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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