Down in the Valley

In our last blog post we reported on how much the Wales Coast Path to the east of Aberdaron has been improved by moving it closer to the coast. While we were out we also checked out the section that connects Aberdaron to the start of the new route at Morfa Mawr. This path follows the river Daron at the bottom of its valley, and enables walkers to almost entirely avoid walking on tarmac roads. We walked it in an east to west direction back to Aberdaron. It's a very pleasant little valley, but the route can be muddy at this time of year. Walkers should take care as livestock can be found on some parts of the route.
After coming up from the coast we crossed the road at Morfa Mawr and followed the signposted route at the edge of the field to the kissing gate in the bottom left corner. We then continued downhill on the (at the moment muddy and slippery) slope to the bridge over the river itself.

This is the well-built wooden bridge that crosses the river Daron.

The river makes a few twists and turns as it lazily winds its way along the valley floor.

This was a particularly muddy section, but which should be dry in the summer.

As you can see it's quite a peaceful, pretty little valley.

This is where the route terminates back in the village. The path actually runs along the edge of the old, and now dry, mill-pond for the ruined water mill opposite the bakery.

It doesn't get much better...

The weather has been brilliant today. A frosty start but wall to wall sunshine and clear views. The entire staff of Edge of Wales Walk went out to test the new sections of the Wales Coast Path to the east of Aberdaron.

We started from the valley beyond Llanfaelrhys church with the intention of walking to the coast and then heading back to the office in Aberdaron. We started with a walk along the stream past the manganese mines. These were very active during the First World War. See following blog.

On reaching the sea the landscape opens up dramatically with coastal views to the left and right. We headed west over the bridge (don't be tempted to cross the stream before this point, keep to the east of the stream.)

Walkers now have the opportunity of walking down to Porth Ysgo beach itself. There is a very good, but extremely steep, wooden staircase that enables you to do this. I wouldn't try it with a push chair! There is a lot of driftwood here and some sand. There is also a beautiful waterfall. Views towards Bardsey are enticing.

There are just enough signs to get by. Look out for the wooden posts with a white painted top and the blue and yellow seashell logo of the Wales Coast Path. Beware of walking on past one of the new black kissing gates. If you find a kissing gate then it's a pretty good bet that you are meant to go through it.

This is a photo looking back eastward. The long flat topped hill in the distance is Penarfynydd; which translates to Head or End (Pen) of the (ar) Mountain (mynydd, mutated to fynydd).

Here is the rock known as Maen Gwenonwy. It has been said that this rock (Maen) was named after Queen Guinevere, wife of the (legendary?) King Arthur who fought Mordred at the battle of Camlan, which is supposed to have taken place nearby, at a farm now called Cadlan. The wounded King Arthur was then taken to Bardsey Island, (perhaps Avalon) for medical attention before (possibly) sailing off to run the kingdom of Brittany. Place name evidence has its limitations!

Congratulations to the WCP team for the high quality fittings on this route. The gates are excellent and all the gorse on the path itself has been removed.

One of the treats on the walk is to come across ponies who do a good job keeping down the grass and bracken. In summer this is also a good stop to see the dolphins, chough and cormorants. Today we saw the snow capped peak of Cadair Idris in the distance.

Most of the walk is not too demanding. With all of the wet weather we have had there were a few muddy sections, but generally the path is in good shape and a real effort has been made to cut back the vegetation.

The path rounds Penrhyn Mawr (the headland to the east of Aberdaron) and comes out on the cliffs above Aberdaron beach. It would have been nice to have been able to walk down to the beach and approach Aberdaron from the seashore, but these cliffs are unstable and it would require a ladder worthy of St. Jacob himself.

The path heads inland towards Morfa Mawr farm, where you have the option of walking back to Aberdaron along the tarmac lane or heading down into the Daron valley (see following blog).

This is a fine path and, together with the weather, made for an unforgettable day. The WCP team and Gwynedd Council deserve a big thanks for all their hard work in creating and maintaining this path.

