Monday 24th January 2022

Today was billed to be a 15 mile walk but it now seemed likely that I might be travelling down to London with our son on Sunday afternoon to help with some joinery jobs at his new house in London. Jill felt it would be good to reduce Saturday’s planned 17.6 mile walk as much as possible (since we intend driving home the same day) so that we would not be so late getting home and would have time to unpack and reorganise things for my trip south. 15 miles would get us to LLandudno but tomorrow’s walk would start with a five mile loop around Great Orme’s Head; if we could tag that on to the end of today’s walk we could roll over the miles to significantly reduce the length of Saturday’s walk. So that became the plan.

We left Caernarfon after getting sandwiches and a paper at the Morrisons next to the Premier Inn. We drove to Abergwyngregyn, left the car in the car park next to the bus stop and walked back down to the coast path. After a very short time there was a “Footpath closed” sign but a local dog walker reassured us that although the tarmac path had been washed away, there was plenty of space to walk around. As we arrived at the closure we saw workmen arriving to start work on repairing the path. 

Soon we came to Llanfairfechan where we walked along the seafront but went nowhere near the village itself. Leaving the front, the main A55 expressway and the mainline railway converge on the footpath as they all squeeze round the end of the mountain Penmaen Mawr.

In  fact the westbound carriageway goes through a tunnel whilst the footpath goes along an elevated bridge and round the end of the rocky outcrop. Roadworks meant that traffic in both directions were currently sharing the tunnel.

After that the path goes back under the Expressway to the Penmaemmawr promenade. In theory we could have walked along the beach but there is a wide, shingle ridge before one can get to the sand. Also once on the sands there are few options for getting off again as far as I could see from the map. The mainline railway runs along the top of the beach making a very effective barrier. So we walked along the promenade and then the cycle path next to the A55. As it turned out there was a bridge under the railway line near the end of the beach but it is not shown on the map. We then came to Penmaen-bach, a mountain extending right up to the coast. Here both carriageways of the North Wales Expressway go through tunnels as does the railway line. The cycle path uses the old road and squeezes through a cutting in the rock. It was eerily quiet with the noise of the traffic lost inside the tunnel.

Once round the headland the path follows the the edge of the beach along the promenade. Where the promenade ends we took to damp sand on the beach to follow round Morfa Conwy.

We then walked around Conwy marina and over the A55 as it dives into the tunnel under the River Conwy. We continued into Conwy itself and crossed the river by the road bridge.

The path followed along the estuary of the R Conwy from Llandudno Junction. A couple of miles and we were coming into Llandudno. Llandudno sits across a peninsula with the west end facing onto Conwy Bay. We then walked around Great Orme’s Head. There is a oneway road around the headland.

It really is quite an impressive headland with the road winding around the headland with views into the little coves at the base of the cliffs. At the tip of the headland there is a an old lighthouse and is now a B&B. There is also a café there called “Rest and be Thankful”. We had been reassured by a chatty dog walker that the café would be open because it is even open on Christmas day. Needless to say it had closed by the time we went past. This is Wales.

The road drops down to the impressive seafront at Llandudno. We walked into the town to find the bus stop. There are frequent buses back to Bangor though the bus we got was very slow because it was packed full with standing room only. Then there were roadworks and so it took over an hour to get to Abergwyngregyn. We had got cold in the bus and were glad to get in the car and warm up as we drove back to the Travelodge at Llandudno.

Sunday 23rd January 2022

We packed up from our not-very-special AirBnB, drove to Caernarfon and parked in the car park across the road from the Premier Inn where we are staying tonight.

We set off along the path which is a cycle track along the former railway line. I warned Jill that we were in for another day of tarmac walking for the most part. After following parallel with the A487, the path then returned to the coast and followed through to Y Felinheli where there is a small harbour and marina. We crossed the lift bridge, and I expected we would need to turn inland to get around the Vaynols estate as this is what was shown on the most recent OS maps. I had scanned satellite images and thought there was a possibility of getting through the estate – all except for getting into Vaynols at Y Felinheli. I had even Googled to see if anyone had posted a walking route through but there was nothing I could find. To my delight, the way markers directed us in a different direction and we passed through a small side gate of a lodge cottage and into the Vaynols where a newly-made gravel path took us through the estate. Not only was this a much nicer walk than skirting round the estate on roads but it saved us probably 3/4 mile in distance.

The path followed the the banks of the Menai straits right through to the Britannia Bridge over the Menai straits. There were even one or two elevated benches so walkers could see over the wall to the Menai Straits.

