Walk with Us :: Menai Bridge

Hi there everyone 😀

Whilst we were at the lodge with mum earlier this month we did a few short walks that Martin and I had done before … which have already featured in my ‘Walk with Us’ series. 

We did have one ‘big day out’ … where we did a bit of a longer walk, which we had done before … but has not yet been featured in this series.

We headed to Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which is somewhere that we drive through fairly often, but have found it is actually a really good place to stop and spend a bit of time.

We parked up in our usual spot, on the car park just past Waitrose, and headed down through the woodland …

Our first stop was Church Island … a tiny island sitting in the Menai Strait, reached by a causeway. It’s home to the tiny St Tysilio church and is the most beautiful spot …

… with views of the Britannia Bridge in one direction …

… and the Belgian Promenade and Menai Suspension Bridge in the other …

The churchyard itself is a really pretty and peaceful spot, with plenty of wildflowers and the most beautiful outlook in all directions …

After a wandering around the island and having a sit in the sunshine we made our way back across the causeway to the Belgian Promenade, which was built by Belgian refugees during WWI to thank the town for their hospitality,

It’s a lovely walk along the promenade, alongside the Strait, with plenty of spots to sit and rest awhile …

Looking back towards Church Island there are more fabulous views of the Britannia Bridge …

… and further ahead the Menai Bridge …

Both were looking glorious in the bright sunshine.

Our walk takes us under the Menai Bridge …

… and then along the narrow road which runs alongside the Strait …

… and then through some public gardens, with an outdoor bowling green … another great spot to sit and take it the view …

We had planned to make a pitstop at Dylan’s for a drink … but someone Martin had been chatting with on Church Island had recommended The Victoria, so we thought we’d give it a go.

We didn’t know where it was but just opposite Dylan’s we saw a gateway opening onto a narrow slope upwards … with a sign marked VICTORIA above it. We sent Martin up to see if that lead to the pub.

When he didn’t return mum and I headed up ourselves and rounded a bend to find steps. Up the steps we went, really hoping we were on the right track.

We most definitely were and soon found ourselves in the beer garden of The Victoria. It looked lovely and we found ourselves a spot with the most fabulous of views …

After a quick drink and another sit in the sunshine we headed through the hotel, which looked just as good inside as it had outside, to make our way back through the village to the car.

This really is a lovely walk with plenty to see, and plenty of spots to sit and take a breather. I’m sure it’s one that will do many more times … and lunch at The Victoria is definitely on the cards for some point in the future 😀

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In the Garden :: May 2026

Hi there everyone 😀

May is one of my favourite times in the garden. It used to be the only time of year we had any colour. Gradually over the last few years we have tried to extend our flowering season and now we do tend to have something going on for most of the year.

As is usual at this time of year a week away brings a huge difference in the garden and when we got back from the lodge at the beginning of the month things were really started to take off.

The roses and clematis are starting to do their thing …

The Rhapsody in Blue is looking the best it’s ever done and it smells absolutely divine …

The dark pink weigela we planted last year is starting to look fabulous …

There is plenty of activity going on in the greenhouse …

… and just look at my foxglove …

We are at home for the rest of May and, with a run of good weather, we have a list of garden jobs to keep us busy.

There was chance for a nice day out before we got cracking on the jobs though. We headed for Wightwick Manor with Jackie and Phil, a National Trust property which is about an hour away.  I will tell you more about it in a separate post.

Our first full day in the garden for this month was a warm one and a busy one. We started off out front … whilst it was nice and shady … and had a really good tidy up. I even shovelled the weeds from the gutter of the road …

We then moved round the back and plant pot washing was next on the agenda …

These have now been collected from every corner of the garden, sorted, washed and stowed away in one of the newly refurbished beer sheds.

That done …Martin moved on to some jet washing and I pruned a few shrubs.

At the moment we seem to have pigeons nesting at the bottom of the garden and our pergola seems to be their favourite spot to sit and deposit their poop all over the patio … which has already been jet washed once, but needed another go.

