Breakwater Country Park

Thursday 28 December, and we started off from Newry Beach in Holyhead. Actually, we started with lunch. This was at the Harbourfront Bistro (which is attached to the Holyhead Maritime Museum, the museum itself being closed at the time). The baguettes were good but more filling than we had planned.

We walked west along the Coastal Path. Despite it being late December, there were periwinkles in flower by Porthyfelin House.

Ascending after the quarry, we reached roughly where our earlier North Stack walk had taken us, turning back here as the sun had set behind the mountain. We returned through Breakwater Country Park, then wandered along a footpath inland towards Llaingoch and the town of Holyhead.

Weather mild for the time of year, blue skies all around but a hazy sea. There were lots of people out on the path and at the country park.

Afon Braint

A family Boxing Day walk took us back to the Coastal Path again. Starting at the roundabout just outside Newborough, we followed the path towards Afon Braint.

The stepping stones across the river, close to its mouth, are quite remarkable in being so straight, flat and evenly spaced. Crossing close to high tide made it more dramatic than most of the pictures we had seen.


It was a good job we had the guidebook with us for parts of this walk, for there were times when we were unsure whether this really was the Coastal Path. It was more muddy than coastal.

At last we reached the beach just before Tal-y-Foel. The geological map here refers to 'Glacial Gravels on Red Measures' and both could clearly be seen in the eroded cliff.

Traeth Bychan

Holidays, ailments, redecorating, and various other distractions having kept us away, we got back to the Coastal Path for a short walk on Sunday 15 October.

It promised to be a bright and sunny day despite being the middle of October, although there was an unexpectedly stiff breeze at the coast,and despite blue skies all round, visibility over the sea was poor.

Starting off at Traeth Bychan, we followed the Coastal Path the short distance, mainly on top of low limestone cliffs, to Moelfre. We stopped at Ann's Pantry for a light lunch: a very good home-made soup. Turning back and returning the way we came, we witnessed a launch of the Moelfre Lifeboat (picture below).

At Traeth Bychan, we carried on. The Coastal Path Official Guide here refers to a proposed new path behind Traeth Bychan which allows access at all states of the tide. This appears to have been constructed now, which we followed. Perversely, for this was a rising tide, we walked back along the beach.

Completing this walk means we have now covered a long stretch of the Path from Lligwy to Penmon!

Llanddona - Penmon

Sunday 27 August 2006, with fine and breezy weather, we started off from Llanddona beach, eastwards along the shingle. The Coastal Path continues along the beach a short way after the cliffs begin to rise, then rises up wooden steps to walk along a field edge at the top of the cliff. This is the beginning of a steady ascent, as the path joins tracks which zig-zag up some 400feet/120m to the base of the iron age hillfort of Bwrdd Arthur.


It was a clear day, and as we rose the view improved. The picture shows the view looking back towards Llanddona, and northwards we could easily see as far as Point Lynas.



Somewhere along here too, there were butterflies, which we think are Speckled Wood, illustrated.


The Coastal Path passes through a farm called Tan-dinas, clearly marked as a right of way on the Explorer map, but here we found gates tied together across the road, with no stile or kissing gate. Despite this and a loudly barking dog, we persevered in the face of discouragement, but had to climb over two gates to make our way through.


The path joins a minor road shortly before a small chapel schoolroom set in a copse of Scots Pine, with views over Puffin Island and the Great Orme.

We had started the walk where we had turned back on our Red Wharf Bay walk 25 June, and we intended to join up with where we had reached on the Penmon walk (see 'Walks we did earlier (1)'). Unfortunately we didn't find the walk we recognised where we expected it, and had to go on a little further before we got there. Turning back, we retraced our steps but kept along the road this time to pass the other side of Bwrdd Arthur - giving in fact a better view of the hillfort itself - and down a steep road to the beach.

The Coastal Path Official Guide says (p. 93) of the path from Penmon, "There is no true 'coastal' path between here and Red Wharf Bay... Paths and lanes inland must be used instead". Indeed so. The cliffs at this point must make walking along the coast itself inhospitable if not downright dangerous, but the walk from the chapel schoolroom to Penmon village was a relatively dull section, wandering between hedgerows and round the backs of houses.

