22nd March 2019
Day two of our walking weekend, and our first adventures onto Anglesey. Llandona is going to become a familiar sight to us as it will be the start and end point for two of our walks. With free parking by the beach it is very convenient….slightly less convenient is the walk of almost 1 mile up a very steep lane to get back to the bus stop. It is a 30% gradient in places and this picture doesn’t do it justice!!
But up we went and on the bus back to the Menai Bridge and then on a connecting bus to Moelfre to start our walk. We deliberately picked a shorter walk today as there was heavy rain forecast for around 2pm, and with a 9.15am bus, and arrival in Moelfre at 10am, anything more than around 9 miles will mean we get very wet.
Moelfre is a quaint village on the coast, with quite a history, but more of that on Monday’s walk. For today we had to set off straight-away, leaving the small stony beach behind.
The walk started by heading up from the village and along the cliff top across some fields.
The path then cut across more fields below a caravan site (and I suspect the field will be a touring field for tents and caravans in summer), and you can just make out a rogue static van which has been positioned right on the cliff-top.
The first shingle beach then came into view at Traeth Bychan.
The path then followed the coast line precisely, right down to Benllech, which is a sandy beach area (when the tide is out; when the tide is in it is just water) with a small beach hut cafe.
On Anglesey the familiar coastal path sign is often replaced by the Isle of Anglesey Coastal Path sign.
After a hot chocolate and freshly fried donuts….
we continued the walk, slightly inland, through a car park and up a hill. When the path continued down a road and seemed to hit a dead-end with just the sea ahead of us we started to get a bit worried. Just then a post van pulled up so we asked the postman where we were supposed to go, and he pointed through the water and around the corner. So our rock climbing skills were well tested – fall in and it would be wet feet for the rest of the walk.
Once we rounded the corner we were faced with a couple of pubs and restaurants at Red Wharf Bay, followed by a lot of soggy marshland and the need to walk right around the edge to our end point. Although it looked like the usual estuary that we have to walk around, it was actually just the sea reaching an inland area and, if we had waited long enough, the tide would have gone out and we could have cut 2 or 3 miles off the journey. But time was not on our side, so we braved the marshland and a few more rock climbs to get around.
Then we hit upon the beach, and the option of heading inland through woodland or walking along the beach – as the tide was receding faster than Andrew’s hair we went for the beach option, which would be fine most of the time unless it was a very high tide.
Suddenly the beach ended and we had to go up 5 or 6 steps onto a narrow wall, and the coastal path then led across the top of the wall for about a mile. This needed a good sense of balance (something Andrew isn’t known for) and concentration.
With the storm clouds overhead, and the clock on 2pm we made it to the road leading past the car park and toilets at Llandona beach.
And to the end point for today at a bridge leading back up the other side and off the beach.
9.1 miles completed today in 3 3/4 hours. Only 469 feet of height so quite a flat day really. our total is now 450.9 miles completed, and 424.3 miles to go. Tomorrow sees the killer walk of the weekend, but already the blisters are growing.
Walkies Cleo and Bonnie 