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.

Fire on the Llŷn!

While driving around the end of the peninsula the other day, we noticed that there were quite a few plumes of thick smoke rising from the upper areas of Mynydd Rhiw and its surrounding hills.

Alarming as these may seem, they are actually a normal occurrence around this time of year and are actually a deliberate tool of land management.  These slopes are covered in a distinctive mix of heather, bracken and gorse, which supports a unique mix of wildlife. Without a regular programme of burning the heather would first become woody and over grown, and then eventually be replaced by more and more shrubs and trees until the land reverted to forest which is the default state or "climax vegetation" for the British Isles. While woodland is, of course, attractive and desirable in itself with its own different mix of wildlife, maintaining the heather heathland in this way brings a rich variety to the landscape and enables it to support more and different wild species than it otherwise would. The fires generally move quickly and burn out fast, which prevents the soil and roots of the heather being damaged so it can quickly send up new green shoots. Traditionally these shoots were encouraged to provide food for shooting birds such as grouse, although I don't know if much shooting for sport goes on around here these days.

Usually only small sections are burnt at a time, giving rise to the stripes and patches of growth often seen on upland slopes. This allows wildlife to escape from a burning area.

Another 15 minutes of fame for Porthor

You may remember seeing Porthor, or Whistling Sands beach featured on the BBC programme Coast a few years ago. This kind of thing is always good for the area as it raises public awareness of it as a possible holiday destination. So, when Peter and I were asked for some advice on what to film by a TV production company doing a feature on walking the Wales Coast Path we were more than happy to help out. The programme will be coming out next spring on Channel 4 and this will be one of several segments in the programme including walks in Dorset and Pembrokeshire, each visited by a different celebrity. In the Llŷn's case this was Ben Fogle, who brought his very friendly one year old labrador Storm along for the walk.

Ben and Storm

The crew and their mountains of heavy equipment.

Ben doing an establishing shot.

Approaching Whistling Sands with the cafe visible in the distance.

The weather was a bit temperamental, but fortunately stayed dry enough for them to film. The first stop was the eastern end of Porthor beach.

Luckily the sand was dry enough to make its famous "squeak" when walked on.

The crew planned to carry on to Mynydd Mawr to take shots of the classic view of Bardsey before walking north to Porth Meudwy to interview Colin Evans, the Bardsey Boatman and then to Aberdaron itself. We're very much looking forward to seeing some of the peninsula's spectacular scenery on screen next year.

Cardiff woman beats off global competition to be named Bardsey Island Manager | News

Cardiff woman beats off global competition to be named Bardsey Island Manager | News

 Those of you who know Aberdaron are aware of how important Bardsey Island is to the area. As an important site for pilgrimage in North Wales, visiting it forms a natural climax for many of our walkers' holidays. The strenuous (but hopefully very enjoyable) journey along the coast path is completed, and their reward is a boat journey to this beautiful and peaceful island, where the nearest thing to noise pollution is the sound of seals barking their greetings to one another.

Consequently, we're very glad to see that management of the island will continue to be in the hands of people who love it as much as everyone here. Sian Stacey, from Cardiff, first visited the island at age 10, and years later met her partner Mark there who now works at the Bird Observatory. Sian beat off competition from 300 other applicants to earn the post.

“Bardsey has always played a big part in my life and I’m honoured and excited to be a part of Bardsey’s life now." said Sian during an interview in the Daily Post.
“It’s such a beautiful, rugged, rich in wildlife, tiny island which is steeped in history, being able to experience these things every day will be a huge privilege.
“I’m looking forward to living on Bardsey and being part of the island community, meeting the people who visit and stay on the island and working hard to make sure that everybody enjoys all that Bardsey has to offer.”

Sian will begin her stewardship of the island this autumn. Croeso i Enlli Sian!