This walk includes more up and down than other Coastal Path stretches and we were flagging by the end. Fortunately, the threatened showers held off.

South Holy Island

Today we did our most ambitious walk so far. Starting at Trearddur, we followed the Coastal Path clockwise round Holy Island, doing the whole of Section 2 in the Official Guide, to Four Mile Bridge, then walked back to Trearddur. The guide has the Coastal Path stretch at eight and three-quarter miles, so we probably walked over ten in total.

It started off a little misty and drizzly, but the forecast was for clearer weather and we persevered. In fact in turned out better than forecast and we were very warm by the end.

Trearddur seemed very busy - lots of sailors, caravanners, people with big cars - and we didn't get away from it until well off Ravenspoint Road, when it was suddenly quiet.

The walk then passes two natural arches, pictured, Bwa Du then Bwa Gwyn. Later we reached a part of the Path we had done before (see Walks we did Earlier (1), Rhoscolyn) but doing it in the other direction, in very different weather, made it still a new experience.


These pictures show Saint Gwenfaen's Well, one of a few ancient monuments on the Coastal Path. This is a holy well, of uncertain date but several centuries old, and said to cure mental disorders.


(Picture quality has suffered as these are phone pictures not camera pictures; camera battery ran out)

The plan was to stop for lunch at Rhoscolyn, having seen a pint of beer symbol in our coastal path map. The few houses dotted around Rhoscolyn looked rather unpromising at first, until we found The White Eagle. This place welcomes walkers, with places for sticks and ruck-sacks in the porch, is a free house with choice of beers, and the food was well above the standard you might expect for a country inn in the middle of nowhere. We would recommend this place to anybody (NB according to their website they are due to close for refurbishments next month, and the website itself has a distinct 'under construction' feel to it; best to check before you go.)

The walk carried on around the south of Holy Island towards Silver Bay before turning north. We took the seasonal route at Bodior, a curiously uninteresting diversion from the road, although after all this dry weather we were lucky that it was so dry underfoot; boardwalks over marshes were unnecessary. Lots of horseflies around here.

After reaching Four Mile Bridge, we stopped at 'Y Gegin Fach' Cafe, a very unremarkable place.

We have been doing the Coastal Path in short stretches and didn't see ourselves doing the 10-mile sections suggested by the Official Guide. But having planned this and built up to it, we've proved to ourselves we can do the longer bits - this is in fact one of those sections in the Guide. We are tired but not that tired. Perhaps we'll do another longer walk.

Progress

Red is the path; Blue is what we've done so far.

Inland Sea

Today's walk took us along the mainland shore of the Inland Sea between Anglesey and Holy Island, on a hot, dry summer's day.

The original plan was to do Rogers Volume 2 Walk 13, but after lunch at the Valley Hotel (acceptable, nothing special), we decided to start at Four Mile Bridge instead of Cymyran. This involved walking south along the Coastal Path from the B4543 to join the Rogers walk at Tyddyn Cob. We then followed Rogers as far as the alleged cafe (of which more below), turning back then on what was his outward route.

It was close to high tide when we started. This led to some contrast in the views on the way there and back. High tide is more scenic, but there were more seabirds to be seen as the tide fell. (We also saw grouse for the first time on the Coastal Path.)

This seemed to us a much quieter part of the Coastal Path, often much less of a beaten track then we have seen elsewhere (see picture right). It was also less obviously signposted, and there were parts where we really did need the guidebook to know where to look for the line of the path.

