3 Dec 2024

Gwyn met me again at the station and took me to the start of my walk at Trearddur. The forecast was for very strong winds and showers in the morning but becoming dryer in the afternoon. I set off in a heavy shower along the promenade and walked about a mile along roads to the Lee caravan park at the south end of the town. Here, a path leads to the coast and passes rocky Porth y Garan with its shingle beach. I continued towards Rhoscolyn passing Bwa Gwyn (White Arch), a beautiful natural arch of white rock. Unfortunately, I missed seeing it because it’s not visible directly from the path. Another feature I missed was St Gwenfaen’s Well despite the fact that I walked right past it. It’s an early medieval holy well and it’s a shame I missed it because, appropriately for this walk, the tradition is to throw two white quartz pebbles into the well to cure mental health problems.

From the well I walked to the National Coastwatch lookout station at the top of the hill at Rhoscolyn. The three volunteers on duty were willing to let me in to the small watch building and they told me it was thankfully quiet today. They are part of a voluntary orgainisation and rely on donations. I’ve already met two volunteers at Moelfre and included a link for donations in that day’s blog but if you wish to donate, here is the link again… National Coastwatch. The rain clouds and low sun made a dramatic backdrop to some small islands just offshore called Ynys Feirig which have the dramatic English name of Starvation Island.

I continued down the hill towards Borth Wen beach and noticed a helicopter hovering near the cliffs on the headland beyond. I walked around the beach and across to the headland where the helicopter was hovering. It was very close to the path and moved away a bit as I got near. I thought it might have been a training exercise but I spotted what looked to me like the remains of a kayak in the water. I walked on a bit and stopped for lunch hoping that nobody was hurt. Looking back I saw someone being winched down and then, a bit later, being winched back up but I couldn’t tell if it was two people or one. The fact that the coastwatch volunteers hadn’t mentioned anything and also that I was so close to RAF Valley made me think it was indeed a training exercise. I hope so.

Near the south-eastern end of Holy Island at Traeth Llydan, the path turns inland to avoid the privately owned Bodior Estate. I had to negotiate a very muddy field, churned up by cattle, before joining a farm track to some woodland. Here the path turns right throught the woodland but in the pheasant shooting season, the path is closed so I had to walk down the road to a small inlet near Rhyd-y-bont farm. A path goes to the farm and then turns towards the edge of the Cymyran Strait. From here, a series of boardwalks took me to the road at Four Mile Bridge which I crossed and then walked to the end of a farm track where I finished the walk today.

9.69 miles