Lytham Circular Walk

Date Walked: 15 May 2021

Start Point: Ballam Road Car Park, adjacent to Park View Playing Fields (OS ref: SD366276) Various other start points can be picked around the route

Distance: 6.5miles approx.

Route: 

1. Head over the bridge across brook at west side of car park. Follow path through Park View Playing Fields. Just before road, follow path in park north. At school, cross the road towards wooded area Green Drive north. 
2. Follow path through wooded trail. At end of wood, cross road and follow road south-west over railway bridge. Turn left to walk north up main road, cross at crossing and continue north until boat yard. 
3. Join Lancashire Coastal Way to right of boat yard. Follow track around grassed area, along estuary inlet to main road.
4. Turn left on main road, then left again at convenience store on corner of Dock Road. Follow roadside path to Victory Boulevard, then follow roadside path on Victory Boulevard to Vanguard Wharf. Head through metal gate on to estuary walk path.
5. Follow concrete path to steps, head down steps and follow faint path east then north-east before climbing small steps to promenade. Turn left to walk east along promenade past windmill. Take short detour up jetty.
6. Back on promenade, walk left past Ribble Cruising club then turn right before Lytham Green Car Park towards town centre. Through Clifton Square piazza, turn left to walk east along main road until you reach Lowther Gardens.
7. Cross diagonally south-east through gardens and cross road to Lytham Green and promenade. Walk east along promenade until path on right towards dead-end road. Head north up this road, across two main roads to gate posted private road. 
8. Walk up private road into wooden track and over railway bridge through to housing estate. In estate, turn right on Ringwood Close then cross to Maplewood Close, then through opening. Past the opening head north and see gates for Lytham Hall back entrance. Explore grounds of hall.
9. Leave Lytham Hall on main drive at south-west corner of the main hall building. Follow drive until gate house. Turn left after gate house and follow roadside path back to car park.

Lytham is my home town. I don't live there now but I went to school there, my family live there, I work there. I wanted to do a route that covered everything there is to see in the town, from the renovated hall, to the wonderfully developed playing fields, the somewhat hidden docks and the iconic windmill. I think this walk achieves that.

Most visitors to Lytham will know the main features of the walk, Lytham Green and Clifton Square for sure. If you're taking kids with you then you might want to leave Park View until last as they'll want to play there. Although the opening to the dock side path isn't too enticing, once you're around the boat yard and can see the views out from the main drain it's a worthwhile part of the walk, that most visitors wouldn't ordinarily take in - it's not an area I'd even fully explored before this walk. 

Once in the square, there's loads of food options. When we did this walk the new Fino Tapas was just being renovated, but if it's as good as there Preston restaurant then it will be great. Bosco just over the square is where me and my wife had our first date. There's plenty of other choice too. And, there is The Craft House at the west end of the main shopping stretch or The Taps on Henry Street just off the square if you want a good beer. There are also cafes at Lowther Gardens or Lytham Hall for more scenic refreshments, or Lytham Green is perfect for a picnic.

Lytham includes a two-mile stretch of the southern end of the Lancashire Coastal Way. It was drawn up before the Lytham Quays housing development introduced a neat estuary side path between the promenade and the docks. So anyone wanting to religiously follow the route of the LCW will miss out on this part in favour of seeing a new build medical centre and office block. Basically, the LCW needs adjusting to take in the better path that this route follows. Currently Lytham Green is a fairly unique part of the LCW. There are other marshy parts to the walk that you get below the green, and certainly some more traditional beaches, but nothing quite like the grassy green itself along with it's jetty, windmill and old lifeboat station.

 

White Edge, Curbar Edge & Froggatt Edge

'Thunderbolts and lightning, but edges are exciting'

Date: 25 August 2012                                         Start time: 12:43

Start point: Longshaw National Trust car park, Peak District - SK255777

Walkers: Mark Illingworth, Emma Lever

Distance: 8.73miles                                           Time: 3:34:33

Route: Leave car park back up track to road. Turn L towards and past Grouse Inn. After bend, cross road R and head through gate to walk E uphill to White Edge Lodge up ahead on moor. Walk around R of house and keep E to gate with wall L. Turn L then immediately R to follow track across moor to gate by road. Turn around and take path W-SW away from road. Following obvious track, continue until you reach stone outcrop at wall junction, named on OS map as 'Hurkling Stone'. Follow wall W with wall L to gap in with wooden signpost. Take path to L marked 'Curbar Gap' that follows White Edge. Follow path, with moor to your L and edge drop to your R. Cut L after a little over 1 mile or so up to trig point then head back to edge path continuing S past field system below R. Path drops a little and splits - take R turn heading SW to Curbar Gap car park. Take steps in NW corner of car park. Turn L at top of steps then R up to kissing gate. Through gate, follow obvious path N with edge L along Curbar Edge and Froggatt Edge. Keep on obvious path through gate into wood and emerge at road. Walking E a few yards, cross road and take gate. Footpath drops to stream then rises to wood at foot of car park.

Weather: Remarkable. Filthy dark clouds surrounded us, rain could be seen in valleys all around us, thunder rumbled, Emma saw a flash of lightning, but we only got a little rain - five minutes of light shower at most. I still can't believe we didn't get soaked. It was pretty warm, some blue sky, even a little humid in amongst the bracken ferns and trees. Visibility was patchy in the distance because of all the rain around.

