Many of you who follow my Twitter will have seen that I tweeted several times from the sunny shores of Anglesey yesterday and what an amazing day of weather we had for the day out.
Gorgeous day at the beach. #NorthWales pic.twitter.com/U09Sp9bgCY
— Blazing Minds (@BlazingMinds) May 17, 2014
Let’s face it, when it comes to having a nice sunny day, people do sometimes get a little unsure on what to do with their day and usually spend in the back garden.
Why would you want to do that when there are so many wonderful places in the UK to visit and for me yesterday it was short trip up the coast to the lovely island of Anglesey.
The perfect weather for a day in #NorthWales #Anglesey pic.twitter.com/C78qKRT7RI
— Blazing Minds (@BlazingMinds) May 17, 2014
The aim was to make our way to Ynys Llanddwyn and make the most of the gorgeous weather and the seaside, plus take a few photographs here and there, which we did!
The island is very rich in legends, and in particular the association with Dwynwen. The name Llanddwyn means “The church of St. Dwynwen”. Dwynwen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers, making her the Welsh equivalent of St. Valentine. Her Saint’s day is January 25 and is often celebrated by the Welsh with cards and flowers. The remains of St Dwynwen’s Church can be found. – Source Wikipedia
We made our way for about a mile from the carpark, through rather lovely woodlands, towards the beach where we would make our way to Ynys Llanddwyn.
Once on the sand it was a nice steady and rather warm walk along the beach as we made our way to the point where we could cross over to the island, but depending on the time of the day and the tide, Ynys Llanddwyn is cut off from via a small stretch of sea.
Luckily after a short bit of sunbathing, the tide slowly went out and we was able to wade across to the island, when I say wade, it was still knee-deep in parts, so take care if you are crossing when the sea is only just going out, at the right time the tide goes right out and you can walk across the sand more easily.
Once on the island you can make you way around it by the various walks which bring you to the Llanddwyn Lighthouse, we made our way up the central path towards St Dwynwen’s Church where we stopped for a while to explore the ruins.
Carrying on up the island we came to the “Pilot’s Cottages” which have been lovingly restored and you can pop inside and see the way they would have looked in the days that they were built.
A nice slow, relaxing walk, back over the island to the beach and to the car for something to eat, before travelling over to visit Penmon Priory and Dovecote.
Penmon Priory and dovecote, about 7 miles north-east of Beaumaris, date from the 13th century and were probably built at the time the old Celtic monastery was re-organised as an Augustinian Priory. The dining hall was on the first floor, with a cellar below and dormitory above. The kitchen and warming house were added in the 16th century. Source
I have to say that walking in to the Dovecote is breathtaking, from the outside it is a wonderful piece of architecture, but once you step through the doorway, the height of the ceiling and the alcoves for the pigeons is fascinating, a central column with stone steps sits in the middle, where in days gone by, they would use for putting the base of their ladders to gain access to the higher reaches.
Adjacent to the Dovecote is Penmon Priory, now I can only imagine how glorious this would have looked when it was built, but we still have a fair bit of it remaining after the hundreds of years that it has stood.
A fshell of its former glory, Penmon Priory must have been a wonder to see, once you enter the Priory, you can see from what remains, where the floors, doors and windows once where, how they must have lived in those days!
It was then time to go home, but before the journey back home along the coast, just enough time to stop off near Beaumaris Castle in a “Dog Friendly” hotel, The Bulkeley Hotel is a lovely building and inside you can see its grandeur from the old leather chairs to the architecture on the ceilings. Built as a Georgian show piece in 1832 the hotel has 43 en suite bedrooms, a fine restaurant, coffee shop (which we tried and the delicious cakes), Real Ale bar and lounge.
A wonderful place to end the day at and see the evening slowing drawing in through the huge Georgian windows, even our four-legged friend, who had been on an adventure with us during the day, found it so lovely that he went fast to sleep at our feet during our coffee and cake break.
If you would like to see more pictures of the trip to Anglesey then please stop my Flickr Album to check them out.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
