3 Mar 2026

[Will add photos to this post soon]

I set off from near Pwllheli Railway Station along the north edge of the harbour and then south along the side of the huge marina. The modern Plas Heli building dominates the area but I’m not a fan of the architecture. From here, the path travels for more than 3 miles along the beach to the Pen y Chain headland. On the way, there was a large standing stone at the edge of the dune near Morfa Abererch. It looked like it was once buried in the sand and has now been exposed. I downloaded a 6 inch to the mile OS map surveyed in 1888 and carefully overlayed it on a Google Earth image in which the stone and its shadow is visible. There is nothing marked at the spot on the 1888 map but it shows that the edge of the dunes was nearer the sea and that there was a track or footpath over the location. The stone was first reported to Gwynedd Archaelogical Trust in 2004 by a walker following a storm.

Had lunch near the trig point on the Pen y Chain headland looking over Tremadoc Bay to the Snowdonia mountains. The path then went round the huge Hafan y Môr holiday park to the mouth of the Afon Wen river. From here I walked along a track next to the river, under the railway, and up to the A497 running between Nefyn and Porthmadoc. The river was quite a deep brown-red colour, maybe due to peat upstream. The coast path then follows the main road towards Criccieth for almost 2 and a half miles to the village of Llanystumdwy. The village is famous for its connection with David Lloyd George who was PM from 1916 to 1922. Although born in Manchester, he was raised in Llanystumdwy from infancy. There is a Lloyd George museum in the village.

The Wales Coast Path doesn’t officially pass through Llanystumdwy village but there is a footpath to the village north from the main road at the point where the path turns south towards the coast. I followed the latter path through a farm and across the railway to the Afon Dwyfor river. The path then follows the river to the point where it meets the sea and then on along the coast to Criccieth. After passing by the castle, I reached the end of my walk outside Cadwaladers ice cream shop

11.25 miles