Notes: I've always said Country Walking Magazine route guides should start with an animal warning section, just so you know what to expect. We weren't expecting cows straight away, and with our fear of cows we crossed the wild uneven heather and grass covered off-piste route for the first section of the walk. The hills were liberally covered and coloured by vibrant purple heather - I didn't feel so bad walking over a small part of this, but it did work the legs more.

Then came the almost pointless trudge over White Edge Moor. Sometimes religiously following someone else's route without any re-con can lead to this. We did see a county boundary stone to add some interest, and found a nice place to eat lunch - until Emma realised there were some ants hard at work along the stones we were sat on. It was a nice place to sit and spot blue sky above whilst watching dark clouds dip into every valley around.

Next came White Edge, a Peak District edge I'd never heard of before, but maybe because its not really an edge as such - its set in the middle of the moor. Still, some splendid rocky gritstone outcrops and lovely smelling forna around, with a shiny white trig point to boot. 

Curbar Edge is where it really starts to feel like a Peak District edge, with a steep sharp drop to a green valley complete with river and road and lots of trees hugging around the smattering of buildings. There were plenty of rocky outcrops and overhangs to pause on for photo-ops - the 'Bolt' and 'Mo-Bot' were pulled in honour of the Olympics. I'm not sure where Curbar Edge becomes Froggatt Edge, as you follow one continuous tourist and family friendly path combing the two edges. If I could make any distinction, maybe Froggatt had more boulderous outcrops and was more wooded at the base. Either way, it was a delightful trek which featured a few interesting additions - most notably and intriguingly, a small herd of mountain heffers all hairy and nonchalant as they blocked the path, with one renegade member of the group hanging out by the edge. 

Below, just over the river from Froggatt we could hear the music of a brass band and saw a makeshift car park in a field close to a large stately home type building. Co-incidentally, whilst I was initially writing this up, Emma was watching Caroline Quentin's BBC2 show 'Restoration Home' which featured what we believe to be this building we saw - Stoke Hall, which was lovingly and painstakingly restored by an artisan craftsman, as much as labourers and tradesmen. The event that drew the bands and crowds this day was the Froggatt Show. This was not Caroline Quentin related. 

As well as the crowds in the village, it was also crowded on the edge in some areas. A 'Hollywood' name, comfortable tourist path and close proximity car parking at either end usually means something we dread on a walk - FAMILIES, WITH CHILDREN, AND DOGS! Altogether, an unruly group of outdoor 'enthusiasts'. The most unruly dog we met this day went by the name of Biscuits. It seemed more interested in chasing us off White Edge than obeying its owner.

There was a Leeds fan who must have seen the '3-in-a-row' Wembley loss coming because he was far from a TV at about the same time 'Abide with me' would be ringing around Wembley Stadium.

There was also a hairy caterpillar I would like to look into further - and I feel my flora and forna identification skills really need improvement too.

Malham

'No summits but plenty of sights'

Date: 12 August 2012                                       Start time: 11:22

Start point: Yorkshire Dales Visitor Centre, Malham - SD899626

Walkers: Mark Illingworth, Emma Lever

Distance: 11.67miles                                       Time: 5:05:54 

Route: Turn L out of Visitor Centre car park then cross road R opposite pub and follow 'Pennine Way' S out of village. After kissing gate, follow path L into National Trust wooded area and up around Janet's Foss waterfall all the way to road. Turn R on road, walk past lay-by and take gate L into campsite. Follow path N through camp site to Gordale Scar. Retrace steps back to road, turn R and take path behind lay-by through gate. At wall, head through gate R and go uphill to stile at gap in wall. Continue N up steep hillside then follow top E to steps at top of N chamber of Gordale Scar. Descend steps down to see upper chamber then retrace up steps and take wall stile on path NW. Follow path NW through field to intersection of walls. Head over wall stile and take stoney track N towards Great Close Plantation. Take path around N of plantation towards Malham Tarn. Follow 'Pennine Way' S-SW to car park for tarn. Cross road, head to gate R then follow 'Pennine Way' S to Ing Scar Crag. After descending to valley below, follow path SSE to Malham Cove through gate stile. Turn R and walk over limestone pavement to top of stepped path down. At bottom, head L through gate to see face of Malham Cove before picking up obvious path S away from cove to meet road. Follow road back through village to car park.

Weather: Blustery though not cold. Overcast with the odd very light spot of rain. Blue sky was rare. Immediate visability was ok but long rang visibility was hazy and poor.

Notes: The Country Walking Magazine route we followed was called Malham Cove, but that takes something away from the rest of the natural wonder you walk through, by and over on this walk, so I felt a wider name was deserved.

The first stop is Janet's Foss Waterfall (Foss being the Nordic for Force). A fairly powerful downfall in the midst of a pleasant National Trust maintained wood. The pool at the bottom was a family gathering area - an enthusiastic dog splashing was more enjoyable than the noise of children though. Possibly the ruining feature of this site is its too near a road. Families, lazy people, and even pushchairs can get there. But I shouldn't let that cast a shadow over an impressive natural feature. The waterfall has a strange 'wall' behind it that looks like mineral deposits that have built up. It prevents you from standing under the fall where the fairy Janet apparently resided in a cave.

