7 Jan 2026

Significant milestones today are completing one quarter of my 900 mile target and getting back to the start point at Menai Bridge on my trip round Anglesey. Can’t really celebrate completing the Anglesey coast path just yet though becuase I have postponed one section until February due to the pheasant shooting season. My end point at Caernarfon today also marks the start of the next stage around the Lleyn Peninsula.

A got off the train at the world famous Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch railway station. There are lots of facts associated with the longest place name in Europe but my favourite concerns a bacterium discovered in soil near the village by scientists from Aberystwyth University. They called it Myxococcus Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochensis which has been accepted as its valid scientific name.

I set off down the lane from Aber Braint, possibly with some Myxococcus Llanfairpwll… bacteria on my boots. I reached the shore at Pwllfanogl, where an old slate works used to make school writing slates, and turned left along the shore towards Nelson’s Statue on a rocky outcrop.

The path then turned inland through a churchyard and under the railway where it starts to turn to go over the Britannia Bridge. The path follows the railway and then goes under the A55 approach to the same bridge (more will be said about this historic bridge later). The path goes down to the shore next to the bridge and through woodland along some boardwalks. There was some patches of slushy snow which made it a bit slippy in parts. The current in the strait was very fast. The complex interaction here between the different tide times at each end and the topology of the sea bed creates a chaotic mix of currents and whirlpools called ‘The Swellies’.

There were several people waking their dogs and I met two with the lovely names of Luna and Shadow. Their owner explained that their names came from a Cat Stevens song. The path follows the edge of the Menia Strait and then crosses a field up to the A5 road. The path then goes along the road towards the town of Menai Bridge then down a lane and around a rugby pitch to the Church of St Tysilio on Church Island. From the short causeway path to the church, the coast path goes along the Belgian Promenade. This was built by refugees who came from German occupied Belgium in 1914. They were well received by the villagers and in gratitude they built the promenade. At the end of the promenade I reached the spot where I started my walk around Anglesey.

I was half an hour too early to celebrate circumnavigating Anglesey with a beer in the pub so I had a coke instead. I crossed the Menai Suspension Bridge which is celebrating it’s 200th birthday this year. Completed in 1826, it’s one of the first road suspension bridges in the world. It was designed by Thomas Telford to carry traffic travellng on his newly improved London to Holyhead road. The path goes down a lane to Treborth Botanic Garden. This was originally designed by Joseph Paxton who designed the world’s first public park in Birkenhead. Another lesser known fact about Paxton is that he cultivated the variety of banana which is now virtually the only one eaten in the entire developed world. They can’t reproduce sexually which means all supermarket bananas are clones. There is a risk the variety could be wiped out entirely if disease spreads. Enjoy them while you can.

After passing a large Luscombe Oak the path continues through the gardens to a statue of the spiritual leader Sri Chimnoy. He inaugurated a global Peace Run in 1987 which is now held annually by runners carrying a torch around the world. This spot marks the start of a 10 mile run to Llanberis. The path winds through woodland and then I passed under the Britannia Bridge for the second time today. Designed by Robert Stephenson, it originally used an iron tubular box to carry rail traffic but a fire in 1970 damaged the structure and it was modified with steel arches supporting the load. It now carries the railway plus road traffic above. One of the tube box sections has been preserved and I walked past it on my walk.

I followed the Menai Strait on its south shore down to Y Felinheli (Port Dinorwic).

Slate was brought to Port Dinorwic for export by rail from Dinorwic quarry near Llanberis.

The route goes through the town then follows the route of the old Bangor to Caernarfon railway into Caernarfon. I ended my walk at Pont y Aber swing bridge next to the castle.

11.89 miles