Criccieth to Pwllheli – Wales Coast Path

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I get out of bed feeling grumpy – “Llwyr fy mhenol” we would say in Welsh – translated “ dragging my backside”.

I woke up at 3am with the rain had been lashing against my bedroom window.

It is very murky in the pre dawn – we drive to Criccieth in silence. Lucy is as enthusiastic about the forthcoming walk as I am.

It gets you like that sometimes – will it be lashing rain, shall we put it off until tomorrow? The castle looks dark and forbidding this morning as the waves lash against the beach front. Hard to believe that people were swimming in the sea the previous day.

Donning our wet weather gear; I opted for wellies instead of boots – we head off!

Up the hill with the castle to our left, along the promenade with the B&B and hotels on our right. The signposting has been great, if occasionally discreet, during these few stages of our walk.

We are very quickly on a path beside a field, the waves crashing below. I am rather glad we are on a raised path.

We welcome the duckboards along Afon Dwyfor, the river is running high, and ducks and wild geese are crowded on a small island in the centre. My mood lifts, it’s not a bad day after all, the winter sun is trying to make an appearance.

Over a railway bridge, and down a lane passing a farm onto the main road, after half a mile I become grumpy again! The traffic noise is intrusive and we had passed Llanystumdwy. I wished I had made a detour to the village to see the childhood home and burial place of David Lloyd George, it would have broken the monotony of this stretch.

Lucy and I had a positive conversation about the difficulty of designing a Coast Path, the need to cross rivers, accommodate land owners, terrain etc. So we excused the need to take in the A497, but we’re glad to turn off at Afon Wen.

A chocolate Labrador pup with a very deep bark bounded up to us as we reached the railway bridge. Lovely dogs labradors.

I was glad I had opted for wellies the path leading to Hafan y Mor was a bit mucky. The large caravan park here(used to be Butlins until 1987, now owned by Haven) is not very intrusive from the Coast.

Around Pen y Chain we go, the only rise in a very flat walk, down and across a very long beach Morfa Abererch – a combination of sand dune, pebbles and sand walking. This beach leads us to Pwllheli passing the very fine harbour development and around the promenade of the Inner Harbour straight to Pwllheli railway station and the neat ride on the Cambrian railway back to Criccieth, with a number of happy lady shoppers,

All in all not the most inspiring, mainly due to the stretch along the main road and the threat of rain, but both of us very satisfied that we had completed yet another 11 miles along the Wales Coast Path


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