Gordale Scar deserves the star treatment it gets on the OD Explorer map. Having never been here before we weren't sure what to expect as we head through a campsite, on to a clear path, that disappears round a corner into a limestone crevasse. What we saw was a massive WOW moment. Sheer and overhanging rock faces narrowing and channeling to a water forged drop with waterfalls stepped one on top of the other. Climbers head up the beyond vertical walls of the scar. Adventurous walkers could scramble through the waterfall to the upper chamber. I sat and watched a couple of guys do it. I consider myself an adventurous walker, but this looked beyond me with all the water. I'd blame it on my heavy lunch and waterproofs loaded backpack or on Emma's lack of skills, but really, I think it looked a bit dicey and I was scared off the idea. A steep hill climb and quick stepped descent was our was to the upper chamber and this way you got great views down into Gordale Scar from high up. The limestone valley at the top was equally wonderous, if not as striking as the scar below.

Malham Tarn is a national nature reserve, but obviously not a reserve for fish because we saw a few boats out there fishing - I didn't know you were allowed to fish in a nature reserve. It would've been better if you could shoot the ducks, they were annoying me. People must feed them often as a couple of them approached us repeatedly after out sandwiches, but we managed to shoo them away. We couldn't shoo away quickly enough the puppy handled by a family of absolute clownshoes as it climbed all over Emma. We sat on the eastern shore of the tarn, which is where the footpath goes, but maybe not the best for views. Especially in the dull hazy weather with no distant visibility. We had Highfolds Scar to the north in the corner of our eyes but Great Close Hill behind might have made a more interesting visual backdrop to our picnic stop.

Ing Scar doesn't get the star treatment on the map. Its a little smaller than Gordale Scar and the dry little limestone valley it creates down to Malham Cove might well be missed by most visitors to the area aside from Pennine Wayers and those particularly keen to walk up to the tarn. This is a shame as it is no less wondrous than the rest of the limestone creations nature has given us in this corner of the Dales.

Malham Cove rounds off the walk of wonders we went on and does so in spectacular style. This place, remarkably, lies off access land, but you wouldn't know it. There are people everywhere. And its clear why. The limestone pavement is the finest high level example of this type of scenery around. It isn't completely clear of grasses and certainly feature plenty of plant life in it's cracks, but the rocks are pretty bare and a little other worldly. The touristy path up, the amount of children and non-walkers would annoy me in many places, but this place isn't just a 'highest peak' like the Ben or Snowdon, its a real natural wonder. People should come and see it - all sorts of people. That's just on the top too. When you get to the bottom you get another WOW moment when you look up at the white chalky limestone cliff face. You might be lucky enough to see a falcon or two in the right time of year as well.

This truly was a walk of wonders and worth tripping around despite the crowds in places.

Criccieth to Porthmadog

'One walk, two towns and the number three bus'

Date: 9 July 2012                                            Start time: 12:13

Start point: Tyn-y-Gwynt Guest House, Criccieth - SH499377

Walkers: Mark Illingworth, Emma Lever

Distance: 9.37miles                                         Time: 4:23:02

Route: Turn L out of guest house door and follow street down to promenade / beach. Cross road at RNLI Station and take steps down on to beach. Continue from sand on to pebbled coastline and keep heading E / ESE. At Graig Dhu climb up headland and walk around caravan site to road. Follow road NE as it winds down past campsite then turn down first road on your R. Follow this road S and keep going forward down sandy track to beach when road turns sharp L. On beach, turn L and follow beach E minding out for cars and streams coming from caravan park which is behind dunes. Follow beach to Ynys Cyngar headland. Climb up and follow signposted coastal path above sandy cove with golf course L. At slipway, take stepped path rising steeply ahead then follow way marked coastal path along green cliff tops E past Pen y Banc nature reserve and round the estuary coastline into Borth-y-Gest. Walk N through car park then turn R to go across beach. Take slowly rising path at E of beach and emerge at road. Go L on to the road then take second R off road, that appears as a straight ahead lane. Come out on road next to harbour and disused railway area. Follow this NNE to emerge at Porthmadog harbour, head W towards bridge. Turn R on bridge then R after the bridge to the harbour train station.

Weather: Fairly warm, I was comfortable in shorts. Sunny spells but mostly cloudy. Brief light drizzle. Visibility across Cardigan Bay was relatively good, as it was back to Criccieth across Black Rock Sands.

Notes: The first thing you see is Criccieth Castle (http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/criccieth-castle/?lang=en). We took a tour and it's exhibitions of the castle before starting the walk. The castle itself is quite ruined but some interesting features remain. The two towers are the most obvious, complete with arrow loops and clearly marked floors. A chimney, some other rooms and a catapult pit also remain. The exhibitions were an alright enhancement to add the value for money factor. There was one about other Welsh castles and one about Gerald of Wales who did things during the Crusades and translated books by the looks of it.

We stopped quickly at Cudwaladers Ice Cream Cafe (http://www.cadwaladersicecream.co.uk/). That was nice, they were all over the area and this was the founding location. The only problem was I finished my tub after the last bin on Criccieth Beach and we had a mile of pebbles to walk before we reached the next bins on Black Rock Sands. 