The National Trust seem over sensitive about their liability as numerous signs warned us about possible vehicles on the track – or twigs on the path.

The Britannia Bridge was built by Robert Stephenson using box girder construction and opened in 1846 to carry the railway. The Menai Suspension Bridge preceded it by twenty years but was solely a road bridge. Following a fire in 1972, the Britannia Bridge was effectively rebuilt but with a deck for roadway incorporated into the structure.

Leaving the bridges behind, we walked on to Garth taking the high tide route because the tide was in. At Garth there is the very traditional pier.

Further round we stopped at Porth Penrhyn and had our sandwiches sitting on an old beam on the quayside.

Although Penrhyn Castle is a National Trust property there is no access from North Penrhyn and I did not think there was any way to sneak through. The official path follows the old railway line and we started along that route but then climbed a bank and clambered over a wall to get on to the A5 road which saved us a mile or so and kept closer to the coast. The A5 has a pavement and so it is quite safe.

Eventually we regained the coast at Aber Ogwen and followed it for about three miles to Abergwyngregyn where we left the coast and walked into the village to catch the bus to Caernarfon.                

Saturday 22nd January 2022

Today was destined to be about 18.5 miles. A day’s walk often turns out to be longer than scheduled as I plot the route with a series of short, straight lines whereas in reality there are always a few curves and wiggles in the path which add to the total. Today’s walk also turned out to be longer because we extended it to finish at the doors of the Premier Inn from where we will start tomorrow. The weather was dry with high cloud, mild but dull. This was well-matched to the day’s walk which was also dull, extremely dull and it was an effort to find anything worth photographing.

We drove to Trefor and walked back down to the coast. The first two miles were pleasant enough as the path along the coast looped around the village of Trefor returning to the road on the far side of the village.

We then walked about a mile up from the top of the village to the A499. We turned left to begin the very tedious 5.5 miles along the road on a cycle track. It was straight with no surprise views and with enough traffic to forestall any conversation.

The only relief to the tedium was provided by calling in a filling station services to use the loos. However, we were informed apologetically that the loos were closed for cleaning for an indeterminate time. Apparently Covid rules mean they must clean the toilets twice a day. Do the Welsh really breathe through their anuses. Have they still not accepted that Covid is a respiratory virus?

We also saw a large buzzard.

We then turned off the A499 onto a road to Dinas Dinlle. Here there were toilets and they were open. There were a lot of cars parked along the seafront with lots of family groups and dog-walkers out and about so we were surprised to find that of the numerous cafés, only one was actually open. It was a cold, windy and damp day and there were plenty of folk looking to find a snack or meal inside, away from the elements. We went into the one that was open which was light, spacious and airy and had some wonderful food arrayed on the counter. Spacious as it was, they were unable to offer us a table as the last socially-distanced table (for four) had just been taken by the solitary man who arrived just before us. There was a huge entrance room with one table which was in use but there were a couple of chairs stacked in one corner. We asked if we could sit on those (socially-distanced of course) and have coffee and cake. Both were very good (coffee and cake not the chairs) and it was good to be inside in the warm.

I was pleased and somewhat relieved to see that we had been averaging 3.2 mph over the last 2.5 hours.

We then walked the length of what passes as a promenade but has certainly suffered from the destructive forces of the sea. Caernarfon Airport was the next highlight of the day – we did see a couple of light aircraft and the air ambulance. Then we had about half a mile relief from the day’s endless tarmac by walking on the turf of the sea wall only to then return to tarmac for the remainder of the day.

We sat on a bench by the roadside for a latish lunch and then continued walking along the road which skirted inland to avoid a water course and followed a pretty dreary bit of coastline into Caernarfon.

Jill noted on the way that had we not stopped so long for lunch (we only had 20 minutes) we could have made the 15:40 bus. I said that we would not make it now and to just enjoy the walk as best we could. The road wound round the coastal margin and past Caernarfon Golf Club and then came to the swing bridge across the river into Carnaerfon which leads straight into the castle. As we crossed the bridge I noted the time was 15:42 so we had indeed missed the bus by a couple of minutes though in truth it would have taken at least another five minutes to find the bus station and the bus stand.

Instead we walked on along the town walls until we came to the Premier Inn. as that means that tomorrow we can drive straight to the Premier Inn car park and start walking on from there. There was a general lack of any cafés or tea rooms open (we are getting used to this in Wales) and so we “slummed” it on a Costa and then got the 16:40 bus to Trefor.

