Cemaes to Church Bay (2019-09-13)

What a difference a day makes!

We awoke this morning to sunny skies and very little wind, which solidified our tentative plan to walk to Church Bay today rather than tomorrow.  So after a great breakfast at Treddolphin Guest House, we were on the trail just after 9 am.

Treddolphin Guest House

View From Treddolphin Guest House

The path took us up over Wylfa Head, and then past Wylfa nuclear power station, which is in the process of being decommissioned, while its replacement (Wylfa B) is currently on hold.  NIMBY is  alive in this area.  We walked this section with another couple staying at our B&B, but left them at the power station.

Wylfa Power Station

After surviving Wylfa we headed to Cemlyn where a long gravel bank separates a lagoon from the ocean.  The catch is that at the far end of the gravel bank, you must cross a bridge which is flooded at high tide.  By doing this section today rather than tomorrow, the high tide was behind us and we were able to cross the bridge and avoid the ‘long way around”, behind the lagoon.

The Gravel Bank & Lagoon at Cemlyn

The path from Cemlyn to Hen Borth took us up along the cliffs, and here we had another lucky break.  If we had walked this section tomorrow, the coastal path would have been closed for shooting season, but being a day earlier, we were able to walk along the coastal route rather than having to take an inland diversion.

We stopped at Carmel Head to eat our lunch, with views of West Mouse Island and the Skerries lighthouse, still in glorious sunshine and very little wind.  From here we turned south and headed down the west side of the island of Anglesey.

As we approached the rock formation known as Ynys Fydlyn, our trail information warned of a section “not for the faint-hearted”.  Here we opted to take the “safe” diversion through a pine forest, although it took us a couple of attempts to actually find the path through the forest.  Both routes converged at Ynys Fydlyn, and so we were back on the official coastal path again.

Skerries Lighthouse From Ynys Fydlyn

The “not for the faint-hearted” Bit Is On The Left

From here the path took us along the cliffs, with a lot of ups and downs, the rest of the way to Church Bay, where rumour had it, we would find the biggest scones in Wales.  The rumour was likely correct, although I have not seen every scone in Wales, as the scones, with whipped cream and strawberry filling stood about 4 inches high.  We were happy to sit and enjoy a cup of tea and a scone (we split one) and rest our weary feet, having walked 20 km with 1350 ft. of elevation gain, while we waited for Eurwyn to come and transport us back to Cemaes.

In Welsh the bay is called Porth Swtan, but the local church had such a tall spire that it could be seen from well out to sea, so the maritime charts began referring to it as Church Bay, and in English at least, the name stuck.

Church Bay (Porth Swtan)

We have now walked 6 consecutive days, and even God took the 7th day off, so tomorrow will definitely be a rest day for us.