Moel-y-Gest with its lion like shape was the background to this whole section of the walk

Black Rock Sands is an interesting beach - no whistling sand, but impressive none the less for its size alone. It was the most akin to beaches we have at home (St Annes, Blackpool etc.) of what we saw on this holiday, but one major difference was cars were allowed to drive on to and along the beach. There were also two major interruptions to the beach road where streams ran out to the sea, deep enough to go above the ankles. There was no black rock on the beach, just golden sands, so I assume the name comes from the dark cliffs at the west end of a couple of miles of sand and the rocks breaking out into the estuary on the east end. Despite what Wikipedia says, Coldplay's 'Yellow' music video wasn't filmed on this beach, but its more believable that the Manics 'This is my Truth, Tell me Yours' album sleeve photo was taken here - the wide sand, distant hills, and tyre tracks in the sand does resemble Black Rock Sands.

There was another links golf course that we got very close to, but Porthmadog's club wasn't as exciting as Nefyn's - although one green was above a brilliant little beach cove. The path that rose from this beach was a bit tougher than expected with our tired legs from days of walking, and don't be fooled by the signposts for viewing points, they aren't any better views than you get from the path.

Borth-y-Gest was next. It had a street of Balamory coloured cottages and a beach that was more estuary sludge than sand, but it actually looked quite nice with dry docked little boats. The newsagents selling beach toys and inflatables seemed rather optimistic and gave some amusement. I'm not sure what amused the gentleman who shared an observation in Welsh with us, maybe it was the dingy and alligator on sale in the shop, but maybe not. We stopped here for afternoon tea. It was a welcome break but not the most welcome I felt on the trip. Welsh was loudly spoken in the cafe behind us and a baby was making a racket in the room above the shop.

Porthmadog habour with yachts and steam train was the nicest part of the destination town for our linear walk, although some architecture was interestingly odd, with external ladders appearing to be used as staircases. Odder than this was the obsession the region has with pebble dash. As you walk away from the harbour this place gets less interesting. We couldn't find anywhere exciting to eat and the only decent thing to look at was a big church on the way out of town. The closest we got to excitement was running for the bus.

Notes on Criccieth: The B&B 'Tyn-y-Gwynt' (http://www.tyn-y-gwynt.com/)was very pleasant and was right smack in front of the castle, which I thought was great. Sadly our room was at the back so we didn't have a castle view. We did have a view of the cliff that was placed right between the town's high street and promenade. The garden was alive with colour and songbirds. The en-suite was excellent, everything seemed quite new and well thought out and deliberate, right down to the binder with information on local places to eat or visit. The owner Sally was very nice and friendly. There was some mystery about her back story - she was originally from Birmingham and has adult children still living there, but there was no Mr Sally we saw and no explanation of how she got to owning a guest house in Criccieth, though I'm sure its a story she would share. She had nice dogs too. The only drawback for me was the shared breakfast table, but the breakfast was very nice. Sally did some sauteed potatoes instead of hash browns, but unfortunately there was no black pudding.

The town was quite nice, but it was made by the scenery, beach and castle. It had a few pubs but we only went the The Prince of Wales. The beer was nice, the prices were reasonable and the staff were pleasant enough.

The town seemed to do food pretty well, there were plenty of options - apart from on Sundays and Mondays when a few places were closed, which incidentally were the days we were there. Seafood and fish was prevalent, probably because the town is right by the sea. Prices weren't cheap. On the Sunday we ate at 'Spice Bank'. It was an Indian inside an old bank building. The renovated building was very nice with beams and wood panelling and big fire places. The prices were reasonable, the food was alright, but the staff were a bit too keen. On the Monday we ate at 'Poachers Restaurant' (http://www.poachersrestaurant.co.uk/). This was very nice and strongly recommended. It wasn't cheap but the food deserved the prices that were slightly higher than we would normally pay. We had the set menu - 2 courses for about £16. All the food was very nice, so much so we had to try a dessert too. The only real criticism was the drinks prices, they took the mick a little there, but I'd definitely go back if I was in the area.

I think the only thing left is the trip home. We had two stop offs - Portmeirion and Gwydir Castle.

Portmeirion is quite frankly one of the most ridiculous places I've ever been to. Its like Florence and Balamory had a love child of a town and left it somewhere it should never belong. Basically, some bloke who wears plus fours wanted to put every type of old architecture in one place where they don't really fit, paints them loads of colours and sticks loads of uncoordinated statues everywhere and anywhere with no sort of order. The bloke dresses like a cross between an old golfer and a farmer and clearly has a style of his own, but thinks this is so stylish and beautiful that the town has to be made. To afford all this he had to make a hotel and cottages to let out. Unbelievably people thought it was a worthwhile venture and here it stands today costing £10 an adult to get in to essentially gawp at the nonsense. The most ridiculous thing might have been the 'lighthouse' I think, although I could list more, like the car-train thing you do a tour of the gardens and woods in, but back to the lighthouse - it wasn't really a lighthouse, but you walk half a mile to discover this. Its only on an estuary so isn't really needed and it doesn't have a light in it so wouldn't be of use even if it was needed. If it did have a light you probably wouldn't see it from the water because the structure is so small and short and under a lush canopy of trees. It was awful and pointless. From this you'd think I didn't enjoy the trip here. Actually, it was something hilariously stupid, pointless and at times a little ugly, that I really enjoyed seeing it. The fact that so many people go and hardly any can actually think it is nice amazes me, but all should at least find it ridiculously funny and weird that it holds some wonder.