Friday 21st January 2022

Today we were driving back to resume the walk at Tudweilliog and so we were able to leave a little later. The drive was only 20 mins and we parked by the village store and walked back to the coast path. Immediately we noted that there was an absence of cattle and the path was relatively firm and dry. There were still some ups and downs but even these were much easier and there had been recent work to repair the steps and footbridges which was greatly appreciated. I was acutely aware that we had another long day which ends with a climb through the mountains ascending to over 1000’ and I had no idea how hard the terrain would be.

Walking along the low cliffs we could see seals resting on the beach. There was a seal-viewing area signposted a little further along so this small beach must be one of their regular spots – we realised we had seen very few seals elsewhere on this stretch of the coast and wondered what made this particular beach so favoured.

Now our sights were set on Morfa Nefyn, a prominent headland, largely a golf course. It has a modern lighthouse at its tip.

On the north side is the Nefyn Bay with a handful of buildings including a pub that had been recommended to us as a good place to stop but we were on too tight a schedule for a leisurely morning stop and it didn’t seem to be open.

As we came to Morfa Nefyn (village) there was a bench and table in the NT carpark and so we settled there for our coffee stop.  There was a path closure sign but it only required a very short diversion to get back to the coast path. The path now was a compressed stone chipping path along the low cliff top and so we made good progress and were managing almost 2.5 mph. At Nefyn the path turns inland and past the Llyn Maritime Museum which was closed for essential work. The path then meandered through farmland and old quarries  before crossing the B4417 and along Gwylfa to Penrhyn Glas headland where there is a large old quarry.

We stopped and sat on a couple of rocks out of the wind and ate our lunch. The path climbed above a quarry before descending through Gallt y Bwich and indeed descended all the way to the old jetty for the former quarry at Nant Gwrtheyrn where there was herd of goats grazing. Here there is a heritage centre preserving the history of quarrying here.

There is a remarkable square of former quarrymen’s cottages.  To our surprise the café was open but, having just eaten our sandwiches, we did not bother to go in.

From the heritage centre a tarmac road zig zags up the mountain side through the forest which has recently been ravaged by storm Arwen. From our lunchtime stop we had surveyed the mountainside and could see a variety of possible routes we thought might take us over to Trefor – it was hard to believe that this tarmac road was really the only possible route out of the valley but it maybe it was the only safe route avoiding the extensive quarries. It was a very tedious climb.

At the top we came to a car park and the public road. Here we turned left on an old quarry track which climbed gently to just over 350m (1150 feet) .

The path then started to descend. We nearly missed the turn off the track onto a footpath. I think the way marker has probably been removed. Once on the path it was an easy path to follow down the hillside with views over the village of Trefor, our destination. Near the bottom there were a couple of goats in the road but as we approached they nimbly disappeared into an adjacent field.

We arrived in Trefor about an hour before our bus was due at 17:15. We called in to the village shop which has a drinks machine since there was no café. We also bought some food for supper and sandwiches. We then went to  the bus stop. bustimes.org said the bus would stop outside Capel Gosen but there was no timetable and indeed no stop sign there though there was a stop a little way down the road on the opposite side. Having a hailed a No.12 bus I was informed that the No.14 bus I wanted would appear soon in the opposite direction. Fortunately the the bus did arrive. It appears it is a bit of a special and just goes from Trefor to Tudweilliog. We climbed aboard and paid £2.30  each and we were the only passengers all the way to Tudweilliog where we retrieved the car and drove back to Pwllheli.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Thursday 20th January 2022

Yesterday we had a late finish and this morning we had an early start. The bus back to Aberdaron from Pwllheli is timetabled  for 7:05 so we set our alarms for 5.45 and left our flat at 6.40 to get to the bus station. We were the only passengers. The bus drove all the way without a single stop and we arrived back outside the Spar shop in Aberdaron at 07:40.

From the Spar shop we walked a couple of hundred yards up the hill through the village using our headtorches to make us more visible on the narrow road; being the middle of January, it was still quite dark with just the first rays of light showing themselves on the horizon. As we turned onto the clifftop path, the light in the sky grew quite dramatically and in no time at all the visibility was so good we did not need our head torches.

The sun was rising in the south east and we were walking south to SSW and so at times we were blinded by the brilliant sun as it rose above the horizon. The “golden hour” of early morning light was accentuated by the steely grey skies. The path was quite pleasant, a single track through grass, heather and gorse. A farmer passed us in his Landrover, presumably checking on his sheep. He was leaning on his open window so we called “Good morning” but received no response.

