Touring North Wales

The flight from America touches down at Manchester Airport, in England for sure, but the nearest international airport to North Wales. Liverpool Airport is probably nearer but it does not have the international air traffic that Manchester has.   You have arrived in the early morning  to allow you time to make the coach drive into North Wales. Your drive takes you through North Cheshire, in England, down the A55, the coast road from which you get views of the sea and the Welsh Mountains. I always like it when I approach the mountains and  see the cloud covered summits. The time when you get a clearer view of the mountains is as you approach your destination, and at this point you will soon see Anglesey, which you will visit. 

You are aiming for Llandudno, a  lovely cultured town with fine architecture in its sweeping sea front. You will be  impressed by the stylish town which stands on the side of a steep limestone headland, called the Great Orme, that towers over it. Visitors may ascend the six hundred  feet to  the summit by the tram, which is powered by chains, or the cable car. The summit allows for easy walking, and there is a cafe and a gift shop at the top. From the summit of the Orme you can get good views of the mountains of North Wales.  A good footpath leads down to the road that runs round the lower slopes and which comes out near the pier, which is busy with amusements, but there is one shop that retails cheddar cheeses, which I always visit when we go to the town. A boat trip around the headland, the Great Orme can be purchased, and you will see seals and a range of sea birds, puffins and cormorants among others. The town has good restaurants and there is a theatre that offers evening entertainment.

Anglesey is the isle that the Welsh call Mona. It is accessed by two bridges that span the narrow, but fast flowing channel of the Menai Straits, a channel whose waters are so fast and powerful that you are strongly advised not to swim. Tonight you are staying at Beaumaris, [pronounced BYoomaris] a lovely, quiet seaside town centred on two streets and possessing a castle built by the Normans. Spend some time enjoying the character of the town, but try to get a boat tour around Puffin Island, an islet off the northern shore of the main island. Boat trips are arranged subject to weather, but you are making this trip in summer when it is fine. 

Puffin Island was once home to a thriving puffin colony, which  was destroyed when rats from a ship wrecked on the coast escaped and swam ashore. In later years the rats were exterminated by poisoning and puffins were restored. They now form part of the animal population of the island, along with gulls, cormorants and shag. But look out for the seals, whose inquisitive snouts jut out of the waves to inspect the tourists. When I took the tour the boat crew were very helpful with my disability, and I received plenty of help in getting ashore at the quayside. 

An interesting place on Anglesey not far away from the coastal villages of Beaumaris and Porth Aethwy, the latter of which is known as Menai Bridge, is Plas Newydd [New Place] which is a small stately home with large tracts of woodland and some green lawn space. The woodland makes for a charming sylvan walk along well-designed paths. Moreover, the site of house and grounds overlooks the Menai Strait and over and beyond them the mountains of Snowdonia are visible, making for a beautiful panorama. 

If you have time in Anglesey, perhaps two days, you might take in Newborough, a large woodland home to a red squirrel population, though recently a squirrel disease has wrought some damage. You can walk up the sandy beach at low tide until you reach an island with the ruins of a mediaeval church destroyed at the Reformation. Newborough beach is a fine walk, but make sure you make a note of your exit point, as you could get lost. But there is no danger'

Alternatively you might visit Plas Cadnant, the hidden garden, a garden and stretch of woodland off the road coming out of Porth Aethwy. It is well worth visiting for its beautiful flowers and pleasant wooded areas. There is a tiny bookshop on the high street at Porth Aethwy which retails volumes on  Wales and Welsh culture.

Having crossed the Menai Straits again you might take in a visit to Caernarvon Castle on the coast, constructed by the warlord Edward the First to subdue the Welsh.  You will be awed at the Great stone edifice  constructed in the thirteenth century  that exudes power and grandeur. Or you might visit Penrhyn Castle, not a genuine mediaeval structure but a nineteenth century stately home  built to resemble a castle and now used as a tourist resource.

Yet you are not far from Llanberis pass, a famous rock climbing ground and the beginning of several walking routes up Snowdon. Llanberis is popular with tourists and there are tourist facilities in what is a pleasant village. Some visitors take advantage of the visit to go to the honey farm and shop, which sells honey products, including fermented honey,  known as mead. My daughter, who lives on Anglesey once brought me a Christmas present of a bottle of mead from that shop. It was delightful. Other shops sell Welsh products, where you might obtain Welsh pastries and cheeses

But the attraction of Llanberis is the route up Snowdon, Yr Wyddfa in Welsh. There is a foot route going up the mountain from Lanberis, but there is also the mountain railway, a small, narrow gauge engine that hauls up pasengers from Llanberis station to near the summit. The train ascenďs to a halfway station where you change tràins and make for the summit at about 3560 feet. When on the summit stick to the paths, as at one side there is s  steep cliff. But you can enjoy the views. Sometimes the cloud is as low as just over 3000 feet and you feel that you are on an island in which only high summits poke through an ocean of cloud. You can also get a meal or a snack in the cafe on the summit. It is a .gòod journey to make,

At  other times you can take a walk on the Lleyn Peninsula and enjoy the peaceful scenery of North Wales. Or you can go to the model village of Porth Merion, an architectural treasure designed for the enjoyment of a great architect. You can enjoy the buildings, splash in a shallow bathing pool and walk in peaceful woodlands. Or you can spend some time relaxing  on Sandy beaches, which Wales  has a good supply. Wales is worth a visit.

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