Monday, 7 August 2023

Exploring :: The Beaches of Abersoch

Bore da pawb … or … good morning everyone πŸ˜€

Today we are heading home following a lovely long three week stay at our lodge on the Llyn Peninsular in North Wales.

The weather forecast was not the best but the experts seemed to keep getting it wrong … so every time we got up to no rain we decided to make the most of it while we could.

Our first full day actually ended up being glorious and we decided to further investigate the beaches of Abersoch, starting out with Quarry Beach, which we’d never been to, but had heard about from friends. 

We knew there was a limited amount of parking down a pretty narrow lane, which could be approached from two directions. Our first attempt found us at an impossible right hand hairpin turn so we had to drive by and find somewhere to turn and then approach from the other direction. I’m guessing if you know this beach you will probably know exactly where I am coming from.

Anyway we eventually found ourselves at the small parking area … very close to the beach …
It’s right at the bottom of a narrow lane, though there are plenty of passing places ... but you definitely need to be prepared for a nifty bit of backing up if you meet anyone coming from the opposite direction. 

The parking area is backed by the quarried rock face …
… and nature is really retaking the area, with lots of wildflowers in abundance …
Our first view of the beach was a real ‘wow’ moment. It is stunning. A beautiful wide sandy beach, with a shallow slope to a lovely calm sea with ripples for waves … and it stretches across to The Warren and Abersoch to the right …
… and ends at the Llanbedrog headland to the left …
We decided to head left and found it fascinating spotting the old remains of the quarry works in the cliffs above and even the bones of the old jetty down on the beach …
It is definitely a beach to spend time on. I’m sure we will be back with deckchairs and a picnic at some time. The only small drawback for me would be the lack of facilities, though we could always walk to The Sandbar at The Warren if we were desperate …
We walked as far as the headland …
… before retracing our steps and making our way back to The Gallery in Llanbedrog for a quick pit stop on our way back to the lodge …
The next day was lovely too and we decided to head back to Abersoch to see if we could find the beach with the beach huts … somewhere else we’d not yet seen.

We parked up in town, by harbour beach, hoping the tide would be out far enough for us to be able to walk around the headland but this was not to be …
After a short walk as far as we could go it was back to the car …
We headed towards the golf course and parked up on the car park for Abersoch Beach, from where it is but a short walk … And yes, we found the beach huts …
This was another lovely beach, but so busy compared to the others we’d seen … I guess that’s because there’s plenty of parking, toilets, a cafe and a lifeguard on watch. 

We did stop and have a drink. I was a bit shocked to be charged 30p for a plastic beaker for my cold drink but hey … it is what it is … and I really am not keen on drinking from a can so didn’t really have much option but to go with the flow …
We had one more beach we wanted to try and find before heading back to the lodge and that was Porth Neigwl … or Hell’s Mouth. It’s another fairly remote beach, with a bit of parking, and accessed via a short walk through the dunes …
It couldn’t have been more different from the other beaches we’d seen …
Definitely a bit wilder, though still lovely for a bit of a wander …
By now we were all beached out and it was time to head for home to see if the rain that had been threatening would have us confined to barracks for the following day. 

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Tuesday, 1 August 2023

Exploring :: Plas Newydd, NT

Hi there everyone πŸ˜€

The other big day out we had with mum, when we were at the lodge back in June, was over to Anglesey for a National Trust visit to Plas Newydd.

The weather was a bit dull but it was supposed to stay dry so we thought we’d take the chance to make the most of it.

It took us just short of an hour to get there and we parked up and caught the buggy down to the house …
As there looked to be the possibility of rain later we decided to explore outside first wandering down the side of the house …
… through a small bit of woodland …
… and down to the edge of the Menai …
We then walked along the bank of the Menai in front of the house …
… before heading up to the Italianate Terrace, where we paused for a breather …
… before exploring the terraces …
There were some great views across the Menai from the top of the garden …
The weather seemed to be on the turn so it seemed the perfect time to explore inside the house, which was fascinating …
The commentary made quite a sad read as pretty much all of the contents of the property had to be auctioned off to pay off the debts run up by Henry Cyril Paget, the 5th Marquess of Anglesey …
We were hoping to catch the buggy back up to the car park but our timing was a bit out and the driver was on his lunch break so we decided to walk, shortcutting across the cricket ground …
It wasn’t as far as it seemed and we were soon back at the car and ready to head for home … where we finished off our day with some al fresco fish and chips …

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Tuesday, 25 July 2023

Exploring :: Barmouth, Gwynedd

Hi there everyone πŸ˜€

It was the Wednesday of our week’s visit to the lodge in June and we were all ready for a big day out.

The weather forecast was good, the picnic was made and we were off down the coast to Barmouth. It’s about an hour’s drive and it was somewhere mum had never visited before. We’d been just once but I really wanted to see if we could get to have a walk on the famous railway bridge across the Mawddach Estuary. 

Martin had done his homework and found us a car park just a short walk from the bridge, the sun was shining and we were looking forward to exploring somewhere new.

It was just a short walk along the road …
… before heading down the footpath that would take us onto the bridge …
… and past the tunnel …
On such a lovely day it was very photogenic so apologies for the number of photos … I promise I’ve just picked a selection of my favourites …
We just walked about half way and stopped to take in the view …

… and the regulation selfie …
… before heading back …
We would have loved to have been on the bridge whilst a train was crossing but we checked the times and decided not to wait. Instead mum and I took a bit of a detour down and under the railway and onto a gorgeous little beach …
… where we got to see the bridge from a bit of a different angle …
We soon heard Martin shouting from up above … TRAIN … and yes indeed there it was …
After we came off the bridge and got back onto the road we took a left onto a footpath which led to a nice seating area with yet more great views of the bridge …
… and back across to the harbour …
… and to the mountains …
We decided to carry on walking back towards the harbour …
… before retracing our steps and deciding to move the car to a car park along the sea front …
Once parked up again we had a walk out along the boardwalk and around to the harbour entrance …
At the harbour entrance the views looking back up the Mawddach and the railway bridge were impressive …
In fact the views in all directions were just fabulous …
As the tide was in we couldn’t walk back across the harbour so had to retrace our steps. Mum and I couldn’t resist a paddle and were surprised to find how warm the sea was. It was lovely …
We then had a quick pit stop at The Bath House for ice cream …
… before investigating an intriguing looking building that we spotted from the road …
It is known locally as Ty Crwn and was originally built in 1833 as a lock-up for drunkards, slatterns and ne’er-so-wells who were disturbing the peace on the harbour. 

According to sources it was built round so that the Devil could find no corner to hide in. 

There was then only one thing for us to do and that was to drive all the way along the sea front, where we found a good spot for our picnic. 

By then we were all about worn out and ready for home.

We’d had the loveliest of days and it’s always good to be able to show mum somewhere new πŸ˜€

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