Beaumaris to Llanddona (2019-09-08)

At 9:15 this morning, fortified with a wonderful breakfast prepared by our Host, Wafa, we walked out the front door of our B&B, crossed the road and turned left, to begin our 18 km walk to Llandddona.

We walked through Beaumaris and due to some construction on the trail, then continued on the road North.  But in a short distance we rejoined the official trail, which took us down to the beach.  What followed was 2 km of hard slog over rocks large and small, after which we continued on a quiet lane. Well it should have been quiet, but today was the Beaumaris half marathon, and it just happened to be  going out to Penmon Point and back, which was also our halfway point.

Jim on the Beach

Our walk, with accompanying runners, took us past the ruins of Penmon Priory and then downhill for the last kilometre to Penmon Point.  At the point we had great views of the lighthouse, Puffin Island and out to the Great Orme on the Welsh mainland.  But the most welcome sight was the cafe, where we stopped for lunch - ham and cheese toastie for him and a bowl of potato & carrot soup for her, accompanied by a tea and a latte respectively.

Penmon Lighthouse and Puffin Island

Refreshed and refuelled, we left the runners and the laneways, and walked uphill through gorse and farmers’ fields for several more kilometres, eventually walking along the edge of a cliff.  The various fields that we crossed contained a mixture of sheep, cattle and horses and each came with their own warnings.

Marlene Passing Through a Kissing Gate

Cliff Walk with Cattle

We continued to climb, until the welcome sight of Red Wharf Bay came into view, and it was all downhill from there.  As we passed an old stone watchtower, an agreed upon landmark, we phoned Eurwyn at Anglesey Walking Holidays, to give him 30 minutes warning of our arrival in Llanddona and we arrived there only a few minutes before him.

Red Wharf Bay

The meeting place was at an old church, dedicated to St. Dona, hence Lland (church) Dona.  On his drive out, Eurwyn had noticed that a medieval house was having an open day, one of only 4 days in the year.  So we had a brief stop to see “Hafoty”, a hall house built in 1442.  Some days you are just in the right place at the right time!

Hafoty built in 1442

So we survived day 1 with no blisters or other issues, so after a well-deserved shower we headed out to Meghan Tandoori for another excellent feed of dhansak.

Now it is time to sleep and be up bright and early for day 2 of our walk, although the weather does not look to be quite as nice as today.