Gwydir Castle isn't a castle, its an old sort of stately home or hall or something from medieval times, but despite the name being wrong, the place is very impressive (http://www.gwydircastle.co.uk/home.htm). It has well manicured gardens with roaming peacocks and centuries old oak trees. Inside, it has been faithfully restored to its former ways with authentic artifacts from the times of its glory and wood panelling that belonged to the house in the past, was sold to someone in America thus avoiding destruction in a fire at the house, and then bought back as part of the restoration chronicled by the book Castles in the Air. It was very impressive and interesting. This was a nice way to round out the holiday and a special treat for Emma after having her walking around lots all week. All in all we liked Criccieth a lot, we enjoyed the last day trip and it was a really nice holiday. I think we should try and have a holiday like this, exploring a different area of the UK to walk that we can't just day trip to, every year.

Nefyn Coastal walk

'Beaches and cliffs in equal measure'

Date: 8 July 2012                                         Start time: 10:14

Start point: Caeau Capel Hotel, Nefyn - SH306407

Walkers: Mark Illingworth, Emma Lever

Distance: 9.19miles                                      Time: 3:38:35

Route: Turn R out of hotel drive and take path L just after gate. Follow path to coastal cliff top then onto road. Follow road R then cross road ahead at T junction and take upper path along cliff tops that starts next to 'turreted' house. Follow this path round cliff tops out to point of Penhryn Nefyn and along to road that drops R to beach at Morfa Nefyn. Go down to beach and walk W across sands. Walk past houses and a pub at Porth Dinllian and take path over rocks to lifeboat station. Follow path up towards coastguard lookout, being mindful of golf balls from your S. Head to clear track running S alongside golf course fairway. Follow this as it becomes a lane leading to club house. Take road from golf club SE to Morfa Nefyn and take L at crossroads to head N towards beach. Just before beach, take steps R up to cliff top coastal path and follow this back the way you came. However, at lane on compulsory diversion, follow the lane until it turns sharply R and a path goes L through a field to coast. Take path and turn R through gate on leaving field. Follow coastal path back to turreted house and follow first L off road. Follow this road around to hotel start point.

Weather: Mostly mild but with some drizzle, particularly on second half of walk. Clouds were low all around and there was the odd sensation of there appearing to be no clear horizon out to sea because of how the clouds met the water in the distance.

Notes: Porth Nefyn beach has a touch of the idyllic and old fashioned about it. An optimistic cafe and ice cream shop called 'Oasis' complete with wind battered palm trees is at one end of the beach and a neat little harbour with white washed fisherman's cottages at the other end, with a line of colourful little cabins backed up to the sea wall in between. It has probably been the inspiration for many photographs and paintings from Victorian times, and it was the least tired looking part of the town really. Along the path above the bay were many monument benches to those who had clearly loved the place and possibly lost their lives nearby. Unfortunately for some, the placement wasn't always great. A couple fronted up to overgrown shrubbery masking the sea views, and one bench very oddly faced inland looking at a field and some houses.

If Porth Nefyn was picturesque, Porth Dinllean was picture postcard perfect. The painted red pub framed by cottages, fronted by a variety of boats and with sandy beach to rest on and green cliffs behind - it looks almost the perfect little seaside resort for those who loath crowds. Even to get there by car meant driving through a golf course, so secluded was this little bay. And just around the headland by the lifeboat station was an even more secluded perfectly golden sandy cove.

Seabirds were in abundance round the Porth Dinllean headland with its rocky outcrops, but my recently found bravery with birds was seriously put to the test by one bird - I think it was maybe a wren. I must have wandered close to its nest as it came squawking and swooping at me from above. I scarpered sharpish away to a little further inland and literally landed on a putting green - the map doesn't quite show it by Nefyn and District Golf Club comes right out onto the headland with a short par three teeing off from the coastguard lookout and a shared fairway of one hole out and another back in filling the width of the headland. The paths went very close to some of the greens and there is certainly the chance to be hit if the golfer doesn't do what is probably necessary and shoot it low under the winds. We saw one golfer get close on the par three, whilst his lady companion seemed to get away with a provisional shot on each hole. She seemed like an annoying snobbish kept woman. The coastguard was nice though, he told s they sometimes get dolphins and have seals turning up regularly. He thought he saw one whilst we we talking with him, but we didn't see it. I was disappointed not to see anything on our walks around this part of the coast as I expected it most here. Apparently they were more likely to appear at low tide, but it seemed we always caught the tide coming in. 

The golf course was quite impressive, running right along the cliff tops and up the head land. A shared fairway ran up the headland that was barely wider than a decent sized garden at its narrowest and you could see the bays on both sides standing on the middle of it.