In one respect we did find that the Rogers book (see references) needed updating. On page 73 he says, "...until you pass a small building on the right. Soon after this, bear right through a gap in the hedge/fence to join a muddy track...". We did exactly this, which essentially takes you down onto the beach. At the state of tide we encountered it was just passable - at higher tides or in stronger winds it would be more tricky. We realised later that we could have ignored going through the gap and carried on in the field higher up. In fact the Coastal Path Official Guide (same author) says at this point "bear left along a fenced track to join a muddy track...". It did seem that this was a fairly new section of Coastal Path (it's one of the permissive paths) so the "bear right" was once the best way until the new section of path was built to "bear left" onto.
Picture shows field of barley on Path


Rogers also refers to a "little cafe" although later he downgrades it to a "tea shack". It's shown as a little cup of tea symbol on the Coastal Path laminated maps, too. This being at our half-way point, it being a very warm day, and this being one of our longer walks, we eagerly looked foward to this little stop. It was closed.

Walks we did earlier (3)

North of Benllech

We did this sometime in the autumn of 2005, trying to follow Rogers Volume 1 Walk 3. He says "the area is well walked with excellent footpaths" and indeed it was along the Coastal Path itself - but on the inland return route, somewhere after Plas Llanfair, the path seemed to disappear. After retracing our steps, checking both the guide book and the OS map, we decided it wasn't our fault, that the path just wasn't where it was supposed to be.

Lligwy - Moelfre

We chose on Boxing Day 2005 to do this walk. We did the line of Rogers Volume 1 Walk 4 but left out Din Lligwy. The walk along the cliffs towards Moelfre was a good bracing winter walk along interesting limestone cliffs. You could see why the Royal Charter sank in that storm in 1859. This walk was not very long but enough to help walk off the effects of Christmas.

Cemlyn - Trwyn Carmel

This was a long and very bracing winter walk in late December. We started at Cemlyn, walking west along the Coastal Path as far as Carmel Head, where we went inland at the White Ladies to join the return path via Mynachdy, Hen Felin and Fronddu. (In terms of other people's walks this was Rogers Volume 1 half of Walk 8 combined with most of Walk 9, or alternatively Hamilton Circular Walks Walk 12 but cutting across at the White Ladies.)

We felt the cold when we stopped. But it was a lovely clear winter's day, and although we couldn't quite make out Ireland (which we had expected to see), there was no doubt about the outline of the Isle of Man. We didn't see a soul all the way but there was something quite dramatic about the remoteness. One of our best walks.

South of Benllech

March 2006. We started at the Wendon Cafe and followed the line of the Coastal Footpath to the corner of Red Wharf Bay, returning along the road. We stopped the Ship Inn for a pint, which was worthwhile, resolving to do this again when walking.

Beaumaris - Aberlleiniog


April 2006. We walked over the Mount at Beaumaris but after that this was a beach walk all the way; unusually for us, we returned the way we came. As at other parts of the path, there are several remains of the shipbuilding industry along this stretch, but in this case just a little more recent with the slipway of the former Laird's yard prominent along the beach.

Also of interest here are strange shaped cliffs close to Aberlleiniog where glacial drift has been eroded by the sea.

Picture shows a cave in these cliffs.

This completes the account of the walks we did after we decided to walk the whole path but before we started the blog: the blog is now up-to-date.

Abermenai

Today we walked to Abermenai point from Llyn Rhos-ddu. We followed the route of Rogers Volume 2 Walk 15, taking the longer option, after checking the tide tables, of course. This was a longer walk than usual for us, although actually doesn't cover a great deal of the coastal path itself. As a circular walk it is probably unique in that the loop is outside the coastal path.


The walk through Newborough Warren was notable for the flora. We are used to seeing wild flowers everywhere on the coastal path, but this area, at this time of year, was exceptional.

The tidal part of the walk was easy enough, just following a straight line over the sand; and despite the tides it was still possible to see other walkers' footprints in both directions.

After walking round the point, where the strait is surprisingly narrow, followed the long trudge back along Llanddwyn beach. It was breezy, and as we got closer what had been blobs in the sky became more and more interesting as we watched the antics of kitesurfers.

As we began on the path back inland (not so well-signed as Rogers suggests) it began to rain. This was only a fine drizzle and we were prepared for it, but we were flagging a little by now and we were glad to get back.

Red Wharf Bay

Today, 25 June, was warm but potentially showery and not too hot, so a good day for a longer walk.

