Lodge Life :: August 2026

Hi there everyone 😀

I know I’ve done a fair few posts from our summer stays at the lodge … but this post covers the bits in between those more significant activities during our last visit … which spanned the end of August and the beginning of September.

We were there over the August Bank Holiday weekend and, whilst the weather forecast was a shocker … as usual it didn’t end up being anywhere near as bad as predicted.

On our way in we drove along the promenade in Criccieth, as we often do, and it was a perfect summer’s day. The sea was like a millpond and there were lots of people about.

At the lodge park we arrived to glorious sunshine and so many barn swallows buzzing around …

The following day there were even more of them on the power lines … then suddenly …for no apparent reason all … they would lift off together … swirling around and swooping and diving. They fluttered about like dancing leaves on the breeze. They were fascinating to watch.

And then the sky turned black there were a few distant rumbles of thunder and the rain came. The swallows didn’t seem to mind much. It was quite comical watching them sat on the power lines having a good shake from time to time to fluff up their feathers …

By early evening there were only half a dozen left to be seen … maybe the stragglers.

Friday … with more rain forecast … we went to Bangor and the Treborth Garden Centre for a mooch. It’s a brilliant garden centre … born from the merging of a hardware store and a garden centre and they just about sell everything you could think of. They also have a very good restaurant … though we don’t partake on this visit.

As the rain held off we then headed to the pier for a wander …

We had a bit of a refreshment break before some more mooching around the retail park …

It was then back to the lodge where there was plenty of rain, but not a single swallow to be seen …

Saturday and it was raining heavily again. We waterproofed up and headed for Criccieth for the lifeboat day. After such a glorious summer it was such a shame for them …

There were a few people about and we did have a bit of a wander …

… before taking shelter in Coffee 47, a coffee shop on the high street we’d not tried before. We then had a good chat with our favourite gift shop owner before heading back and into Pwllheli. It was still raining but sooooo busy. We just had a quick walk round the town centre and then headed back to the lodge to cosy up for the rest of the afternoon …

On the Sunday of the Bank Holiday weekend there was lots of heavy rain forecast. It ended up being not too bad just a few heavy sharp showers.

We headed for the Lavender House, our favourite gift shop, followed by the gallery at Llanbedrog.

We got back and, as the weather looked a bit better, Martin started on some jet washing. The weather didn’t hold and he was soaked by the time he’d finished …

The Bank Holiday Monday was the first day with no real rain and it was lovely from lunchtime so we decided to head out and try a bit of a walk that we’d not done before.

The walk started from a lay-by on the main road from Criccieth to Pwllheli and the footpath basically goes from the road to a bit of beach we’d not visited before …

The path took us over the railway line …

… and alongside the Afon Dwyfor …

… with great views across to Criccieth castle in the distance. It’s just to the right of the mountain in the centre of this next photo …

The path then heads away from the river …

… and towards the beach … where it looked like someone had done a good job of having a bit of a tidy up of some of the random bits and pieces that wash up …

The access to the beach was easy and we were soon walking along the shoreline towards Criccieth …

We walked as far along the beach as we could … to the mouth of the river estuary … where there were some great views across to Criccieth and it’s pretty coloured houses and castle …

There were some pretty decent views looking back up the river too …

It was time to retrace our steps … back along the beach …

A brief sit on a log …

… admiring the fire pit …

Then it was back up off the beach and towards the river …

… and back up and over the railway …

… and back to where we’d started. 

It had been a very nice walk … we hadn’t seen a soul. Definitely one to do again. 

It was then off to the supermarket for a big shop as we were expecting guests the following day. Jackie and Phil were coming for a few days but I will tell you about the rest of our stay in September’s lodge life post 😀

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Beach Hopping on the North of The Llyn

Hi there everyone 😀

During our visit to the lodge in July we’d done a fair few good walks in the mountains … and it was time for a day of beach hopping along the Northern coast of the Llyn Peninsular.

We started out at Porth Towyn … which is not very far from us at all. We were intrigued by the sign we saw as we approached the path down to the beach … which said there was filming for a TV cookery series underway …

From a distance Martin knew who it was straight away. I hadn’t a clue. Apparently it was Chris ‘Flamebaster’ Roberts …

We walked down to the beach, something we don’t do often here. Most times we’ve been it’s been blowing a hooley …

We had a walk to the other end of the bay …

… and then back again …

Martin was desperate to get some photos with ‘Flamebaster’ in the background …

In the end I just said hello as we walked past and asked him what they were cooking. We ended up having a good chat and Martin got his photo …

From Towyn we drove the narrow lanes and rocky track to Port Ysgaden … somewhere we visit often. The beach is great for seaglass … when the tide is out … which it wasn’t on this visit …

It’s still a lovely little walk across the cliff tops to Porth Ysglaig, with its old fisherman’s huts on the side of the cliff …

We always walk out to the point just beyond the biggest hut, where the views are just amazing … out to sea, back across to Porth Towyn and back at the fishermen’s huts …

We then always walk back to the gable wall of the old customs’ house, another great spot for sitting and taking in the views …

As it was such a lovely day and we’d been managing a lot better with our walking … and ability to climb a hill … we decided to make our first visit to Porth Iago. This is somewhere we’ve seen a lot on line but have never been  … as getting to it looked like hard work.

It’s also a beach where you have to drive through a farm to access it … and you pay to park at the farm. We had driven to the farm once, late in the day, but decided we didn’t want to pay to park that late on … especially as we probably wouldn’t have walked down to the beach.

This time we were far more enthusiastic. We paid at the farm and followed the track down to the coast. The beach looked stunning … exactly as we’d seen it in photos …

It did look like a bit of a trek down … and then back up … but we were up for it. We picked what looked like the easiest route and headed down …

It was just beautiful and we spent a good hour or so just taking it all in …

… having a paddle …

… and lunch …

This next photo shows the paths up and down … we opted for the less steep path on the left …

It really was something special and I’m sure we will be back for the full beach experience … with all the accompanying paraphernalia … at some point.

We had one last beach on the cards before heading for home … Porth Oer, also known as Whistling Sands.

It’s a steep walk down … which is why it’s not a favourite …

… but it does have a very nice National Trust cafe at the bottom, which was where we were headed. It was time for a cuppa and a scone. The beach was pretty busy and we just sat and chilled in the sunshine taking it all in …

We finished our day with the trudge back up the hill to head for home …

There are so many fabulous beaches around the Llyn. They all most definitely have their own personalities and are good for different things. It’s not very often we have a ‘beach day’ but we’d loved it … especially bumping into ‘Flamebaster’ and getting to explore Porth Iago ☀️🏖️☀️🏖️

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