Christmas Greetings from Aberdaron

Advent Sunday at Felin Uchaf

This is to wish all our customers a happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year! The striking photo above is of the Advent celebrations at the Iron Age roundhouse in Felin Uchaf - truly a magical way to start the Christmas season.

2015 has been a good year for us.

The Wales Coast Path continues to be upgraded by the local authorities with funding from the Welsh Assembly Government. The way is clearer and the signage is much better.

The coast path near Traeth Penllech. 

New for 2015 - a wonderful section which goes all the way along the coast from near Aberdaron to Rhiw. This is 8 miles of some of the best coastal scenery in the world and as good a reason as any for coming back to Aberdaron and enjoying this unspoiled and tranquil part of the world.

The WCP's distinctive "Dragon Shell" logo.

New route along the coast from Rhiw to Aberdaron.

In late October we were visited by a film crew preparing a program for Channel 4 about the walk around the Mynydd Mawr headland. We helped the crew research the route and gave some advice on what to see. The program will be presented by Ben Fogle (and his lovely Labrador puppy Storm) and should be broadcast in the spring.

Ben and Storm at Porth Oer

The film crew on Whistling Sands

Peter has made an investment in the future of the business by buying a disused shop in Uwchmynydd, west of Aberdaron. While the building may not seem terribly prepossessing at first glance, Peter has some big plans for it. First we will be running Llŷn Cycle Hire from here which will free up some space in Dolfor and Manaros. 

The old shop at Uwchmynydd. It has potential... very well hidden potential.

But the views from it are fabulous.

We’ve had some considerable success in letting out Glandwr cottage down in the village. Glandwr is owned by a friend of Peter’s family and we’ve been letting it out as self-catering holiday accommodation on his behalf. The property is a cosy little fisherman’s cottage directly opposite the slipway to the beach between St Hywyn’s church and the Ty Newydd Inn, and is an ideal getaway location for a small, budget conscious family or group of friends. Prices for a week’s rental start at £275 with short breaks also available. For more information see www.aberdaron-glandwr.co.uk.

Glandwr's situation in the village, opposite the beach.

Cosy living room.

Our nearest town Pwllheli has seen some substantial investment in the past year with the opening of the new sailing academy Plas Heli. We’re hoping that this will bring a lot more visitors to the area to take advantage of these new facilities.

The futuristic Plas Heli Centre at Pwllheli harbour.

The Edge of Wales Walk has had a very good year, with one of our busiest summers for years. We’ve been lucky enough to have several big groups from North America doing the walk that we put up in Manaros.

 

The Ontario Walking Club from Canada, led by Mr Colin Banfield

Gay Elliot and friends, also from Canada, enjoying a meal at Manaros.

The church has a new roof and a new vicar. Aberdaron is turning very much into a popular food centre which offers a variety of meals from special seafood supper at the Ship, a meal overlooking the beach at the Ty Newydd or a takeaway fish and chips in the Sblash restaurant overlooking the river or a fantastic takeaway pizza from Eleri Stores’ new kitchen at the back of the shop.

Looking forward to 2016, we are spending time and money upgrading Manaros, including buying some new bedroom furniture and repainting to keep things looking fresh and sharp.

We have extended our walking holidays southwards to Cardigan Bay, another magnificent area with some beautiful river valleys leading down to the sea. We can carry your bags all the way to Aberystwyth.

The mountains of Southern Snowdonia that form a stunning backdrop to the Coast Path in Ceredigion.

One of the beautiful estuaries that break up the coastline.

Bookings are proceeding nicely for Manaros, Glandwr and Edge of Wales Walk, so get in touch now to avoid disappointment! Our availability page is filling up but, as it happens, we do still have the Christmas period available up until the morning of the 27th. We are offering the 6 nights beginning Monday the 21st for £900. You can phone us to book this, or any other period of interest in Manaros or on the walking route on 01758 760652, or you can email us. You will be assured of a warm welcome!

Great Weekend of Adventure

Visit Wales are organising a Great Weekend of Adventure on the 2nd and 3rd of April 2016 as part of their "Year of Adventure" activities. As part of this they are encouraging Welsh tourism businesses to offer special activities and offers on those dates.