Starting at the car park at the bottom of Lon y Traeth, Pentraeth, we first walked west to join up with where we had got to an earlier walk (now getting more systematic - you might say obsessive - about completing the path).

We then returned to our starting point and followed the longer option of Rogers Volume 2 Walk 2. With a falling tide, we walked eastwards along the shore line towards Llanddona beach; part of the path here is along the top of a narrrow sea wall, not altogether comfortable. The route took us back via an inland forest route passing Mynydd Llwydiarth. Here and there are views down over the bay (pictured).

The Coastal Footpath is varied in character; this was essentially a beach walk, while the inland route was different again to the cliff walks we often encounter, especially in taking us through woodland.

Filling in a small gap

Yesterday, 24 June, we visited the garden at Llanidan Hall, which was open for the day. By happy coincidence, this allowed us to fill in a very small gap in our coverage of the Coastal Footpath. Two weeks ago, we had turned back to Moel-y-Don at the roundabout by the church, not quite reaching where we had turned towards Foel last year. It wasn't the purpose of the visit, but we completed the small gap.

The garden was well worth the visit, too.

Walks we did earlier (2)

Llanddwyn

On a hot summer's day in 2005, we did our longest walk yet, to Ynys Llanddwyn and back from Newborough Forest. We followed the route of Rogers Volume 1 Walk 15, which he says is eight and three-quarter miles. We took plenty of water and sun cream, and needed it.

One of us even had a little swim - but the sea was so full of jellyfish that day it was cut short.

Traeth Penrhos, to the north of Llanddwyn, is said to be used by naturists, and, yes, we did see a few pink blobs in the distance.

Brynsiencyn - Llanidan - Foel

Parking at Brynsiencyn by the Groeslon, we walked down to Llanidan Church then followed the Coastal Footpath across a field to the shore, past Barras to Foel and the former Mermaid Inn. We stopped at the Chocolate Shop before returning via the road from Barras to Brynsiencyn. A short walk as one of us had to catch a train.

Aberffraw - Porth Cwyfan

We did this walk on a weekend in September 2005, when the tide was out so we could walk to the church at Llangwyfan and, fortunately, the church was open to visitors. We walked from Aberffraw to Porth Cwyfan along the road, then after visiting the church took the return route of Hamilton Circular Walks, Walk 18.

Rhosneigr

Sometime in the Autumn of 2005 we did this one, following Rogers Volume 1 Walk 13 (except that we missed out the little bit in the village).

We thought this one of the most interesting walks, and possibly a very good introduction to the Coastal Footpath, beacuse of its variety. A short stretch of inland lake with bird life, a little beach walk, then along the rocky cliffs, and an ancient monument (Barclodiad y Gawres) thrown in.

Between the bridges

In December 2005 we walked the Coastal Footpath between the two bridges. Starting at Menai Bridge, the route follows the Belgian Promenade, past Ynys Tysilio (Church Island)
before taking a short way along the A5. A stile and permissive path took us down again to the shoreline, through what turned out to be a very wet, muddy field, before reaching a nicer stretch through National Trust land.

The tide was high and running fast. This is the Swellies, the stretch of water which belies the old joke about the water-skier who looked for a lake with a slope - because here, in these conditions, you really can see it. We returned through the forest back to the A5.

Walks we did earlier (1)

Starting to fill in for the walks we did even before we thought of the blog...

Moelfre

This was in the autumn of 2004. Originally we went to see the Dic Evans statue, which is well worth the visit on its own (and considerably larger and dramatic than any pictures suggest). We took the Hamilton Tea Shop Walks book and did walk 21.

It was on this walk that we conceived the idea of doing the whole coastal footpath.

Aberffraw - Porth Cwyfan

We did our next walk in December 2004. This was Hamilton Tea Shop Walks 15 but it's a common walk as it appears in the Menter Mon leaflet as Beuno/Cwyfan and Rogers Volume 1 walk 14 is almost the same. It was wintry.

