I had one day left of annual leave so decided on a random Wednesday when husband was also free, that I would book it for an adventure. The weather was meant to be sunny but cool, so perfect for an explore. We picked Angelsey, and I found a route on alltrails which took in Holyhead mountain (actually a hill) and the surrounding area on a lovely looking walk. We parked at the RSPB Elin's Tower Car Park, where the trail starts. We did struggle to download the app to pay on our phones, no cash so this was slow but finally went through, cash could be a handy option here to save time, or maybe we just got unlucky with the signal? The views from the car park hinted at the beauty to come from this gorgeous walk. Love how dramatic the sky looked this day.
Flora stayed on lead as there are big drops around here, and she cannot be trusted, it is the spaniel in her, a spinning top of energy! We wandered off, following a well trodden route through the heather, close to the edge but good enough distance to be safe- I am also clumsy, as well as owning a ball of energy. This meandering path goes along to Ellin's Tower, the whole area is protected by the RSPB and the car parks are pay and display, with the money going to them. There is a visitor centre inside the tower, we decided to not go in as Flora was far too full of beans to be in a confined space, and we thought it best to get going. Apparently there are binoculars inside and staff who can help you search for the sea birds who nest in the area, will be worth a visit back one day for further exploration.
I found some information about the tower from Wikipedia and southstack, I enjoyed the fact that they added the Welsh name as well, Twr Elin (there is a house on the w but I don't know how to do that). It is noted to be a Victorian stone tower, built between 1820 and 1850 for the Stanley family who lived in Penrhos. Named after Elin, who was the wife of William Owen Stanley, who was a 19th century politician, landowner and archaeologist. During the first World War the tower was used as an observation point, before being abandoned and being left to ruin in around 1940, though on wikipedia it says it was also used during the second world war as a lookout. It was restored by the RSPB after they saw the importance of this area as a whole in 1977, they acquired the land off the local council in 1980, the tower took two years to be restored and was opened in 1982 to the public. The tower is open certain times of the year- check out the RSPB information site for details when you want to visit!
The views over South Stack and the Lighthouse from here were great, the path wandered up a steeper section with rough stone steps, I was pleased at how well I managed these with a few breathing breaks, but mostly breaks to look at the incredible vista. The weather was cool, but bright which was perfect for walking around. Could see plenty of seabirds flying around, there are signs around talking about the different species locally. I just couldn't stop looking at the sky.
The walk we were following headed down to South Stack Lighthouse, which was built on a tiny island to help keep all the sea vessels safe from the dangerous rocks. The island was closed when we went and dogs are not allowed, so we couldn't have gone on that day anyway. But again, I would definitely go back dogless, and have a good nosy around.
The general consensus seems to be that there are 400 steps down to the island, we didn't count, I would agree there are a lot! I thought to myself, why not, good for my fitness right?? When we were there, it was £10 for an adult to access the island and have a tour, including accessing the lighthouse where you can tour the engine room and exhibition area. The lighthouse has been warning boats/ships about the dangerous rocks around the area since 1809, it is 91 feet tall (28 metres), and it was designed by Daniel Alexander. The main beam should be visible for 28miles out to sea (44km, 24nmi), it helped ships navigate the Dublin, Holyhead and Liverpool sea routes. Although this is the first lighthouse to be seen on the northern coast for the eastbound ships, there are plenty that follow, including lighthouses, fog horns and other markers. Trinity House are the ones who operate the lighthouse and have since it was built, the link leads to their homepage, they lighthouse was reopened in 2017 to visitors.
We continued along, there are so many meandering paths dotted around, you could spend hours just wandering and exploring. The coastline is incredibly beautiful, the cliffs are awesome, genuinely loved this day, I am a sucker for a pretty view. The terrain is quite variable and very undulating, this is more my scene than straight up or straight down. The paths are well defined, I did say this would be a brilliant section to trail run, if I get to that standard!
Got some great photos of the husband and Flora, I was thinking I may need to get a decent camera again- my one doesn't seem to work anymore which is a huge shame. My phone camera is good, but you can't get the same detail, especially with the zoom. We wandered around towards North Stack, completing a little circuit before heading up towards Holyhead mountain summit. We walked down a really steep set of steps, I am pretty sure this is one section that left my thighs aching for over three days! We didn't see the north stack lighthouse, perhaps if we go again we will head further over to have a look. We did pass some cool stone buildings, one was an outlook and I had a nosy, there was a QR code but no time for that, we were on a mission! We passed near Capel Llochwydd, which is an area that is being dug out to uncover ancient stoneworks from the Iron age- CADW are overseeing this. One thing I will say about Angelsey in general, it is covered in amazing ancient buildings and ruins. The hillside is wonderful, covered in stone and heather, and the sea was looking beautiful. So blue! We did see on the alltrails map Llyn Bloeddia, went for a nosy and maybe there was a stone or something in the centre of some bog, but we weren't sure, I think it is meant to be an old fort or something, but not much visible.
The wind was howling as we got to the top of Holyhead mountain, it was an odd walk, as you would be wandering along and turn and suddenly no wind, then next corner, it was back- I understand this is all positional, but it didn't always seem to be coming from the same direction! Whenever the sun ducked behind a cloud, it was very chilly, but lovely when it came back. Headed back uphill towards the trig point, stopped for some photos before heading off due to being blown away.
As well as a trig point, there is an old wall called Caer Yr Twr (fort of the pile/heap) this is believed to be left from the Roman times and was a watchtower- makes sense as it is the highest point on the island, great to monitor what is going on. All around there are remains of the rampart walls from the Iron age- I do think we need to go back and have a better look for these, as they cover an area of 17 acres, so plenty to spot.
I always enjoy a trig point photo, or cairn photo. Getting to the top, I bagged my 8th Marilyn! I have added the bumph from the Marilyn app for you to all enjoy. I claimed my first Marilyn on Anglesey, Mynydd Bodafon back in Sept of last year. Nice!
We wandered down the hill following a path, this deteriorated into a narrow rocky space that was steep, not enough space for two feet so quite awkward. I would look for another path down if I went back as this really slowed us down, I banged my thigh on a bit of rock sticking out that I missed as the heather was growing quite thick as well, nice bruise from that. I did feel my mood dip, I found this relentless and frustrating. Once back onto a bigger path, all was good. We wandered back on ourselves, but ended up sticking to the lanes on the way back to the car park, kept a nice pace and wandered over to the Holyhead Mountain Hut Circles to finish off the walk. These are also believed to be Iron age, Celtic most likely, people also suspect that the site may have been used from the Neolithic to Dark ages.
William Owen Stanley, the same bloke who made the tower for his wife, excavated the huts with Augustus Lane Fox from 1862- 1868. 20 buildings remain, it has been excavated on a couple more occasions since that first time. They did find coins and pottery in this area, determined to be from c. 1000BC. It was a nice place to wander and crazy to think that people have lived in this area for so many years! This site is open for a wander, just a wooden gate to get in. No photos, as they don't do it justice!
After this adventure, we were starving so found a chain restaurant close by for a quick and tasty lunch, a lovely hot choc as well to heat me up! I had wanted to go to St Dwynwen Island, which is found via Newborough beach, but we didn't have enough time. So we went to the beach, followed the sat nav and went into a pay car park, your car is scanned on the way in and you pay on the way out. Following a long track down, we found a huge car park, they had toilets there which is always a bonus. What a fab area, forest and sand all around! We followed a walking path, before heading to the beach. It was beautiful, the sun was still out and we could see mountains over the other side of the water, as well as St Dwynwen's Island- we will be back and we will get there! We spent about an hour here, before heading home. Anglesey, we will be back!
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