We at Edge of Wales Walk have decided to run an Introduction to Geocaching here in Aberdaron. For those uninitiated into geocaching or "muggles" as they are otherwise known, Geocaching is a terrifically fun way to motivate kids to get out into the countryside by encouraging them to find hidden "treasure" using GPS technology. In reality the treasure chest is usually a Tupperware box containing little trinkets like key-rings and toys left by other players, but that certainly doesn't diminish the challenge and excitement of hunting for them. Traditionally on finding a cache you take something you like, but leave a new object behind of equal value for the next person, so there is a strong community and sharing aspect to the game.

To whet people's appetite for the game, we plan to create some new caches around the end of the peninsula and along the newly opened stretch of the Coast Path south of Rhiw, and invite people to be earn the prestigious title of "First to Find". We will also place some goodies of various sorts in the caches which early visitors will get to keep.

On the weekend itself we will be leading an introduction to geocaching event and will lend some of our GPS units to participants so they can try out hunting for the caches for themselves.

If you would like to participate then please get in touch with us by email at enquiries@geocachingwales.co.uk.

Aberdaron's Wild Weather makes the news again

Storm Barney has blasted its way across Britain, hot on the heels of Storm Abigail, and once again Aberdaron has made the evening news as one of the windiest places in Britain. Gusts of up to 85 miles per hour were recorded on Tuesday night. The wind is still strong, with choppy seas at the moment.

Fortunately we don't seem to have had any disruption to power supplies here, but sadly my tv aerial is currently dangling on its wire.

Aberdaron does seem to regularly make it into the list of windiest locations in these kind of storms, due no doubt to our exposed position at the end of a peninsula. But a bit of wind is a small price to pay for living in such a stunning area.

Christmas is coming!

2015 has been a vintage year in Manaros with practically 100 per cent occupancy Easter through to Bonfire night. Twixmas and New year have also been sold. But mid November through to the day after Boxing Day is all vacant. This means that you could still come for a low cost break this Autumn or bring the whole family for Christmas. The house can be fully decorated, the local celebrations and religious activities are a joy to attend and both the Ty Newydd and the Ship Hotels will be offering fantastic meals. And we have all the kit for a great Christmas feast at Manaros. See www.aberdaroncottage.co.uk for a 360 degree tour of the property and our availability page.

Our Autumn rates are £352 for a 3 night break, £416 for a 4 night break and £595 for a 7 night break. Our Christmas period begins on Saturday the 19th of December, and our rates are £589 for 3 nights, £732 for 4 nights and £1155 for 7 nights. If you would like to book please phone Peter or Simon on 01758 760 652.

Calling all sea lovers- or lovers of the sea!

Here is a chance for you to shape policy. Everyone likes walking by the sea. But, do we want to be looking out at wind farms, fish farms, waste dumps, oil rigs, gas pipelines and sewage farms? Well, now's the time to have your say. The Welsh Government is developing a Welsh National Marine Plan to ensure that any development on the Welsh coast or out to see happens in a sustainable way. To that end they are holding a number of drop in sessions around the country to invite Welsh citizens to share their views and concerns. These sessions are being held at the following locations and dates:

Flintshire - Friday 6th November, 3-7pm. Flint Library, Flint, CH6 5AP

Pembrokeshire - Monday 9th November, 3-7pm. Fishguard Bay Hotel, Goodwick, SA64 0BT

Swansea - Thursday 12th November, 3-7pm. Swansea Grand Theatre, Swansea, SA1 3QJ

Ceredigion - Monday 16th November, 3-7pm. Bellevue Royal Hotel, Aberystwyth, SY23 2BA

Gwynedd - Thursday 19th November, 3-7pm. Penrhyn Meeting Room, Reichel Building, Bangor University, Bangor, LL57 2TR

From the Welsh Government Press Release -

"If you have an interest in the Marine area, onshore or offshore, whether it's watersports, fishing, conservation, renewable energy or any other concern and want to have a say in how the Marine Plan is shaped, why not come along to one of the drop-in sessions being hosted around the country?"

If you would like more information then you can also follow this link to the Welsh Government website.