We travelled here on Friday after a one night stop over near an old friend who lives in Stoke-on-Trent. We have 6 nights here before moving over to Snowdonia. So we have plenty of time to explore the Anglesey coastline. Getting up for sunrise (at 4am) isn’t very likely, so we planned to look for potential sunset locations. Our first spot was a lighthouse on the eastern tip of the island at Penmon Point. There is a toll charge of a few pounds for a car to travel the last few miles, but £7.50 for a Van and £12.50 for a motorhome (ouch). But the reason became apparent when we arrived. A lot of people camp overnight with many people taking their fishing gear. The café nearby would do very well with the breakfast trade as well.
When the tide is in, all the foreground around the Trwyn Du Lighthouse is covered by the sea as we discovered when we returned for sunset. The island offshore is Puffin Island, but it is protected and only boat trips around it, give any chance to see the wildlife. We had a light lunch in the café before heading up to the north of the island. Note: the toll charge is for the day, so we could return later without paying again.
Our next stop was Traeth Porth Wen Beach which has an old disused brickyard adjacent to the beach. Parking however was very tricky as it is reached via a narrow lane from the main road. There is parking at the junction but then we’d have several more miles to walk (not a tempting prospect whilst carrying our old dog). Unfortunately there was a film crew at the brickyard, so it was closed to the public for several weeks. So we just continued to the beach for the view.
Meanwhile Vanessa tried to capture a lovely little Stonechat that was keeping us company.
As we couldn’t visit the brickworks (which seems popular by the number of people we saw trying to get access) we moved onto the North Stack Lighthouse
Car parking was free for us as we were RSPB members which is adjacent to Elin’s Tower and gives a good vantage point for the lighthouse. It is possible to venture onto the peninsula at a charge, but dogs weren’t allowed, however this wasn’t our intention.
The first image was a basic photo, whereas the second image I slowed the shutter speed down to blur the water. We returned to the café at the carpark only to find it had just closed. So headed back to the motorhome for our evening meal before heading off again for our sunset location.
Unfortunately the sun disappeared behind a layer of cloud for the last 30 minutes before sunset, but that is the norm for us photographers.
Bateson's Travel log 