Rhoscolyn

We must have bought the Rogers book by now, because this was Rogers Volume 1 walk12. There's a short version and a long version in the book, and we did the short one because it was blowing a gale and this walk is very exposed. It was worth it just to sit in the well, Ffynnon Santes Gwenfaen .

Penmon

Sometime in the spring of 2005 we did Rogers Volume 1 Walk 1 - getting more energetic now with a 6.5 mile walk! Unfortunately this walk by going through Penmon village misses out a bit of the proper coastal path - so we'll have to go back one day to do that. There were lots of cattle.

South Stack - North Stack

Getting more energetic again on 1 May 2005, this was Rogers Volume 1 walk 11. We missed out the summit of Holyhead Mountain, after earlier stretches proved steeper than anticipated (and something strange about passing that 'footpath closed' sign).

Picture shows South Stack from North Stack.

Moel-y-Don - Llanidan

This isn't a guide book path, but a short walk we did to fill in bits between walks we have done and walks we plan to do, to complete the whole. This was walked on 11 June 2006, a sunny summer's day.

We started at Moel-y-Don, where the coastal path breaks for its largest gap, between here and Llanfairpwll, as the Plas Newydd estate intervenes: rather obviously underlined by the boundary wall running down the side of the road from the A4080.

The walk took us a short way up the road from the Moel-y-Don jetty, turning left along a roadway running parallel to the coast and featuring pink hawthorns. The tide was not in, so we took the shore option. At a right angle in the road, a coastal footpath sign points the way over a stile to the shore. This track is an example of a feature seen elsewhere on the coastal footpath - the remains of a good made road once used to ferry goods by sea, presumably to export agricultural produce. Although grassed over, this looked like it was once well able to take a laden cart down to the shore - and sure enough, at the end of the track there was, on reaching the stony shore, evidence of a substantial quay built out a short way into the Strait.

On the left here, just south of Castell Gwylan, is a lagoon. There is a sea wall and a low lying patch of land inside it. I remember this, years ago, as a green field occasionally flooded after wet weather. The flooding seemed to become more frequent. Now, after two weeks of dry weather, the lagoon is still very wet and permanent. I think this was an area of land claimed from the sea which is now being won back.

The evidence of high-water marks confirmed that this stretch of shore can't be walked at high tide. It is also exposed to prevailing south-westerly winds, as demolished sections of sea wall testify. It could be a salty wet walk in such a breeze.

Before reaching a converted boathouse, a track took us up towards Llanidan church. We turned right at the grassy "roundabout", following the coastal path signs, to return on the inland option via Plas Porthamel. The extra height along this lane gives quite a different view. On the beach, we could see peaks of Snowdonia. Here, the vantage is of almost the whole mountain and the foothills (Coastal Path official guide page 76 has this very well).

Turning right past Plas Porthamel took us back to where we left the road for the shore and we doubled back to Moel-y-Don. Not a long walk, but we didn't have much time that day.

Cemaes - Borthwen

This walk is Rogers Volume 1 Walk 7 (NB see references link).

We did this on 4 June 2006, a warm, dry, summer's day with blue sky, deep blue sea, and numerous other walkers around. This was a classic walk, just what you imagine a coastal footpath walk to be like, in terms of sea, sky, birds, and industrial heritage.

Picture shows view over Borthwen brickworks.

But it was also more difficult walk (not really difficult, just worse than average by Anglesey Coastal Path standards). The Anglesey Coastal Footpath is typically made up of stretches along the sea shore and stretches along clifftops; this one mixed both, with two or three roller-coaster descents from clifftop to beach level then up again the other side.

The Coastal Footpath website describes this stretch as "stunning" but also "dizzying". Rogers says parts may not be recommended for small children. We see what they mean - we were not dizzy or intimidated but we wouldn't like to have done this stretch in winter or when wet underfoot (and we have done parts of the footpath in much worse weather).

At Porth Padrig we took the beach option (permissive path in red on Coastal Footpath sheet 2). This rather obviously was tidal and the way up at the other end was steep but short.