There are a number of little coves. We came to the tip of the Pen y cil headland where there appeared to be some very strong currents around Carreg Dhu, a rock sticking up just beyond the headland.

There were one or two more coves or bays before the path turns NNE and climbs Myndd Mawr about 160 m high, where there is an old gun emplacement. From there we could see across to Bardsey Island with some cottages and a lighthouse. The lighthouse is the tallest, square-built lighthouse in the UK. It was the site of a monastery and was an important destination of pilgrimage.

That was the first of three big climbs. Descending the far side, views of the north of the Lynn peninsula opened before us.

The path was easy to follow but often uneven and undulating over the rocky terrain. Checking our strike rate, I was a little alarmed that we were only going at about 2mph and we have about 20miles in total and a bus to catch at 16:05.  In fairness, Jill had told me she would find such an early start difficult and had suggested a taxi to the start, giving her perhaps an extra 30 minutes in bed – but taxis are difficult to find on a weekday morning when they are usually contracted to school-runs and Jill agreed that paying an extra £45 for a 30 minute later start was hard to justify especially as we probably needed the early start to finish before nightfall.

At 11:00 we were ready for a rest and so we sat on a bank to have coffee and a sandwich.  The going continued in much the same vein. We climbed two more high points and after that our speed was still depressing low. We decided to push on hard; if we could managed 2.5 mph we could still make the bus. Two hours later we were still not managing much over 2mph. It was now 14:00 and I decided to try and book a taxi and was relieved when the taxi driver said he could meet us at Towyn at about 17:30.

The pressure was now off and so we settled onto a white painted bench and had a late lunch.

At one point on the narrow path a flock of sheep were grazing and seemed disinclined to get out of the way and preceded us along the path for some distance.

After lunch we continued but the path remained difficult to walk fast on. The path wound round little coves and up and down into others. It tended to be quite muddy and so we could never establish a good walking rhythm.

At Porth Colman we came to sign saying the path was closed. This was a problem because there was no diversion posted. I noticed that on the map there is a path back to the coast path that rejoined about 1/4 mile further on up the road so we followed this route but soon after that found another “Footpath closed” sign. I decided to follow the path to see why it was closed, hoping we could divert around any obstruction. I told Jill to wait but she followed on and at first we both thought the minor collapse of the turf below the path within a few yards of the sign was the reason for the closure and that really wasn’t a problem.

In fact the what had closed the path was a section about quarter of a mile further on going down onto a beach. One side of the steps had fallen away and some steps had disappeared. The stone steps slightly lower down were visible and intact. Jill was keen to try and get down to them rather than have to retrace our steps back to the original closure sign with the prospect of a long diversion. There was a drop of about 2m off a bank which had partly fallen away but using her poles for stability and sliding on her bottom, Jill reached the remaining steps without problem.

I followed, aware we still had to get back up off the beach further along. Reassuringly, as soon as we began walking away from the collapsed steps, we could see the intact steps leading up providing an exit at the far end. Even more reassuringly we had to clamber over the stack of fish boxes and empty plastic drums that had been placed against the stile to stop people going through – the “Footpath Closed” sign facing the other way meant we had reached the end of the closed section.

Though we had saved ourselves having to backtrack and find an alternative route, we had nonetheless lost yet more time and the light was beginning to fail. The next half mile or so proved even slower as the path had been badly churned up by cattle with remnant narrow banks of angled turf separating deep muddy trenches.

So once again it was impossible to walk fast and we slithered and slid our way round the track. Eventually we reached Towyn just before 17:00 and stopped by the farm shop there and waited for the taxi. The taxi arrived a few minutes early and we were back at Pwllheli before 18:00.

We were both very tired and, reflecting on the day’s walk, I realised that it was the first day possibly since we started this venture that we have walked for a whole day with no hard surfaces whether tracks, roads or promenades and no sandy beaches. It was entirely on rocky paths or soft turf or fields churned to mud by cattle; there were lots of ups and downs to cross streams and combs. No wonder we felt tired.

Wednesday 19th January 2022

We had another early getaway to catch the 07:40 bus to Abersoch. We knew we had quite a long walk with the return being by an infrequent bus from Aberdaron. The cloud was down and it was dark and dank and the bus had its windscreen wipers going. This was not quite what the Met Office weather forecast had led us to believe. It is a great pity the Welsh bus companies do not routinely wash the side windows on their buses as, yet again, it was almost impossible to see out through the grime.

We set off through the golf course and then along the cliff path past the settlement of Machroes to the headland at Trwyn yr Wylfa.

