Clicking The Kilometres

It seemed a surprisingly steep climb up the country lane. The only good thing to say about it was that once the height was gained, the walk then levelled out on the section to the town of Menai. I have to confess it wasn’t the most inspiring section that I’ve completed on the Anglesey Coastal Path. Maybe it was the dreariness of the rain. The fact that the mist prevented me from getting any long range views might have also contributed. Either way, it was a case of retreating into the hood of my anorak and clicking the kilometres. I left the country lane out of Beaumaris and headed through an area of gorse and grass for a while. This then met up with another country lane and I started following that. For a bit more excitement, the single track road turned into a double lane road. A pavement was eventually provided as I passed more houses and the road serviced more traffic. The views were more open over the fields to my left, but all I could see was mist. Gradually the road started to descend, until finally there was a steep drop back to a junction with the main coastal road. 

Menai

I followed the pavement alongside the busy main road. Occasionally, I would get views of the Menai Strait, but the far side was still masked by mist. Just as I reached the north end of the main high street of Menai, a fingerpost directed me down a side street. It was good to get away from the noise of the busy road. The direction signs led me through narrow streets and then the impressive sight of the Menai Bridge came into view. The mist actually made the structure look even more impressive. I’d driven across it on my way to Beaumaris this morning and was surprised how narrow the lanes were through the towers. I suppose Thomas Telford hadn’t the foresight to adjust his designs to accommodate for the width of transport centuries into the future. There was a viewing area at the base of the bridge with a stone that had been laid on the 10th of August 1819 to commemorate the start of the construction of the bridge. Looking up at the deck, 30 metres above me, the bridge was a remarkable achievement given the technology of their time. The towers soar 16 metres higher above the deck. 

Anglesey Coastal Path Venture Completion

I followed the coast on what seemed like a promenade. In fact it was a promenade; a Belgian one too. It was built by Belgian refugees who fled the Great War in 1916 and made their new home in Menai. To thank the local people, they built this promenade. It had to have significant repairs in the 1960s, but is still going strong. It offered great views back to the Menai bridge and also down the Strait to the Britannia Bridge. In the foreground though was an island that accommodated a large number of graves with a tiny church squeezed in too. Somebody had come up with a name for the place as Church Island, which gets 10 out of 10 for imagination. It could be reached along a causeway. The old causeway to the island could just be seen. An information board said that the old causeway could be flooded given a high tide and inappropriate winds and so in its earliest days the church used to employ a youngster to keep an eye on it as the locals attended the service in the church. The lad would then raise an alarm so that the churchgoers wouldn’t get stranded, if he thought the causeway would be covered. I walked around the small island and up to the remembrance memorial on its central hill. There would have been a good view from there to the Britannia Bridge if it hadn’t been so misty. I retreated back to the mainland and continued my journey along the coast. 

The path ascended back up to the busy main road and a dreary pavement plod took me to a fingerpost that diverted me back down to the coast again. I could see the finish line now. When I reached the coast again I found a small bird hide that had a superb view over to Church Island, with the Menai Bridge beyond. I don’t think I’ve been in a hide with a better view. There were plenty of birds to view too. I continued walking for a few hundred metres down the coast until I reached my turnaround point and the completion of my Anglesey Coastal Path Venture. It was at a junction with another footpath that descended from a carpark along the main road. I did think about extending my walk up to a more significant spot under the piers of the Britannia Bridge, but on a rainy and misty day like this I didn’t really see much point. I therefore spent a moment of reflection on my magnificent journey around the coast of Anglesey and then started my return to Beaumaris. 

Return

I stopped for a break at Church Island. As I sat down on a bench and munched on a soggy hot cross bun, the rain became heavier. The Britannia Bridge almost disappeared from view. A Herring Gull landed on a wall and watched me eat my bun. The rain continued as I made my way under the Menai Bridge and through the back streets of the town. I climbed back up to the top of the broad ridge of the hill that would take me back to Beaumaris. As I walked back along this section of road, I met a walker coming the other way and we stopped for a chat. He turned out to be a Canadian who was also just completing the Anglesey Coastal Path. He was over in the UK for 80 days and had actually started his walk from Chester. I wished him better weather for the rest of his walk. The mist was gradually clearing now, at least from above the strait and from the lower hills on the mainland. This revealed Bangor Pier that stretched out quite a way into the strait. I never realised that Bangor even had a pier. I was actually staying in Bangor for this campaign. I’ve found it quite an unusual place. I’ve driven down plenty of its roads without ever feeling that I was getting any closer to its centre. I intended walking the coast on the other side of the strait tomorrow and so maybe that would provide me with a better feel for the place. I walked through the wilder ‘gorse bush’ stretch again before reaching the country lane that would take me down to Beaumaris. The rain had finally stopped now, although it was still grey and gloomy. There were quite a few tourists pottering along the main street in the town. The town is a twee place with its fair share of antique shops and galleries. I approached the castle from its southern end  and found that this side had a moat. I joined the other tight-arsed tourists who weren't prepared to pay to take a tour of the grounds, and pushed my camera through the security railings to get a photo. The day was brightening up as I reached my car in the carpark. Perfect timing.

So, that is it. The Anglesey Coastal Path Venture is now complete. It has been a wonderful journey and I feel a little sad at finishing it. The sheer variety of landscape had made it incredibly interesting. I do need to move on to other Ventures now though. I'm sure that someday, I’ll return and revisit its magnificent coastline.