A Bus Trip and Walk In Search of a Pebbly Beach 16th November 2024

Hope Mountain to the right of Hope's Place Farm. (Taken from the bus)

The entrance to Hawarden Castle. (Taken from the bus)

Looking towards Halkyn Mountain from the road in Bagillt. (Taken from the bus)

Holywell town centre. (Taken from the bus)

Still raining at Prestatyn Station. (Taken from the bus)

The entrance to Gwrych Castle. (Taken from the bus)

Cefn yr Ogof above the Valentine Inn at Llanddulas.
Llanddulas is the start of my walk today.

St. Cynbryd's Church, Llanddulas.

The rolling waves at Llanddulas beach.

More rolling waves at Llanddulas beach.

The Sun trying to put i an appearance over Cefn yr Ogof.

(taken from the Coastal Path next the Llanddulas Beach).

Great cormorants perched on the wooden groynes.

Even more rolling waves near Llanddulas beach.

The classic Great cormorant pose drying out its wing feathers.

One of the Pensarn Notice Boards.

Pensarn Beach looking towards Rhyl.

The Great Orme in the mist (taken from Pensarn Beach).

The pebbly beach I was looking for at Pensarn.

The main lake in Pentre Mawr Park, Abergele.

Ducks sheltering in the reeds in Pentre Mawr Park.

Gwrych Castle from Pensarn Railway Station Bridge.

The Foryd, Rhyl. (taken from the bus)

Walk stats: 5.0 miles. Climb: 200’,
Time: 1 hours 45 minutes. Overall Walk average: 2.8 m.p.h.
Temperature: About 10 Celsius
Beaufort Wind Force: Mainly 0-2. Mainly Calm /Light air, but did increase to a Light breeze long the Coast Path from Llanddulas to Pensarn.
Group: Martyn.
It was a very light rain for most of the outward journey as far as Llanddulas. Even at Llanddulas there was rain in he air, but never enough to make me use my umbrella.
Distant views weren’t that clear, although I could just about make out the Great Orme.
Birds seen or heard included: Carrion crow, Jackdaw, Great cormorant, Grey wagtail, Herring gull, Eurasian jay, Black billed magpie, Moorhen, Black headed gull, Mallard, Mute swan, Common blackbird, Shelduck, Oystercatcher, Pied wagtail and Woodpigeon
As forecast, the rain had stopped completely by about 12-15, although the Sun was only seen through the clouds.
Having successfully found the pebbles/stones I wanted, I decided to call in at the Central Hotel in Shotton where I enjoyed a Mixed Grill with a pint of Purple Moose’s Plum Porter before catching the 17-45 bus home.

Traeth Lavan and Its Foothills 5th October 2024.

 

Looking down over Abergwyngregyn.

Looking towards Penrhyn Castle and Anglesey.Looking over Abergwyngregyn  towards the Great Orme.

Panorama looking towards the coast as we joined the North Wales Path.

The northern Carneddau from the point where we joined the North Wales Path.

A delightful section of the North Wales Path.

Eryri's Mountains.

Eryri's Mountains.

Penrhyn Castle from Tal-y-bont

Sailing on the Menai Straights.

The Spinnies Nature Reserve from the main hide.

Not a good photo, but you can just make out the Little egrets roosting at high tide.

One of four Mute swans on the sea at Aber-Ogwen.

The wonderful sound of the sea.

The coastal panorama from Coed Gyfynys.

The view of the Great Orme (looking like an island) and the Little Orme as we approached Cwrtiau.

I may not look easier, but it's better than it was!

Part of the raft of Wigeon on the sea near Cwrtiau.

Walk stats: 8.9 miles. Climb: 1171
Time: 5 hours 30 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.4 m.p.h.
Overall Walk average: 1.6 m.p.h.

