Amlwch Port to Cemaes Bay

Amlwch Port to Cemaes Bay

16^th April 2014

Miles Covered 7.5 

Part of our Easter holiday trip for which we were blessed with beautiful dry if slightly cool weather. After Day 1 making a circuit of the remarkable Glyders (Y Garn, Fawr and Fach) and Day 2 traversing the stunning and slightly scary Nantlle range, we decided to tackle this 7.5 mile section with 1750 metres of ascent. After enjoying a leisurely breakfast at the Anglesey Arms Caernarfon we set out from Amlwch Port just after 10.30. The day was cool although promised more.

The Anglesey Arms - The Anglesey Arms is an historic pub abutting the Town Walls. It previously served as the Harbour Master’s offices and quarters. The door to the B & B can be seen on the right edge of the photo. The pub was lively and friendly. Caernarfon town is fiercely and confidently Welsh and feels like Wales’s second Capital

Amlwch Port is a little untidy these days but its glory, as the place from the rich copper reserves of nearby Parys Mountain were exported can be sensed from some it its buildings and leftover industry. At its peak 44000 tons of copper per year where exported from here, producing largely munitions and hulls for Navy warships. After time the mines grew so rich they minted their own coinage. The coastal path here was well defined and headed along low cliffs to the small resort of Bull Bay. On the way we viewed the remains of the Marquis of Anglesey’s swimming pool which is shown below cut into the rocks - look for the railings. Much of the rocks in this area are Pre Cambrian and thought to be 570 million years old.

 Beyond Bull Bay the going was delightful and the cliffs higher. We followed a pod of Porpoises and stopped to look at a Ravens nest with four tiny chicks. 

All the way the wildflowers were abundant and in quick time we reached the ruined brick works at Porth Wen

From Porth Wen the route remained undulating and challenging with lots of flowering gorse. After a further ruined works we reached Llanlleiana Head the northernmost point of Wales complete with ruined summerhouse. From here the panorama stretched from the Skerries in the west to Llanellian in the east with east and middle mouse islands off shore.  One last push took us to one of the most scenic churches in Wales. Llanbadrig marks the point where St Patrick come ashore from Ireland. Its graveyard falls precariously towards the sea.

From Llanbadrig we rounded Porth Padrig and the headland of Trwyn y Parc to cross the bridge into the village of Cemaes, where we had a coffee at the Harbour Hotel before catching the bus back.

That evening we enjoyed a pre dinner drink outside the Caernarfon Galleri and watched the sunset over Ynys Mon with the sunrays kissing the Menai and lighting the yachts packed into the harbour.