Date walked:  21st June 2014

Distance: about 4 miles.

Map required:  OS Explorer  253: Lleyn Peninsula West.

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For this and the next two walks I was based at a Bed and Breakfast just up the hill from the village called No 2 Dolfor. There are only two other B&Bs in the village (and two pub/hotels) so I was lucky to have been able to book rooms for me and for my friend Phillip, who was joining me the next day. Rather than have a 5 hour drive before starting a days walk, I decided to come up the day before.

And I was glad I did. It was a beautiful day and after a friendly greeting from Jan I was able to settle into my very comfortable en-suite room and study the route. Phil was driving up from Cardiff, which was also a 4-5 hour drive. Phil is  a bit of a dinosaur, tech wise, so won’t use a GPS.  Meaning  that he would take longer than he might otherwise have done to get here.  So around 5pm I decided to shave a few miles off tomorrows walk and thereby take some pressure off his arrival time.

The coast path takes the road out of the village past the end of the road where I was staying.

View over Aberdaron from The Wales Coast Path, photographed by Charles Hawes

Pause to admire the view

It then wiggles down to a little valley where the Afon Saint  enters the sea at Porth Simdde.

The Afon Saint entering the sea at Porth Simdde, photographed from The Wales Coast Path by Charles Hawes

And where there is another little beach

It then wiggles back up again.

Wales Coast Path at Porth Simdde near Aberdaron, photographed by Charles Hawes

This is actually the down-wiggle

A half a mile on a narrow but flat surface provided open views out to the azure-blue, sea of Aberdaron Bay.

Aberdaron Bay photographed from The wales Coast Path by Charles Hawes

I reckon the sea colour gets bluer as the sun drops on such fine days – there must be a reason

Another little valley at Porth Meudwy has been taken advantage of by several fishing boats, their jaunty tractor parked up on the beach.

Tractor on Porth Meudwy, photographed from The Wales Coast Path by Charles Hawes

If I had a beach tractor I’d paint it these colours

According to the official guide, Porth Meudwy means ‘harbour of the hermit’ and this was an embarkation point for pilgrims heading to Bardsey Island. About half a mile further on I saw another small harbour;

Porth Cloch near Aberdaron, photographed from The Wales Coast Path by Charles Hawes

I reckon this one is Porth Cloch- ‘Harbour of the bell’

the official guide says that there are two more that I didn’t see (Hen Borth – ‘the old harbour’, and Porth y Pistyll – ‘harbour of the waterfall’).

As I rounded this most westerly point of the Lleyn, called Pen y Cil, I had the first view of Bardsey Island.

View to Bardsey Island, from The lLeyn peninsula, photographed by Charles Hawes

Said to be the burial place of 20,000 saints (what tosh!) I think it is now mostly frequented by bird watchers.

In the ground, a slate (what else) plaque commemorates the purchase of  Pen y Cil by the National Trust in 1970.  The National Trust own a significant part of the Welsh Coast and  I am sure that they do a good job but I do wonder sometimes about who they are accountable to.

Slate plaque at Pen y Cil on the lleyn peninsula, photographed by Charles Hawes

After Pen-y-Cil the path crosses open farmland where cattle were grazing in the warm evening light.

View from near Pen y Cil to Aberdaron and hills of the Lleyn peninsula, photographed by Charles Hawes

I’d say that the cattle were “contentedly grazing” but that would be an awful cliche

The next headland, announced by a National Trust visitor board, is called Mynydd Bychestyn. The Wales Coast Path finger-post was being minded by a cow so docile that it couldn’t be bothered to move away as I approached.

Cow on the Wales Coast Path at Bychestyn, on the Lleyn peninsula, photographed by Charles Hawes

And was quite unfazed by my using flash to add a little highlights to her face

The evening light was becoming quite magical, catching the bobbing flowers of thrift in a bank which divided some fields.

View to Bardsey Island from near Mynydd Bychestyn , Lleyn peninsula, photographed from The Wales Coast Path by Charles Hawes

It looked even better than this

I was beginning to feel torn between wanting to carry on walking and knowing that I needed to be back at Aberdaron at a reasonable time to get something to eat. The sea at Porth Felen was looking positively mediterranean.

View over Porth Felen to Bardsey Island, photographed from The Wales Coast Path by Charles Hawes

It would have been a great night for camping out

I reckon the grazing sheep were overdue a haircut, they had begun to spontaneously shed (or most probably had worn it off) their fleece.

Sheep on Mynedd y Gwyddel photographed from The Wales Coast Path by Charles Hawes

Backlit sheep; nice eh?

The steep valley dropping down to the sea hides St Mary’s Well, which the Official Guide describes as “a hairy scramble” and which Christopher Sommerville includes in his book “Britain and Ireland’s Best Wild Places”.  I’m always up for a scramble but not at the expense of a pint, so I headed inland to find the little road that would take me back by a more direct route to Aberdaron.

View to Bardsey Island from above St Mary's Well photographed from The wales Coast path by Charles Hawes

I had already decided that my treat tonight was going to be fish and chips followed by a drink on the terrace of  the Gwesty Ty Newydd  which overlooks the beach. I got back in time for a shower and then legged it down the hill to join the queue at the chippy for three quarters of an hour (excellent fish, hopelessly undermanned shop); it was nearly 10 when I got my well-earned pint. Or was it two?

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