The Most Northerly Village in Wales - Cemaes Bay
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| Beautiful Sea Views |
Wednesday 24th August
Day 1
2.00pm my shift finished, so a quick dash home for a shower and change and we were on the road by 2.40pm good going by our standards, we have set the sat-nav for the small Anglesey village of Cemaes, the most northerly village in Wales, with an expected arrival time 0f 6.12pm.
The road up was good, we quickly got to Shrewsbury and jumped on the main A5, we soon were crossing the Brittannia bridge over the Menai straights to Anglesey but still had to drive to the top of the island.
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| Arriving at THS organised by NECDA |
We arrived at the THS, run by NECDA, just about on time, after booking in and paying our £13.00 PN we topped up with water and found a really nice spot in the corner of the field, this THS is on an adjacent field to a C&CC cl of Doloyee, we had not eaten since this morning so settled in and had tea, paella, left over from the other night and a bottle of rosé.
It was almost 9.30pm by the time we had finished and tidied up, I took Izzy for her nightly walk and then called it a day.
Thursday 25th August
Day 2
We woke at 6.00am, must still be in work mode, turned over and had another hour or so. We eventually got up just before 8.00, the skies were blue and the sun was out, looks like a promising day, I took Izzy for her walk around the field and up the lane outside the site, we returned to breakfast, fresh fruit followed by a flying start and coffee.
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| Cemaes High Street |
The village of Cemaes is just a short 10 minute walk from the THS, its small, quaint high street had colourful butting out, we checked out the small independent shops before finding the harbour. We walked out on the harbour wall admiring the small boats one in particular, the Charles Henry Ashley was an old life boat restored to is former glory to take day trippers around the coast.
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| Cemaes Bay Harbour |
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| Charles Henry Ashley Lifeboat |
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| Enjoying the sunshine by the harbour wall |
We took the coast path to the left of the harbour which took us out onto the headland over looking the bay, we sat there sometime taking in the views with only the sound of the waves and sea birds.
After an hour or so we returned to the village and back to the THS, it was gone 1.30 so had lunch at the van, the sun was now really warm we put out the chairs and enjoyed an afternoon of reading and snoozing, we had a pastis chatting before it was time for tea, tonight pork with mediterrean mixed grains and blackberry and apple crumble.
We had planned to walk back down to the village but it was getting late so decided on a game of backgammon, 1-0 to Nigel.
Izzy has not been right tonight she keeps needing to go out looks like she has picked up a bug.
Friday 26th August
Day 3
Izzy had us awake 11.30, 2am, 5am and 7am with a bad belly, as a consequence we had a bad night, we didn’t get up until 8.30 which was just as well as its grey and raining, we had breakfast and decided to take a ride out to Alnwch a small harbour built around copper mining, it was still raining, on the way we stopped at the old church on the headland but there was a wedding on so didn’t stop, on to Alnwch, parked up on the edge of the harbour we had a cup of tea and read, at one point we thought that it was brightening up but no the rain got heavier. We were just a bout to give up and drive on when the rains became a light drizzle so we put on the water proofs and took a walk along the harbour and out onto the coastal path, the coastline looked quite harsh with rocks and stones only broken up by areas of heather.
We returned to the van, the skies looked a little brighter, back on the road we stopped off at an automated milk machine where you paid for milk by the litre fresh from the farm via a vending machine, we also had a shot of honeycomb syrup to make a lovely milkshake, we were now on the search for donuts or to be more precise Mônuts, made by patisserie chef Richard Holt at his windmill, Merlin Llynon.
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| Merlin Llynon |
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| Mônuts |
We had a vast array of flavours to choose from, we had double chocolate and a salted caramel, after a quick look around the windmill we took the short drive to Church bay, the small car park had enough room for Vera, we payed our £1 parking for an hour and promptly tucked into our donuts and milkshake.
The sun has now come out so as a last walk of the day we took Izzy for walk on the beach, Church Bay is lovely, a couple of cafes and the Lobster Pot restaurant and that’s it. We walked to the end of the path that lead down a ramp to the beach, so peaceful, we walked the length of the sands before returning to the van and back to the site.
