abused.”
The cap things off, Amy claims when last orders were called at a pub they were at on their final day, a member of the group went to get drinks and the pub turned all the lights out.
“They clearly wanted us out as well – I've never had an experience which has made me feel like this before.”
Have you been to North Wales? Let us know what your experience was like in the comments.
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