While Martin jet washed it again I dragged out the sewing machine and made some repairs to a fabric sail that we have re-hung … in the hope that it might stop some of the mess. Martin was all for buying and fitting those spiky things but I thought that may be a step too far …

By then we’d both had about enough. It was absolutely roasting so called it a day … apart from the watering that is 😀

All in all we had a very productive day. And just look at what a difference a day can make … this was my first peony this morning …

… and this was when we came in. Isn’t she a stunner …

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Walk with us :: The Watkin Path Waterfalls

Hi there everyone 😀

Welcome to our most epic walk yet … and one we never imagined we would do … ever.

For ages I’ve been seeing pictures of the Watkin path waterfalls and pools on Facebook and thinking how beautiful it looked. I’ve done lots of Googling so see how far it is and how difficult the walk is and, finally, I found something that made it sound doable.

We waited for a Monday, as I thought it would probably really busy over a weekend … especially with the run of good weather we were having and found plenty of parking at Pont Bethania … which cost £5 for four hours …

 

We made use of the toilet facilities on the car park, which weren’t the best. With flickering fluorescent lights it felt like being in a horror movie and there was not a scrap of loo roll. Fortunately I always approach a public loo expecting the worst so was prepared.

The start of the footpath is literally just across the road from the car park and, with only a rough idea of what to expect, we were soon on our way …

Our ideal outcome was to make it to the waterfalls but we were just setting out with a view to seeing how we got on.

Whilst the Watkin path is described as one of the more difficult routes for ascending Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), the first part is actually quite a nice steady walk … up through the woodland …

The route is very well defined and the path is a mixture of stone steps and gravel …

It’s an interesting walk through the woods … with wooden bridges crossing crystal clear streams …

… goats …

… and abandoned buildings …

The path emerges from the woodland, about half way to the waterfalls, with the most fabulous views across the valley …

… and then continues on a gentle incline through the metal gate …

As the path rounded the bend we could already hear the rush of water and as we rounded the bend we got our first glimpse of the main falls …

The path wound its way towards the falls …

It was pretty warm at this point on the path as it was a really bright sunshiny day with not a scrap of shade. We did manage to find a well place rock for a bit of a breather and a drink. 

We had a bit of a nervous moment … passing the cows … which fortunately showed no interest in us at all …

We crossed a muddy patch on huge stepping stones …

… followed by a slate bridge …

Looking back the way we had come … it was just stunning …

It was just a short walk now to the falls and we could see a few people milling about …

Having made it to the falls that we’d seen from a distance … we did manage to have a bit of a scramble to get a bit closer and saw the first of the pools, which was so clear and a beautiful shade of emerald green …

We chatted to a couple of people who had braved a dip … they said the water was amazing, but icy cold. They also encouraged us to carry on a bit further upstream … telling us there were lots more pools to see. 

Looking up river we could see a bridge and decided to make that our next goal. We really wanted to find out what more there was to see and headed up …

The bridge was something else … giving off Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade vibes …

There were more pools and it was just so beautiful. We just had to head across the bridge …

The path was a little less defined on the other side and a bit of a scramble in places … but we weren’t quite ready to call it a day just yet …

Eventually we decided we really ought to start to head back so it was back down …

… back across the bridge …

… and we were on our way with one last look back and yes … it was still stunning …

We gave ourselves another pitstop …

… and it was back across the slate bridge …

… the huge stepping stones …

… and past the cows … who still weren’t really interested …

Before rounding the bend to head back into the woodland we did have one last look back to where we’d been … we both felt quite proud of ourselves …

The walk back down through the woods was tough for us. Both with creaky joints we felt every step on the way down. We decided we would reward ourselves with a visit to the caffi at the bottom …

… but it was not to be 🙈🙈🙈 …

Disappointed but determined to reward ourselves we jumped … more like fell … into the car and headed for Caffi Siabod …

… where it was a well deserved rarebit for me and a ciabatta for Martin 😀

What a walk we’d had and, whilst it had been tough at the end, I am pretty sure it’s one we will do again 😀