The night before…. (worthy of a mention as Wales were playing Belgium in the Euro 2016 quarter finals).
After an early dart from work on the Friday, we arrived in Holyhead 3 hours after leaving Manchester (you have got to love Friday afternoon rush hour traffic). We checked into the B&B (Monravon – for some daft reason, the name of this B&B reminded me of Peter Kay’s “Ray Von”) and then made our way into Holyhead for drinks and food.
After eating at the Mexican restaurant (Escelantes – well worth a visit if you happen to be in Holyhead), we were advised to go to the Cambria Inn to watch the football. Despite being “English” and therefore having failed miserably in the Euro’s, we were welcomed with open arms by everyone. The atmosphere was electric and everyone was in good form. Upon each goal, beer went flying everywhere as everyone jumped up and down. Thankfully both Tim and I were near the door and as soon as the ball looked as though it was going in the net, we ran outside….. we’d got limited clothing so the last thing we needed were beer stained and smelling fleeces! At the final whistle and a 3-1 victory to Wales, everyone poured outside onto the streets to celebrate. We’d got an early start on the Saturday so we left them celebrating and singing. I bet there were a few sore heads in the morning.
Now for the walk…..
Distance: 25.13 miles; 948ft elevation gain; 8:01:29 moving time; 19.09/mil average moving pace; 2,195 calories burned
After an early 7am breakfast, we made our way to the start of the walk – St. Cybi’s Church. We were lucky as the weather was gorgeous – blue skies and warm (but not too much so) – perfect walking weather.
The path starts off by crossing the Celtic Gateway footbridge and across the harbour. After following several paths, we joined the western edge of Penrhos Beach and then headed towards the Anglesey Aluminium chimney. As we made our way through the Penrhos Estate, we passed “The Battery” (a semi-circular stone structure which was possibly a folly associated with the Estate), The Bathing House and a stone seat before heading down to the coastline.
The views were already starting to tantalise us and we were able to start to get a feel for the island and where we were heading either on our first day or on our final day.
As we approached Beddmanarch House, we followed the path around a pet’s graveyard (random!) before continuing through the Penrhos Coastal Park until we reached the Stanley Embankment.
From here we encountered our first “tidal option”. Unfortunately it was high tide, so we weren’t able to make our way down to the shore onto Gorad beach. Instead, we followed the path around the back of a housing estate before finally reaching the shoreline. After walking across the beach, we followed the River Alaw for what seemed like miles (probably around 1.5miles) before crossing the 35m bridge over the river.
The next part of the walk took us towards Holyhead mountain (our final day location), towards the Anglesey Aluminium chimney and over an area called the Rabbit Warren. It seemed like we were walking over the Warren forever but we eventually arrived at the shore again where we walked for around 0.75 miles before turning onto a track and past Penrhyn Caravan Park.
We crossed the beach at Porth Tywyn Mawr and made our way around the headland to arrive at Porth Trwyn bay. After passing through several kissing gates into national trust Land we headed downhill towards Porth Crugmor or Cable Bay. through more kissing gates, along an enclosed path and around the headland (National Trust Porth Swtan) yet again we eventually reached the Wavecrest Café at Prth Swtan or Church Bay.
Perfect timing for something to eat. We sat down at a table outside and Tim headed off into the café for something to eat and drink. He came back with two iced coffees (delicious) and a promise of something delicious. It wasn’t long before the waiter brought out two massive chip butties! Tim was suitably pleased with himself. No wonder, we very rarely have chips, never mind chip butties. Despite the fact that we had already walked around 12-13 miles and had approximately the same distance to go again, these delicious butties did feel like a naughty indulgence.
As we tucked into our chips, it started to drizzle with rain so we made our way inside. We couldn’t help but overhear a conversation between some other walkers who seemed to be doing an “event” of some sort. They were sounding very pleased with themselves after having walked a few thousand steps…… you have to love all these gadgets and gismo’s telling people how many steps they have walked and how many calories they have burned. Now. let’s not mention the amount of steps we have walked so far!
As an accountant, I love anything numbers and statistics orientated and Tim’s watch (garmin vivoactive) is perfect for capturing our hiking activity. What does make me chuckle though is the vast amount of people with similar activity/fitness watches (Fitbit, Jawbone, Moov, Microsoft band etc.) who ever only seem to make it up a flight of stairs!
Anyway, after re-fuelling our bodies, we put on our waterproofs and started out on the last part of the journey (another 10.5 miles…. now, how many steps is that then?)
The drizzle quickly subsided as we made our way along the coastline towards Carmel Head / Trwyn y Gader. The coastline was beautiful and despite the skies now being grey, the sea still looked inviting.
We followed the path along the coast before coming down a steep section, passing through a gate and descending onto the beach at Ynys y Fydlyn. After crossing the beach and climbing up the hill, we continued along the path towards the Skerries and West Mouse before passing between the Two White Ladies (two white beacons).
Several (and I mean several) kissing gates had to be negotiated as we followed the coastal path around the headland to Hen Borth where we crossed the shingle beach. After coming out onto Trwyn Cemlyn, we crossed the walled enclosure of the outlet of Cemlyn lagoon. Now leased by the North Wales Wildlife trust, the lagoon was full of people taking photographs of the tern colony (one of the largest in Britain). In hindsight, I took the wrong option by crossing on the larger pebbles and stones (very energy sapping). Tim however, ventured down to the shoreline which was clearly much easier….. and didn’t he let me know it?!
Fields, tracks and paths later, the hideous Wylfa Power Station came into view. After passing the Visitor Centre, we entered and area of woodland before coming out near some large stone gate-posts (part of Wylfa Hall, demolished in the 1960’s).
We followed the narrow path around the headland and the low cliffs before finally reaching the promenade around the bay of Cemaes and our day 1 destination.
We checked into the Harbour Hotel overlooking the harbour. Sadly, the weather wasn’t good enough for us to take advantage of our balcony but it was good enough for Tim to continue on his 22 push-up challenge to raise awareness for combat veterans of which 22 sadly take their lives each day. After posting to Facebook, we ventured down to the local pub (the less said about that the better) before heading back to the hotel for something to eat.
The Planning click here
Day 1: Holyhead – Cemaes Bay click here
Day 2: Cemaes Bay – Benllech click here
Day 3: Benllech – Llanfairpwllgwyngyll click here
Day 4: Llanfairpwllgwyngyll – Aberffraw click here
Day 5: Aberffraw – Trearrdur Bay click here
Day 6: Trearrdur Bay – Holyhead click here
Keels 
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