The two islands of St. Tudwal’s East and St. Tudwal’s West came into close view. St. Tudwal’s West has a lighthouse, the light from which we could see from the flat in Pwllheli. We later read that Bear Grylls has a house there.

On visiting the Trinity House website to find out more about the lighthouse, I was surprised to discover it was automated and de-manned long before it was electrified. The extract below is from the Trinity House website.

The site of the lighthouse was purchased by Trinity House in 1876 for the sum of £111, and the construction of the tower and dwellings completed the following year. In 1922 the light was converted to acetylene operation and was operated by means of a Sun Valve. This mechanism—invented by Swedish lighthouse engineer Gustaf Dalén—consists of an arrangement of reflective gold-plated copper bars supporting a suspended black rod; when lit by the sun the black rod absorbs the direct heat and that reflected from the other bars and expands downwards thereby cutting off the supply of gas.

Courtesy of the Trinity House Website

By then the rain had stopped, the cloud was lifting and the sun was beginning to show. We walked above the beach at Porth Ceiriad where a number of surfers were out enjoying the early morning sunshine.

The coast path climbs away from the path down to the beach to loop round the Myndd Cilan peninsula. It was all very pleasant cliff scenery and the walking was undulating but firm though the wind on the headland negated the benefit of the sun.

Roughly as I had hoped, we were approaching the big bay called “Hell’s Mouth” by about 11:00. The official coast path takes a slightly erratic route across farmland since there is no right of way along the cliff top.

From the map I knew that the mean high water mark was right along the cliff base (but one never knows if the waves are just lapping gently on the sand at the base of the cliff or are breaking against the mud several metres up the cliff) and so I was far from certain that even two hours after high tide we would find clear beach to walk all the way. As we approached the bay, I scanned the beach with binoculars from the cliffs before we dropped to the beach. The beach is three miles long and I could not get a clear view of the far end but it looked suspiciously as if the sea was still breaking at the base of the cliffs. Since there was no hurry and it was getting on to 11am we got down to the beach and sat on a log and had coffee and a sandwich.

We then moved off and decided to try the beach. It would be an hour before we got to the far end so the water would receded more in that time. The cliffs along the beach are steep, muddy affairs and there is no opportunity to get off the beach until the far end.  The walking was slightly harder than we expected. The beach had a camber and had sand of variable firmness and stoney areas as well. Ahead of us was a dog walker and well beyond her we could see, in the binoculars, a man making his way along the beach.

The dog walker turned back after a couple of miles and when I chatted to her she was uncertain if the beach was passable yet. We continued on our way and it it became apparent that the sea had retreated in the last 30 minutes or so and our passage was now clear.

The map shows a right of way off the beach at the far end. In practice the right of way starts with crossing some very wet, sticky mud and some kind person has strung a rope down the cliff to facilitate climbing up. Jill did not fancy this very much so we walked along the foreshore to Bryn Foulk, which has just a fisherman’s shed and the slipway for his boat. The bouldery traverse of the foreshore was tricky but easier than the cliff would have been.

As we climbed away from the shore we came cross a brand new, artistic wooden bench overlooking the bay and being about 13:15 it was a perfect lunch stop. The main interest at lunch was a bird of prey which looped around us. It had dark wings, a rufus underside and a distinctive broad white band at the base of its tail. It was smaller and more elegant than a marsh harrier. Usually we can get cameras out in time to at least take a snapshot to aid subsequent identification but our with our rucksacks on the ground, leaning against the back of the bench, we had to rely on simple observation aided by the bright sunshine. Subsequent research reveals that it was either a juvenile hen harrier or possibly a juvenile Montague’s harrier though that would have been a very rare sighting indeed.

After lunch we continued up the track to rejoin the official coast path and we delighted to find a new section of path which saved a farmland diversion and kept us closer to the coast. We walked out to the headland at Mynydd Penarfynydd. Though the sun was out the wind was blowing so hard we were getting cold, but the views were good.

At Llanfaelrhys the path descends to a combe to return to the coast and continues along along the clifftop. According to the the most recent digital OS mapping, the Wales Coast Path then leaves the coast going inland via Cadlan to follow a minor road much of the way into Aberadaron. I was blindly following the excellent way-marking and did not immediately notice that the path now stays on the coast longer than I expected; there is a new section of way-marked path that follows the clifftop right round Trwyn y Penrhn (see map below) and almost into Aberdaron except for the last half mile or so. Obviously following the irregular line of the coast did add a little to the distance.