Notes on Nefyn: Lets start with the Caeau Capel Hotel - the weirdest hotel I've ever stayed at. From the outside it looked like a once rather wonderful home or hotel had faded to something rather unloved and untended to. On the back was an extension that in 1970 would have looked thoroughly modern and tasteful. In 2012 it looks more out of place and ugly than stylish and modern. The decor, artwork and ornaments were all pretty awful and very out dated. The 'cocktail lounge' was open once for a brief period during the whole weekend we were there. We first saw this room in the dark and were rather firghtened by the life size model/mannequin in the corner all armoured up. The owner/hostess Ruth Stagg seemed as mental as some of the hideous paintings and porcelain animals she had on display. She was of foreign origin, somewhere like France maybe, but she spoke so fast that she was hard to follow. On a better note, the rest of the staff (apart from her rude southern husband) were very nice, the bed was comfortable, the shower was decent and the breakfast was good.
The hotel - old, tired, in need of a touch up - was a fair reflection of the town really. A lot of houses through the main road seemed up for sale, shop premises were boarded up or empty, and the roads were in the process of an upgrade. There seemed to be only one pub (that was attached to a hotel and restaurant) in business, another one was closed down. There was an Indian restaurant called 'Little India'. We ate there, the prices were reasonable and the food was quite good. I liked the samosas, which were amongst the nicest I've ever had. Emma had a house unique curry that was good. I had a reasonable Pathia. We had the stupid desserts that you only find in Asian food outlets. Little India was the only place we were sure was open in the own. There were two cafes we never saw open and a chip shop, as well as two convenience stores. The peninsula brewery was also based here - I had a few of their beers in Aberdaron and they were good, but the bottles we saw for sale were really pricey. The seafront was nice, but I've described that in the notes on the above walk.
I would say Nefyn was the least favoured place we visited. The lack of places to eat and drink was disappointing. So much so that we left the town on our second evening. We wanted to visit Whistling Sands but the weather prevented us on our way to Nefyn, so when the sun shone on the Saturday we took our chance. We stopped for food on the way in Tudweiliog at The Lion Hotel. The food was very good. Emma had gammon and I had rib-eye. The meat was perfectly done. The pudding was brilliant too - I had a toffee, fudge and ice cream creation that was one of the nicest desserts I've ever had in a pub. On from there was Whistling Sands (Porth Oer). I would really recommend a visit here - the sand really does whistle (well, its more of a yelp or a squeak but that wouldn't have the same ring to it) and the bay looks perfect and unspoiled once you're past the little shop. You'll start to wonder why all sand doesn't make noise - that's the one drawback really, all normal sand will now become disappointing! 

Yr Eifl & Tre'r Ceiri

'The peninsula's high point and it's little sisters'

Date: 7 July 2012                                              Start time: 10:35

Start point: Car park off lane north of Llithfaen - SH353440

Walkers: Mark Illingworth, Emma Lever

Distance: 7.64miles                                           Time: 5:18:20

Route: Turn R out of car park onto road for a short way then take clear bridleway L for roughly 1/2 mile until you reach apparent highest point of track at cross roads of paths. Take bridleway L, staying R on main track past huts L, round to concrete steps. Take steps to mast. First go R to head around heathery plateau, then back to mast and past steps to clearing. Here, take path L of fence up rocky slightly exposed faint path as it climbs and winds N-NE to summit cairn. Follow route back to steps and to path cross roads. Take obvious path up Yr Eifl. Path disappears when you reach rock scree, so just make a way up through scree and towards clear summit cairn. Walk around minor summit viewpoints to W/SW of cairns, then take faint path as it descends and heads E as you drop down to reach and cross wall L. Follow this faint path to Tre'r Ceiri W entrance. Explore fort and circle huts and follow path to NE cairn then drop down SW in direction of Llithfaen. Leave fort and follow through wall. At second wall/gate take fainter path R and head in direction of distant wall, staying R until path R at fork starts to raise up hill NW. At this fork take L path W. Over brow, you'll see the car park. Follow paths to car park, but before getting back in your car head into the plantation wood. Make way NW through trees to fence on edge of wood and go through access land. Continue NW to 'settlement' on OS map. At settlement, head E through woods then take marked route S from picnic area back to car park.

Weather: Mostly clear and sunny, no rain and no low cloud. Quite warm but still with slight chill following cold wet weather of previous day. Visibility was very good - you could literally see length and breadth of the peninsula. The bulky masses of Snowdonia (covered in cloud) to the east, Mynydd Mawr and Mynydd Anelog to the west, and all the peninsula in between, including Criccieth Castle.

Under foot was largely dry, but wettest on the way up Yr Eifl and quite boggy in parts descending from Tre'r Ceiri.

Notes: The most notable thing from this walk was the way man has affected the landscape around us and how this can enhance as well as damage the views and our experience of the natural environment. The most modern was the biggest eyesore - a mast on Yr Eifl's minor peak. Other than this, everything else man made was an enhancement, from the Iron Age hill fort dating back possibly over two thousand years in its oldest parts, to the new looking Yr Eifl summit adournment (a figure 4 with letters A and H coming off it). The surrounding areas to the west and east of the smaller northern summit are heavily quarried, I understand this was for their granite. The west quarry looks old as has been closed for years and grassed over with derelict ruins scattering the site. The east quarry looks more recent and possibly still in use. Trefor pier is another man made site that can be seen. The Tre'r Ceiri hill fort needs more discussion - supposedly it's one of the best preserved hill forts of it's time and age in Europe. Most finds at the site relate to the Roman period in the first few centuries AD, but some dating has suggested occupation as early as 100BC. The ramparts are clear and a large number of circle hut foundations / remains exist. It really is a well preserved site and something that I would say is a must see for visitors for the area.

People is the second thing to note - there weren't that many of them given this is the highest point on the peninsula, it was a clear day here but not in Snowdonia, you could see Cardigan Bay and Caernarfon Bay and all between the two. However, the ones we did see were noteworthy. A very nice couple staying on the west of the peninsula had been looking up to Yr Eifl for a week waiting for a clear day. They took a picture of us and discussed the wonder of seeing such a well preserved ancient site. We also saw a site nearer the coast at the end of the walk which didn't benefit from the same conservation program of Tre'r Ceiri, that was also quite well preserved considering this lack conservation.