There has been a few more units turned up, one almost on top of our pitch which annoyed Adele but we mannered the van to a different angle and we were okay, I think that the new people in the tents will have a surprise at 4am when Le Cock strikes up with his morning call.
We had a beer then got tea ready, chicken with Mediterranean grains followed by the last of the foraged apple & blackberries.
It was nice to end the day with a glass of wine as the sun went down, now for the continuation of the backgammon games, tonights winner Adele 1-1, I thought I had it in the bag but lost it on the home run.
Saturday 27th August
Day 4
Woke 7.30am to sunshine and blue skies, we made a quick get away this morning, we drove straight down to Cemaes bay to park up on the seafront for breakfast, doors open we had a wonderful sea view,
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| Sea View |
we had a full English this morning, as we were finishing off another MoHo turned up 7meters plus parked in a 6meter space then they got out table and chairs, rolled out their awning, kids bikes out and dog running everywhere, we were not amused to say the least. We went for a walk along to the sea bell that chimes on every high tide.
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| St. Patricks Bell |
Its very busy today but I suppose its going to be on the last bank holiday of the summer.
We returned to the van ‘next door’ had set up camp like they were on a campsite, Adele had words but it made no difference.
We had a snack for lunch and went for a walk out onto the coastal path, what a breath of fresh air to be away from the crowds. We sat for some time watching the sailing boat anchor in the bay before returning to the van, we had planned to stay and have tea at the bay before returning to the camp site but with what’s happened next door we decided to move on early, we called back at the automated milk machines for another bottle of milk shake this time a white chocolate and raspberry then before I was allowed to try it we took the short drive down the lane to St. Patricks church which overlook the bay, rumoured to have been found by St. Patrick in 440AD after surviving a ship wreck, it was rebuilt in 1884 by 3rd lord Stanley who insisted it reflected his adopted Islamic faith, the interior has a moorish style with deep blue tiled walls and blue glazed windows, it was really unusual and not expected in this rural church.
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| Inside St. Patricks Church |
After a walk around the church yard looking at all the old stones we returned to the site for the last of the days sunshine, we sat reading, talking and writing the diary with a few tortillas, dips and a gin.
Tea tonight is salmon with potatoes and beans before the final of the backgammon championships, after another good game Nigel came out the winner taking the holiday series 2-1, we sat and finished our wine to the sound of karaoke on the site, all went quiet before 11.00pm.
Sunday 28th August
Day 5
Woke early after another peaceful night, apart from Le Cock cock-a-doodle-doing at 4am, we once again left the site early to take the 20 minute or so trip down to Beaumaris, the plan today is to park up at the castle car park, have breakfast then visit Beaumaris Castle before taking a walk along the front.
When we arrived the car park had lots of vans parked up, looked like they had stayed the night, we found a space where we could overhang and paid our parking (£5.00 / 12 hrs), started breakfast, our usual, fruit and a flying start, it looks like its going to be a promising day as we have beautiful blue skis and sunshine.
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| Beaumaris Castle |
We only had a short walk to the castle our English Heritage cards got us in this CADW site free of charge, we were surprised to find that the castle had a living history weekend with lots of displays of medieval life, from how long bows were made to how they tended their wounds, there was re-enactments of fights and how they lived and cooked in those times, even some medieval singing, what we expected to be an hour or so visit turned into four hours and could have been much longer but we had to make our way home.
We left Anglesey at 3.30pm for the three hour drive home, we have had a brilliant few days in and around the most northerly village in Wales, we have only just scratched the surface of what there is to see here and will be back BUT just remind me not to go on a bank holiday weekend the crowds of people are not what we are used too.
benivanadventures - travels in our campervan
Trip Details:
Miles: 355.5
Ave MPG: 31.9
Fuel Cost: £88.59 / £1.759 ltr
Car Parking: £ 6.00
Nights: 4
Camp Fees: £ 52.00
Camp Ave per night: £ 13.00
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