Jill was very tired and cold by this time and so at about 16:15, I tried to ring for taxi  to save waiting in the cold for the 17:35 bus. The taxi man said he was not working and said the fare would probably be about £50.00. Trying to ring another taxi firm on the hoof was not a goer.

I waited until we got into Aberdaron by which time it was 16:40 and since any taxi would take at least 30 minutes to get to us it seemed better to put our sweaters on and wait for the bus. The bus stop is right by the Spar shop so I managed to buy a coffee and we got some bits to go with tomorrow’s  lunch. At 17:30 the bus arrived but we had to wait for another five minutes in the cold while the driver had a fag break in the carpark. We boarded and paid £2:80 each for Pwllheli. The bus did not have to stop at all on the way to Pwllheli so it was pretty much as good as a taxi but a lot cheaper.

Tuesday 18th January 2022

We were up early in order to get the 08:00 bus from Pwllheli to Llanstumdwy. While we were on the bus, the sunrise produced a really spectacular sky but sadly most of the colour had gone by the time we got off the bus and the remainder of the day was quite dull and overcast.

The journey only took about 20 minutes and so by 08:30 we were walking. The first 2.5 miles were along the A497 which seemed very busy, probably due to rush hour traffic because by 9:00 it was considerably quieter.

At Afon Wen the path turned south to get to the coast again. We followed the easy path immediately above the beach. After the Pen-y-chen headland, the path followed through low sand dunes with some ponies grazing the rough grass.

The path turned down onto the pebbly beach and we had 1/4 mile of hard walking until it became sandy again and we walked close to the receding tide. The official path turns inland at Abewrerch but I had already determined that it was possible to walk the beach except at high tide. By this time  we were an hour at least after high tide and with binoculars I could see that there was a narrow band of sand between the water and the massive stone sea defences. By the time we reached the pinch point there was 2-3 metres of clear sand.

Having been walking on a deserted beach for some time, we could see people appearing in ones and twos onto the distant beach and so we knew there was an easy way off. The day was a little overcast with a steady breeze but it was well above freezing point.

We came up to the road at the marina and walked up the side of the harbour and into Pwllheli. Jill said she was was very much in need of a break so, as we walked, I did a quick “Google” on cafés and found that we were about to pass “Buffers”, a café at the station. It was at the right place and at the right time for a couple of old buffers and so we went in for coffee and eccles cakes. We were not disappointed; there was very friendly service and a good menu though we were happy with just coffee and cake. The coffee was quite good, served in a large cup and was hot. We chatted to another couple there whose collie dog had been having a “conversation” with Jill. We were amused when they said they had got the dog from a local rabbit farm. Not a case of mistaken identity; the rabbit farm took any puppies that the local farmers thought were unlikely to make good working dogs and then re-homed them. Helpfully the couple were able to confirm that we should be able to walk Pwllheli’s second beach as far as Llanbedrog.

We moved on at about 11:45 and headed down the other side of the harbour to regain the beach but had to go up on to the clifftop path part way along as we couldn’t be sure that we could get round the headland with dry feet.

As soon as we could find a safe way down, we resumed walking along the beach to Llambedrog. I was expecting that we would need to follow the path on the map into the village to cross the small river and then ascend Mynydd Tir-y-cwmwd. However, the tide was out and the river low and was largely draining through the sand and so we could walk right across to the base of Mynydd Tir-y-cwmwd.

Just past the cottages on the seashore is a path that goes about 300′ directly up the side of the cliffs. There are some very steep steps (and we have done quite a few steps on our walk) with a useful handrail to help haul yourself up.

Once up there is a pleasant, rocky path around the headland.

There is no direct route down to the beach on the other side; one has to walk inland to get down to the road to the beach. Once on the beach we had a simple beach walk to Abersoch. It was tempting to try and walk along the margin of the sea and cross the river to walk on the sand around the headland. However, if we could not do it, it would have been a long walk back and so we stuck to the official path along the road into Abersoch. At about 15:15 we settled onto a bench and had a rather late lunch. Then we moved off to walk around the headland known locally as “Millionaires headland”. We headed up the tarmac road but it came to an end and there was lots of building work going on and much Heras fencing. It looked as if the footpath was closed and so we retraced our steps  and found a way round to where we wanted to be.  As we retraced our steps an elderly man was going up the path and we asked him about the closed path. He was surprised and said he would go and look. We carried on our way and got to a bus stop on the far side of Abersoch. Whilst we were waiting the elderly man reappeared having found his way round the correct route. Apparently there was narrow set of steps going down from where the path had apparently stopped.