Emma fell over in the heather, which was funny, especially as she wasn't hurt. There was a lot of heather on the flanks of Yr Eifl.

Oh, and the Swiss or German or some kind of European couple were too amusing to miss out. Firstly, I think they got lost looking for Tre'r Ceiri as they started shouting at us from a distant rise that wasn't Tre'r Ceirir. Secondly, there were ill-equipped fpr the boggy conditions as she had some slip-ons and he had some moccasins on their feet - clearly they hadn't seen the rain the day before. Thirdly, we weren't sure they made it to the fort as they stopped at a sodden gateway below the fort and the female wasn't impressed from what we could gather.

Aberdaron Lands End

'Holiday walk No.1'

Date: 5 July 2012                                          Start time: 10:56

Start point: Dwyros Campsite, Aberdaron - SH167265

Walkers: Mark Illingworth, Emma Lever

Distance: 11.58miles                                     Time: 6:04:27

Route: Take lane opposite campsite. Follow this past two houses then take small bridge L opposite third house. Follow clear path S, ignoring path L that drops to beach. Continue S keeping Sea and cliffs on L, fence and fields on R. Pass through kissing gates and descend steps to Porth Meudwy slipway, then ascend steps on opposite side and follow clear but slightly more overgrown than before cliff top path. After short distance, just after you round a well foliage covered crevasse and pass through a kissing gate, the path splits. Take the higher path to rocky outcrop and follow over rocks and it drops to meet the lower path before a stepped ascent. Continue on clear path keeping sea L to Pen y Cil. Path climbs up as you turn W then N a short way to a gate and briefly out of National Trust land to cross the R side of field in W direction. Head back into National Trust maintained land. Follow clearest path ahead, first going SW to earthworks then NW away form them, following coast line shape but from a short distance from cliff edges. Follow path with fields up to R above and sea below L over the back of Porth Felen and across a small stream. Go uphill between Trwyn y Gwyddel (on L) and Mynydd y Gwddel (on R) to dip in land with stream contained. After crossing stream drop down L on path to St Mary's Well and then return back to coastal path. Head NW and uphill towards hut circles shown on OS map. Head into straight gorge and climb out to R of opening, then turn L and head uphill over concrete foundations and up man made steps to the observation hut atop Mynydd Mawr. At end of wall line, follow faint path to clear path leaving road on R. Take this L away from road and along top of cliff line. At the end of this path, follow faint path down in E-SE direction and across sea facing side of Llanllawen Fawr into fields that leave National Trust land. Path drops to spring/stream and you cross a small wooden bridge. After bridge, turn L to pebbled beach at Ogof Goch. Head back to bridge but don't cross it and take path ahead that winds uphill and L. Follow this path through gates, with fields on R. Path rises along W side of Mynydd Arelog. You reach stone wall on R with small house further R. Continue past the wall on to wide track. When track turns R follow in this direction past small house L through gate, into farm yard. Head into field to your R in front of farm buildings. Follow fence on L of field and turn L through gate. Here you should take R edge of field, over the dyke, to small gate with overgrown path that leads to the road (we were concerned by the overgrown path so headed L in field and went up farm drive to meet road). Follow tarmac road for about 1/1.5 miles back to entrance of campsite.

Weather: Warm and humid, particularly where foliage was fully grown over pathways. Dry, more sun than we realised and barely any wind to speak of. Still damp and often very muddy in patches underfoot on paths. Visibility was very good except for brief sea mist on higher parts of W end of headland. In-land, you could see almost all of the peninsula clearly and views extended to the peaks of Snowdonia and the Cambrian Mountains.

Notes: The views across Aberdaron Bay and back to the village itself during the first section of the walk were brilliant - an idyllic crescent bay. The path has now joined with the Wales Coast Path and is largely well maintained. After the slipway on the first section, it does become more overgrown. It was a shame sections were so muddy as this did take some of the enjoyment away, with it causing concerns about footing and diversions of the path at times. 

As well as making things more colourful and humid, the weather combined with foliage seemed to really encourage the crickets out into son - particularly in the National Trust maintained areas, and most notably on the east edge of the headland. You could really hear the crickets' song, although as I'm no Sheldon or Howard I wasn't able to identify the particular species.

All around the headland the various coves were spectacular and interesting. All were a little different, with some playing home to seabirds, others being thick with plant life, some having little stoney beaches, and others with steep rock faces and sharp jagged rock formations breaking the sea. The ones you could get down to didn't offer a great feeling of peaceful retreat or isolated beach cove, but did give you a different perspective on the rocks and cliffs around you, helping you to appreciate more of the way the sea shapes the land. The water in the coves was an almost tropical green-blue, particularly in the south of the headland. One interesting feature was what looked like a man made outcrop, possibly a sea level well or turret, between Porth y Pistyll and Hen Both, but this like so much else would need to be fully investigated form sea level - an option not open to us.

