Lost Path

An Anglesey Coast Path fingerpost on the east side of the embankment pointed to the beach and I dutifully followed it. This area of the bay has extensive mudflats and many waders were having their breakfast. Valley village is along this section of the coast. It's a curious name for a village since the only visible mountain is Hollyhead Mountain far over in the west. The houses alongside the coast had backgardens stretching to the high embankment above the beach. Some of the residents had built steps down from their gardens to the beach and it wasn't actually clear where the Wales/Anglesey Coast Past came off the beach and up into the village. The beach got more stony and I had the feeling I'd missed the path off the beach. In the end I retraced my steps and found an unsigned path that led into the village. The rain had started halfway across the Stanley Embankment and it turned up a notch as I walked through the village. 

Afon Alaw

After the village, the coast path doesn't follow the coast anymore. It takes a long diversion inland in order to get over the Afon Alaw that runs into the bay. This is a bit frustrating in that it must be a three to four mile detour to make half a mile's progress along the coast. It has many mudflats and the area was rich with wildlife. It was a shame I'd not brought my long lens since it was an ideal place to photograph birds. It was a bit of a relief when I reached the elegant footbridge that deposited me on to the other side of the river. I started making my way back towards the coast. The land was much more open on this side giving me better views. About 20 cows joined me at one point, but luckily they were on the other side of a fence. There were plenty of lambs about. I'm not sure of their breed; the lambs had beige coloured wool at the back of their necks and on their feet. At last I reached the coast again and I set off along the beach. 

Traeth Y Gribin

The mud flats were really quite extensive. I could see somebody walking their dogs possibly half a mile out in the bay. Beyond them I could see a ferry in Holyhead harbour, overlooked by the ever present Holyhead mountain. I was seeing more people now. The locals obviously knew where there was some roadside parking for easy access to the beach. Somebody had actually driven off the road on to the beach itself and parked up. As I came off the beach at Penial Dowyn, I crossed paths with an elderly couple and we started to chat. The husband was English and his wife was from Anglesey. He'd completed the Anglesey Coast Path and he recommended the section at Camaes. I told him I was up on Holyhead mountain yesterday and visited South Stack and North Stack. He said that he found it easy to lose his way on the mountain and I told him about how I got disorientated at one particular point. He said that he believed an artist lived, or used to live in the building at North Stack. He said that the artist had a Landrover and I told him I saw it there yesterday. We both couldn't understand how the car could be driven down to that point. Eventually they departed down the beach. The man had had a large bloody lump on the top of his head. I silently wished him luck. 

Penrhyn

A woman was putting the finishing touches to a new wooden swing gate into a field at Penial Dowyn. From my limited experience of Welsh coastal walking, their paths seem better maintained and signed than those in England. On my earlier stretch along the river there had even been long stretches of board walking so that I didn't have to get my feet muddy. The path took a short cut over some fields to the small, pretty bay at Penrhyn. There were a few holiday caravans here and I settled down on a bench to have my lunch. Housemartins swooped and swerved above the seaweed hoovering up all the midges. Keep it up, lads! Over at Hollyhead I could see a ferry starting out on its journey to Ireland. The sun was out now and it had turned into a warm day. My walk was an out-and-back and so I set off on the return journey. 

RAF Anglesey

The RAF have an airfield on Anglesey. Some of the jets and helicopters that I've seen in the Lake District, set off from here. During the afternoon, the sky was busy with jets. Some would head off over the Irish Sea and others just seemed to do circles around the location of their airfield. There was also an occasional boom and I presumed these were sonic. In the morning I'd seen a C130 practice multiple landings. It would fly in over Holyhead and drop down to the airfield before turning and flying over me. It would then repeat it all over again. A helicopter also kept hovering over the harbour and making a circular route over Holyhead. Yesterday, I'd walked past a Search And Rescue command post and I guessed that it might be part of that organistion. 

Return To Penrhos

The inland detour along the river didn't seem to taken as long as this morning. Maybe that was because I was walking in sunshine, rather than rain. Near to where the river reaches the bay, I saw a large sign near to the river. It said 'No Fishing. No Shooting. No Loitering.' I could understand the first two restrictions, but struggled with the third. As I was taking the photo of the sign I half expected to come up behind me, tap me on the shoulder, and say that I was loitering. Although, maybe I was lingering rather than loitering? Is loitering more or less the same as lingering, but with mal intent? I wasn't sure. I didn't want to leave the decision to a jury and so I quickly got on my way. In the Valley village I managed to find an easier alternative path that took me to the Stanley Embankment via a field, rather than the beach. The carpark at Penrhos Country Park was full when I returned. Looking out over the bay I could pick out Penrhyn, the place where I'd had my lunch. It didn't seem that far away. 

Although the inland detour of the river seemed a bit of a chore, I had enjoyed the walk today. I wish I'd taken my binoculars and long lens for my camera so that I could have got a closer look at the birds. The aircraft and ferry activities also kept things interesting.