Rogers (page 53) refers to a "well-defined footpath". It wasn't at all well-defined on 4 June and we followed a more obvious track to the left and had to double back.

The guidebooks don't mention that this takes you past the Llanbadrig Vineyard.

All in all, this was an excellent walk, both because it is one of the more dramatic parts of the coastal path, and because we happened to choose the ideal day for it.

Porth Amlwch - Porth Eilian

We did this walk on Bank Holiday Monday, 30 May 2006. The weather was not ideal. The forecast had suggested some showers but there was a hint that the north coast could be clearer. It began to drizzle as we arrived at Porth Amlwch and it continued all the way, although it was mild.

The walk took us from Porth Amlwch to Porth Eilian along the coastal footpath, then back inland - more or less Rogers Volume 2 Walk 5 in reverse.

This was a fairly gentle walk. The drizzle didn't help comfort or visibility; as we approached Point Lynas its foghorn grew louder.

On the beach at Porth Eilian there is a small cave, just big enough to shelter from the rain and eat our picnic. Public toilets just above the beach were open and very clean.

There's a lot to see at Porth Amlwch. We had thought we might, at the end of the walk, call at the Amlwch Heritage Centre for a coffee and cake, but we were a little too damp by then. This will wait for another day.

References: Maps and Guides

This blog will refer to the maps and guides we are using.

We usually take the Ordnance Survey maps, for a more detailed picture of where we are, and in case we really get lost:

Explorer 262 Anglesey West/Gorllewin Ynys Mon
Explorer 263 Anglesey East/ Dwyrain Ynys Mon

But for many walks it is simpler to follow a guide. We are using

Coastal Walks Around Anglesey, Volume 1, by Carl Rogers, Mara Books, ISBN 0 9522409 6 3
(ours is the May 2004 edition) [We'll call this Rogers Volume 1]

Coastal Walks Around Anglesey, Volume 2, by Carl Rogers, Mara Books, ISBN 0 9522409 5 5
(March 2006 edition) [Rogers Volume 2]

Best Tea Shop Walks on Lleyn & Anglesey, Dorothy Hamilton, Sigma Leisure, ISBN 1 850587248 [Hamilton Tea Shop Walks]

Circular Walks on Anglesey, Dorothy Hamilton, Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, ISBN 0 86381 478 6 [Hamilton Circular Walks]


The Anglesey Coast Footpath's Official Guide (ISBN 1 902512 13 8) is another book by Carl Rogers, this time covering the whole coastal path (anti-clockwise) and bilingually. This is probably better for reading up at home rather than taking along each time.

The laminated maps of the Coastal Footpath are invaluable. You can download these (or something similar) as pdf files from the coastal footpath website, but the hard copy laminated version (A4 size folded to A5) is just what you need in your pocket, and to hand when the wind is blowing and fingers cold. You could probably get by with these alone for most of the path - but they are only sketches and not as accurate as the OS map.

We have also picked a few other leaflets, including a series 'Circular Walks on the Isle of Anglesey, named after the Celtic Saints', published by Menter Mon.

The blog won't give away the detail of routes in the books: readers are expected to buy their own! But we will try to comment on their content as we go.

An Introduction

We decided to walk the Anglesey Coastal Footpath, but not all in one go or in any systematic way. In fact it all started off in doing one or two Sunday afternoon strolls, then realising it could all be part of something bigger. The "Tea Shop Walks" guide indicates the style of our beginning, but we bought one or two more maps and guides, and soon started colouring in the Coastal Footpath map for those stretches we had covered.

The Coastal Footpath is 125 miles long. Their website says you can do it in twelve ten-mile walks. This is not our style; we don't count ourselves as such serious walkers. But we do enjoy the scenery, the exercise and the relaxation of, say, four miles, perhaps little longer when we have the time and the energy. We are generally doing this in circular walks - so will have covered 250 miles by the end of it.

This blog came later (so we are going to have to write something up about what we did earlier). We will try to write up each new walk we do, with a note of the experiences, good and bad, for the benefit of other walkers and the amusement of our friends and family.