We caught our bus back to  Pwllheli.

Monday 17th January 2022

We left home in North Yorkshire soon after 07:30 and drove to Porthmadog. We had a good journey and soon after 12:20 we were setting off from the car. We wasted a bit of time trying to find a copy of the Times without success.

The route left Porthmadog past the harbour which is mainly given over to pleasure vessels. We passed the attractive bays at Borth-y-Gest and sat on a bench looking out over the river estuary to eat our lunch.

Then we walked Black Rock Sands. Here there were two shallow streams to cross. Fortunately both were broken up by ridges of sand which meant we could step and jump across. The sands are a very large expanse of flat sand that cars can access and even in January there were a number of cars on the beach. It is the only beach I have come across that actually has speed limit signs.

The weather was amazingly good. The temperature was low and frost was still present everywhere that the sun had not reached. The air was still and the sun felt quite warm; we had already removed our sweaters.

Following the beach walk, we had to divert inland to get around a caravan park and the path then crosses to the landward side of the railway line which we followed into Criccieth. The path climbs to pass the castle on the landward side before returning to the coast.

The path was easy going until it turns in from the  coast along the banks of Afon Dwyfor. The path is very low lying and quite wet but there is a considerable length of board walk which saved us from getting wet feet. There is no safe crossing of Afon Dwyfor though there is probably a right of way across it. We turned inland to Llanstumdwy where we caught a bus at 16.20 back to Porthmadog. It seems odd to be quite so light at 16:40 as we got out of our boots at Porthmadog to drive to Pwllheli which will be our base for six days.

Tuesday 16th November 2021

Today is the last day of this walking session. We are a little ahead of schedule and so we are planning to walk to Porthmadog which is just shy of 12 miles and then get a bus back to the car and drive home to Yorkshire.

The first hurdle to today’s success was that our hotel does not start breakfast until 8.30am (even a requested “early” breakfast was not until 8am) by which time we wanted to be on our way. However, the manager spoke to the lady who comes in to do the hotel’s ironing at 7am and has asked her to put out milk and the essentials for breakfast so we could have an early getaway. As it turned out, Wendy, who does the ironing, is quite at home in a kitchen having been a kitchen team leader in the NHS for some time. So she obliged us with fresh tea and coffee and scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast and an interesting chat.

We drove back to Harlech and parked in a place we reconnoitred last night and were soon on our way. We started back across Morfa Harlech. “Morfa” is a Welsh word broadly covering any salt marsh, foreshore or dune area. Obviously many areas called “morfa” are now reclaimed land, used for agriculture and industry. Morfa Harlech has some planted woodland that we walked through – and then past the recycling centre hidden there.

Then it was back to proper, boggy, agricultural land bordering Tremadoc Bay. The River Dwyryd and River Gaslyn join here to form an estuary with Portmeirion at the tip of the peninsula separating them. The walk, on a rather dank and dismal day, was  not very inspiring and was mainly on the sea wall.

At Ty’r-bont the road and railway run side by side and crosses the R Dwyryd. We walked along the road and into Minffordd where the coast path takes a token dive in the direction of Portmeirion before turning back to the road at the start of the Cob.

Portmeirion is a fantasy village based on an Italian riviera village and was the dream of Clough Williams-Ellis who oversaw its development between 1925 and 1976 apparently (according to the their website) “to show how a naturally beautiful site could be developed without spoiling it.” It was made famous as the location for the TV series “The Prisoner”. At £8.00 per person (£16.00 in the summer) we were happy to forego its charms and hurry on to Porthmadog for our bus.

At the Cob, the causeway across the estuary of the R. Glaslyn, we could choose to walk the cycle way parallel with the road or clamber up to the footpath alongside the Ffestiniog railway. We chose the latter since the trains are not running and it provides views to both sides of the causeway whereas on the cycle path one can only see the inland side.

Once across the causeway there is a short bridge that brought us into Porthmadog where we waited outside The Australia (a pub) for the bus back to Harlech. Having retrieved the car we went to Harlech castle and enjoyed a light lunch in their excellent café.