As mentioned in the route description, much of the headland is maintained by the National Trust. We did donate some change in one of the many honesty boxes along the route. The signs and posters describing the work done to maintain the land kind of guilts you into donating, but the National Trust does some great work and helps provide on of the most interesting features on this walk - the observation hut atop Mynydd Mawr. It used o be a coast guard look out until 1990. It was also used to look out for threats during WWII. Now it seems mostly used for bird watching. The rather poor looking concrete foundations on the way up Mynydd Mawr were also set to house WWII observation points, but it seems they were never completed, or the buildings have since come to pass. These sites do serve as a reminder of our nations history.

Another pointer to the history of this land was the ancient earthworks and field edgings. Its unclear what exactly was here to my untrained eyes, but its something worth looking into. (Google didn't help me much.) 

Animals and insects need noting further - mainly my lack of fear shown to them. There were lots of birds, some coming near to us and most of them hovering around with a predatory look to them - but I barely flinched. Similarly, Emma barely took notice of the many creepy crawly little friends we made every time we stopped for a snack. Also, it being Wales, there were lots of sheep. One sheep served to irritate and then entertain us in equal measure as it had separated itself from its friends, but seemed reticent to pass us when not receiving any replies to it's many bleats. Eventually it summed up the courage, or remembered it's sense of direction, and passed us to return to the flock, who collectively gathered around on its return - we speculated that it was either to hear the tale of woe experienced, or to take the mickey.

Talk of animals brings me to my most negative and frustrating note - the farm and the hidden path. The farm yard was full of dogs and chickens which were so noisy and distracting we missed the path in front of the barn and were rudely instructed by a farmer lady sat in her car to go the right way, and she never did anything about the dogs snapping towards us. We calmly dealt with this and accepted our fate of having to go through a field hosting cows and ducks. Again, we calmly negotiated this, overcoming our collected fear of cows from events of walks past. We just about left this field before the cows came looking for us, more out of curiosity than menace I assumed. Now we had to figure out how to continue on our way but the Country Walking Mag directions weren't great at this point. We found a gate but what lay beyond it was so overgrown I couldn't believe it was the path, and if it was, I wasn't sure how to get through. We made quickly for the farm exit and did so as swiftly as we could before the rude farmers spotted us. It wasn't a pleasant five minutes or so but thankfully it didn't ruin the walk.

So as not to make the last noteworthy thing of this walk be a negative point, I've held off discussing the islands you see throughout the walk. Ynys Gwylan-fawr and smaller Ynys Gwylan-bach in Aberdaron Bay and Bardsey Island / Ynys Enlli off to the south west. The Gwylan pair are seen throughout the first part of the walk. They don't have any man made feature on them and are probably quite a haven for sea dwelling birds. At Pen y Cil you turn and start to leave these two behind as Bardsey comes into view. The ruins of the old abbey, the destination of pilgrims in years past, are visible from the mainland even for the naked eye. Further round the headland you get views all across the little island right down to the lighthouse on its south end. The cottages you can stay in on the nature reserve island weren't clear to make out - its a nature reserve due to the birds that call this island home, so I couldn't see myself staying out there.

Notes on Aberdaron: The village had two shops. The Spar shop was particularly useful, and a couple of gift shops were there too but we didn't go in these. The Spar had a store mascot of sorts - a four foot tall heron that sat on the roof during opening hours. There was also a bakery and a post office, and two cafes - Hen Blas Cafe we didn't go in, and Y Gregin Fawr (The Big Kitchen) where pilgrims used to stop and eat before crossing to Bardsey. The staff were nice, the building was clearly old and had low wooden beams supporting the low roof in a small upstairs dining area. The tea, cakes and lunch were all very nice. It seemed pricey to me, but it was probably normal cafe prices - which I always feel are expensive for what you're getting.

There were two pubs - The Ship Hotel that had decent beer and was quite well decorated to a nautical theme, with the bar shaped like the hull of a ship, and Gwesty Ty Newydd (The New House) that also had very nice beer and a balcony/beer garden that sat right out over the beach. The drinks prices were reasonable in both but the food menu prices looked a little expensive, although the specials were more reasonably priced so maybe they just have to operate that way out on a limb as they are. The beers I tried were all Welsh ales - the Peninsula's own brewery proving to be my favourite. It was amazing to sit on the balcony of an evening watching the tide come in. The small waves had a really clean break all along the beach in this almost perfectly shaped wide cove - some looked to get over 2 feet high before breaking, surfing for beginners maybe.

Alongside, there was St Hywyn's Church - a tiny church building with a nicely kept graveyard rising up the cliffs from the beach.

Two rivers met in the village centre, and were at full flow when we arrived. Up the rivers you could see rich green valleys that were almost hidden from view other than at the river joint. The rivers met and flowed through the beach into the sea, a sea that has clearly shaped this landscape and to the east of the village were some naturally formed caves that we didn't get chance to explore.

The Dwyros campsite was very good - £12 per night for tents, with good facilities in a fairly new looking toilet block. Improvements were ongoing but I didn't feel that much needed doing. a reasonable sized camping field had the best views over the bay from high up above the village. The site had a decent sized caravan field, largely occupied by season-ticket holders who've left their unmanned caravans in situ and a number of staic caravans were available for rent from the site.

Speaking of 'for rent', that brings me to another observation of Aberdaron. It seemed that at least half the village property was available for rent as a holiday let, including the very grand appearing old post office building in the village centre. 

Finally, the primary school bus looked just like the bus in Fireman Sam, so this clearly is an accurate cartoon depicting small town / village life in Wales.