Wales Day 3 - 6 Anglesey

Saturday 25th - Monday 27th May 2019
Mileage - No motorhome miles, 10 walking miles and 70 🚴🚴 miles
Parking Co-ordinates 53.37675, -4.3917

At the mo we're parked up on Cae Ffynnon CS and this has been home for the last 4 nights (including tonight), but it isn't really what we'd have picked if we'd had any choice in the matter!!  To say the least it's very basic (only one loo and a scruffy rusty shower that costs a quid 😒), and to get anywhere it's either a long walk or a cycle ride.  However, because of the bank holiday it was Hobson's choice so we've just made the best of it, and the added bonus is it's provided us with lots of much needed exercise!   Fact :-  Anglesey claims to be flat but it you were to traverse all 125 miles of it's coastal path you would need to climb 13,695 feet and it's interior certainly offers similar challenges!

So what have we been up to??

On Saturday - A 38 mile 🚴🚴 ride  ☁☁☁⛅⛅⛅🌞🌞🌞

As usual we packed our picnic and set off with an ambitious plan to ride to South Stack which would have resulted in a 44 + mile round trip😰😰!  It was ambitious because we've hardly been on our bikes for the last 10 weeks, so to start again with something like that was probably biting off more than we could chew!! But in the end our plan was foiled anyway because the final part of the trip would have meant climbing up a very steep rough grassy track which was definitely well beyond my capabilities, especially as I would have had to push my bike up there as well. And not reaching our target didn't matter because it would have made it into a marathon instead of an enjoyable outing, and the part of the ride that we did do was lovely and quite informative.

To start with we aimed our bikes towards the Port at Holyhead, but to get there we needed to pass through the coastal Penrhos Park which apparently is fast becoming a strong hold for very elusive red squirrels.   It seems that around 1970 grey squirrels crossed the Menai Strait and rapidly out-competed the reds for food and also infected them with a deadly pox virus which decimated their numbers and resulted in there being only about 40 reds left by the 1980s.  However, nowadays they are thriving again and there numbers have rallied  because protected habitats have been provided so that they're now producing 2 litters of 'kittens' (the name for red babies) a year.

The Coast line and cycle way through Penrhos Park

After the park came Holyhead, but as you'd imagine on a bank holiday weekend it was heaving, and this was added to because there was some sort of military recruitment event taking place and part of the main coastal road was closed.  Therefore, we didn't linger but headed on towards Break Water Park which is centred on an old quarry and brick works that supplied materials to build the breakwater which is found along that part of the coast.

Break Water Park

The park provided us with a lovely dining room, but it was while we were there that we realised we weren't going to make it as far as South Stack because there seemed to be a bit of a mountain in our way!  Therefore, we decided to just sit and enjoy the tranquillity that was around us, and while we were doing that this little chap nestled down beside us and was quite happy to share our cake crumbs.

It was also at this point that we decided that we'd rolled quite far enough for one day so we turned our bikes around and started our homeward trek through parks and quite mostly traffic free lanes, and when we got there we were quite happy to sit on our lovely cushioned chairs instead of our bike saddles 😂😂😂

On Sunday - a 10 mile 👣👣toddle there and back to Cemaes Bay  ☁☁⛅⛅⛅🌞🌞🌞🌞

Can you spot the very brave (or maybe stupid) lady going for a dip!

Cemaes Bay is the most Northerly Village in Wales and had been our first choice for places to stay on Anglesey - but alas - there was no room at the Inn.  Therefore, our walk would take us there but because it was already a 10 miler we knew there would be no chance for us to walk further to explore some of the coastal path😞.  So because we knew we'd be stopping once we got into the hamlet we decided that rather than take a picnic  we'd treat ourselves to a pub lunch😀 - but that could have turned out to be a disappointment.  After a blustery walk we reached our goal and nipped into The Stag Inn (the most Northerly Pub in Wales) but only to be told that all they were serving were jacket spuds or sandwiches and the only choice of filling was either tuna or cheese!  So that was rejected and instead we thought we'd try Ye Olde Vigour Inn - but they weren't serving food at all and as these were the only 2 pubs in the village our pub lunch was scuppered.

However, in the end that turned out to be a good thing because we then nipped back up the road to the  Cemaes Heritage Centre which is also a cafe and indulged in a very delicious ploughman's lunch accompanied by a very nice pot of Earl Grey that pleased me greatly because it was served in China cups.
Then after our appetites had been sated we returned to a vantage point above the beach and sat and watched the world go by for a while, and also listed to the tuneful 'donging' of St Patrick's Bell


The Bell is part of a national project that has seen similar bells installed on different coastal sites all around the country. The first was installed at Appledore, Devon in 2009, the second on Bosta Beach in the Outer Hebrides in 2010, the third at Trinity Buoy Wharf London also in 2010, the firth is in Aberdyfi Wales in 2011, and Anglesey got the fifth in 2014.   And apparently part of the Lincolnshire coast may get the sixth one but it's exact location is still pending.   The rising water at high tide drives the clapper to strike the bell and the movement of the waves creates a gentle musical pattern.  Alternatively, if the tide is out (as it was today) you can get an impression of what it may sound like because numerous children (and a few adults) seem to delight in donging the clapper it as they pass by😂😂. 

After a peaceful half hour we decided it was time to start our stroll home and it was on this part of our outing that we met a crew of boisterous bollocks bullocks!

They'd started off at the top of a field but when they saw us they raced down in what almost looked like a stampede, and they only stopped by digging in their heels just before they reached the fence.  They looked really funny but we were very glad there was a wall and a fence between us and them!

And on Monday we 🚴🚴 again but this time only 32 miles !! ☁☁☁⛅⛅☂☂☂

The weather forecast for today was cloudy-ish to start and then rain after 3pm - and it was spot on!

Today's target was Nant-Y-Pandy, or in English The Dingle, which is a 40 acre wooded gorge that is bisected by the River Cefni.  It seems it was formed during the last ice age and is sometimes known as The Valley of the Deluge, but all it has now is a quite body of water running through it - and it seemed that the only deluge was likely to come from above.

Boardwalks that take you through parts of the Park

Our ride also took us past and around the Cefni Reservoir which provided  another great 'dining room', and also some lovely  shared walking and cycle tracks that circumnavigated the water.  And we were quite lucky because we just about managed to fit all we'd planned to do and get home before the first heavy drops began to fall!

The view from our dining spot!

Where's Wally 😂😂

Tomorrow (Tuesday 28th) we're going to move onto the Llyn Peninsula and we've firmly got our fingers crossed that the weather will be kind to us while we're there so that we can explore what promises to be another lovely part of the Welsh Coastline.

Bye for now 😙😙

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