When planning this leg of our walk, I made an earnest effort to reduce the length of our walking days so we would neither be walking after dark nor rushing for buses. Even before we started, Jill had persuaded me to extend all the days to nearer 17 miles; she feels we need to use the time away from home as efficiently as possible and that about 17 miles, with appropriate stops, is well within her capabilities. We had done about that length of daily walk in January 2020 in Yorkshire and this was early November much further west. After our push to get into Machynlleth on Friday and a push today to make it to Porthmadog, we are some six miles to the good from what I had originally planned and have needed one less night away; the downside has been that we have rushed to make sure we get buses nearly every day and often had only brief stops, partly due to the weather and lack of indoor venues but mainly because the early failing light on the mostly overcast days didn’t allow for stopping for any longer. Anyway, we have walked 134 miles in seven and a half days and have reached a much better stopping point.

Completing a day’s walk along windy clifftops or over uncertain terrain in failing light is very different from walking along lit promenades or easy tracks and so we came to the,probably sensible, conclusion that travelling all the way back to Porthmadog to try to get round the Llyn peninsula in early December, when the days would be shorter still, did not make a lot of sense. We will aim to walk again in the second half of January by which time the sunset will be pretty much the same as in November. We hope we may be able to complete the Welsh Coast Path (excluding Anglessey as we are not including coastal islands) by the end of January.

Monday 15th November 2021

Last night Jill and I discussed how we would finish off this walking session. The original plan was to stop at Talsarnau, an insignificant little village which happens to have a railway station. Instead we have decided to try and make it to Porthmadog which will mark the start of the Llyn Peninsula. Today we walk to Harlech, a distance of about 15 miles and tomorrow we will have an early start and walk about 12 miles into Porthmadog and then drive home.

This morning we had a 45 minute drive to Llanaber and, by the time we had togged up, it was 9am. We headed along the pavement of the A496 for a couple of miles before turning off to cross a mixture of farmland and holiday parks.

The path wiggled around a good deal and went through numerous gates and three precarious, stepped wall stiles and so we were not going quite as fast as we had hoped. It was difficult to get any sense of forward progression and we began to suspect that, after an hour or more, we would end up in the field next to the one we had started from. From the map it looks as if one could just walk along the beach from Llanaber but in reality that can probably only be considered at low tide because the tide comes right in to the sea wall by the railway line and there is a river to cross.

The weather forecast had been for 90% chance of heavy rain for each hour of the morning and into the afternoon. Since it was not raining when we left the car, I was happy to walk in gaiters rather than waterproof trousers. As it turned out, we had nothing more than damp cloud to contend with until the end of the day’s walk.

Once through the farmland we made it to the dunes of Morfa Dyffryn. Here we had 2.5 miles of uninterrupted smooth damp sand.

We were walking on a falling tide and so we were uninhibited as to where we walked. Jill always walks closer to the sea margin than I do, her beachcoming instincts honed to follow any line of pebbles or shells. Uninhibited we may have been and Morfa Dyffrin has a naturist area but it was far too chilly for stripping off even if we had any inclination to do so. At the end of the beach, the sand stops abruptly and we turned inland. The end is known as Shell Island. It is not an actual island because it is connected by the sand-dune. Shell Island is effectively one huge campsite with 300 of the 450 acres given over to camping. It is the largest campsite in the UK and so I am glad we didn’t walk through during the holiday season.

It has a road connection via a tidal road with a permanent ford and there is also a long tarmac and concrete pedestrian causeway across the salt marsh which we followed. I was interested to note that there was fresh seaweed and old grass washed up on the pedestrian causeway and so it too must flood at high tide quite often.

We passed the Llambedr airfield which is now used as a flying school. A Hercules transport aircraft flew low across the estuary but I don’t think it had anything to do with the airfield; probably just routine low-flying practise.

We crossed the River Artro by a pedestrian footbridge and followed the remains of the estuary back to the sea. St Tanwg’s Chapel there is owned by the National Trust but though it was very attractive, it was impossible to photograph in the poor light with its enclosing stone walls.

We had a half mile of road walking before stopping for lunch on a bench tucked against a wall on the top of the cliffs.

A fairly steep descent took us across the railway line and on to the sandy beach of Harlech where we had another mile of firm sand before we turned off to walk into Harlech; we had expected to get the Rail Replacement bus from there.
Since we were ahead of time, we managed to get an earlier normal service bus back to where we had left the car. Whilst waiting for the bus, we chatted to the Rail Replacement Bus Inspector (a Huddersfield man) and told him of our misfortune at Tywyn. He said he had been dismayed that there had not been better signage generally but especially for the visually impaired and disabled, a number of whom he had come across as he visited various stops along the line. He was a keen photographer and showed us a number of quite remarkable pictures he had stored on his phone. He seems to travel round the country bus inspecting wherever there are rail replacement services and so he has been to all sorts of places and made a good collection of photographs.