Temperature: 14.8 Celsius at the start, but mainly around 11.8 Celsius
Beaufort Wind Force: Mainly 0-2. Mainly Calm, but did rise to a 7.5 m.p.h. Light breeze at the highest point in the walk (around 950’).
Group: Martyn and Mike.
The weather forecast looked good, in fact it turned out to be a perfect day for walking., not too hot, not too cold, very little wind and lots of sunshine.
This is one of my favourite walks although only reaching an elevation of about 950’, it gives superb views towards Puffin Island, Anglesey and the Great Orme. You also get good views of Eryri, particularly the northern peaks of the Carneddau.
After visiting The Spinnies Nature Reserve, we had lunch at the Aber Ogwen picnic site, before continuing along the coastal path back to Abergwyngregyn
Even the difficult bit on the path where lots of rubble has been dumped, was easier today, with some rubble placed to make it easier to climb from the beach up to the access track.
Birds seen or heard included: Carrion crow, Jackdaw, Meadow pipit, Stonechat, Red billed chough, Woodpigeon, Common blackbird, Blue tit, Coal tit, Black billed magpie, Little egret, Moorhen, Common coot, Mallard, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Common redshank and Wigeon.
Overall, an enjoyable walk and capped with a visit to the Albion in Conwy, where Hafod Brewery’s Vanilla Stout went down well, as did the Gwynt-y-Draig’s Black Dragon cider.
Once again, home earlier enough to clean my boots outside and remove the evidence that we had been walking in sheep country!

Carnarfon, St. Baglan’s Church and the Welsh Highland Railway 7th September 2024

Looking north eastward towards the Victoria Dock Car Park.

Victoria Dock, Caernarfon.

Victoria Dock, Caernarfon.

Aber Bridge and Caernarfon Castle.

View inland from the folly.

The folly, now serving a communications tower.

Roadside information about the next part of our walk.

The view looking back towards Caernarfon.

Turnstones foraging along the tide line.

One of many Turnstones seen today.

One boat heading for Caernarfon and one boat leaving.

Mynydd Mawr in mist.

A Little egret on the edge of the pond.

A Grey heron on the edge of the pond.

St. Baglan's Church in the trees.

Inside St. Baglan's Church

The Lord's Prayer displayed Inside St. Baglan's Church

Inside St. Baglan's Church

The view towards Mynydd Mawr from our lunch spot

St. Baglan's Church from our lunch pot.

A different view of St. Baglan's Church.

St. Gwyndaf's Church, Dinas, Llanwnda.

The well restored Castell Caernarfon at Dinas Station.

Large bindweed near the Welsh Highland Railway Track.

The WHR Caernarfon to Portmadog Train passing through.

The WHR Caernarfon to Portmadog Train passing through.

Another view of Caernarfon Castle.

The end of our path.

The original Shire Hall, Caernarfon.

The Aber Bridge opens.

One boat passes through the Aber Bridge, heading out to sea.

Walk stats: 10.2 miles. Climb: 525’.
Time: 5 hours 11 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.6 m.p.h. Overall Walk average: 2.0 m.p.h.
Temperature: 17.2 Celsius to 22.2 Celsius.
Beaufort Wind Force: Mainly 0 - 1. Calm to light air
Group: Martyn and Ed.
The forecast for today was pretty good, with no rain, little wind and a temperature of about 22 Celsius throughout. The one downside was the forecast suggested the feel like temperature would be higher than the ambient temperature. This is a good indication that it is likely to feel rather humid. They were right, so we tried to mitigate the humidity by taking the road next to the to sea. Alas very little wind was coming off the sea.
Distant views were very misty. In fact, Mynydd Mawr never cleared all day.
Lunch was taken in the grounds of St. Baglan’s Church, where we used a bench that gave us views towards Mynydd Mawr.
After lunch, we opted to return to the road, rather than cut the corner by continuing on the footpath from the church.
It was on the only off-road path we took, that we encountered a very boggy section, justifying the wearing of good leather walking boots that kept our feet dry.
We joined the Welsh Highland Railway Path at Dinas, which we followed back to Caernarfon.
We were lucky enough to see the Welsh Highland Railway train pass us on the way to Portmadog.
Another bonus was seeing the bridge at Caernarfon Castle, swing open and allow a boat out.
Birds seen or heard today were but included: Woodpigeon, House sparrow, Common buzzard, Black billed magpie Carrion crow, Raven, Common blackbird, Herring gull, Great cormorant, Oystercatcher, Black headed gull, Little egret, Grey heron, Jackdaw, Mute swan and Turnstone.
We arrived back at the car, having had an interesting 10-mile walk, but glad to remove our boots and let our feet cool down.
All that was needed now, was a cool refreshing drink, but that will have to wait until we get home!