This is an account of the walk which I wrote for our church magazine in Manchester:
This is an account of the walk which I wrote for our church magazine in Manchester:
== Walking with a purpose ==
Two miles beyond the westernmost tip of Llŷn/the Lleyn peninsula in North Wales lies
Bardsey Island, a important place of Christian pilgrimage since the sixth century. Nearby
on the mainland is the small village of Aberdaron, from where many pilgrims set off on the
final leg of their journey – Bardsey's Welsh name, Ynys Enlli “island of the tides”, hints at
the perils of the crossing.
Judy and I love the serene St Hywyn's Church, almost on the beach in Aberdaron, and the
poetry of R. S. Thomas, its vicar in the 1970s. We have vivid memories of a Bangor
Diocesan pilgrimage with hundreds of pilgrims packing St Hywyn's – we had to receive our
Communion in the churchyard in the wind and rain! It was quite natural then that the first
part of my 70th birthday walk, to the westernmost tip of Llŷn, became something of a
pilgrimage, though this time there was no rain and we would have liked more wind to keep
us cool in the blazing sun.
One mediaeval pilgrim route to Aberdaron starts 130 miles away at Holywell, so starting
from Caernarfon, a mere 43 miles away along the Wales Coast Path, was taking it
comparatively easily. We – Judy, our friend Peter Kelly and I – walked nearly ten miles on
the first day, along the shoreline so quite flat. The second day was completely different –
after the only serious climb of the whole walk, we crossed Bwlch yr Eifl, at 1,400' above
sea level with glorious views in all directions; 18 miles so far.
The next day we were joined
by our youngest son Dominic, his girlfriend Nic, Judy's sister Sally and her husband Ty so
we were a party of seven. Our route took us past the Ty Coch Inn at Porth Dinllaen which
had just been voted “the third-best beach bar in the world”, creating much excitement
locally, so we had to stop there for lunch! By the end of the day we had walked to the
village of Edern, 25 miles from Caernarfon.
In the next two days we covered 18 miles from Edern to Aberdaron, the most remote and
dramatic stretch of the entire walk. There is an inescapable feeling of walking to the edge,
to what the Romans called finistere, and thought of as the end the world. As R. S.
Thomas described his journey there
I have crawled out at last,
far as I dare on to a bough
of country that is suspended
between sky and sea.
We rested for an hour at Pentire camp site, whose owner offers refreshments to bona fide
pilgrims, which she defined as those “walking with a purpose”. On a baking hot day her
home-made elderflower cordial was very welcome. Unfortunately, we arrived in Aberdaron
having walked 43 miles from Caernarfon too late to visit St Hywyn's.
By this stage Judy, Peter and I were feeling rather drained by the heat so on Saturday 20
July we walked only five miles, from Hell's Mouth to Bwlchtocyn, for a wonderful barbecue
in the setting sun at Dominic and Nic's camp site. On the Sunday Nicholas, our middle
son, walked with us from Bwlchtocyn as far as Abersoch before he had to dash back to his
student medical placement at Chesterfield Hospital. Dominic and Nic returned to London
but a few hours later we were joined by Margaret, Peter's wife and Pauline, another old
friend.
The next day we returned to Aberdaron to walk to Plas-yn-Rhiw, and lost our way, briefly, for the only time in the whole ten days. By this time Peter and I had walked the Wales
Coast Path from Caernarfon to Llanbedrog, apart from three shortish sections which were
mainly on roads, bringing our total to 63 miles. The south coast of Llŷn between
Llanbedrog and Criccieth is rather dull so we returned for a day to the north coast to show
Margaret and Pauline the wildlife and dramatic scenery. This added six miles to our total
and allowed us a very brief visit to St Hywyn's. That evening we were delighted to be
joined by our close friends Chandra and Asoka – they had planned to be there throughout,
but in the event were prevented from being us until the final day.
The final day, Wednesday 24 July, was my birthday. The easy 5-mile walk from the
delightful seaside town of Criccieth to the delightful seaside village of Borth-y-Gest was
everything I could have wished for. There was glorious sunshine, the very familiar
magnificent scenery and excellent company. We built a cairn of 70 stones on a quiet inlet
off the Glaslyn estuary to mark the official completion of 70 miles and recognise the sense
of a pilgrimage which had lasted throughout. In the evening we returned to Bryn Teg, our
house in Dolwyddelan, had a pleasant meal in the nearby hotel and a chocolate birthday
cake baked by a neighbour, rounding off a wonderful birthday.
The experience exceeded my expectations in every way. We visited familiar places
bringing back treasured memories of many holidays spent in Llŷn but also discovered
picturesque coves and beaches we did not know. It was a delight to have the support of
family and friends for every stage of the walk and to feel the growing sense of walking with
a purpose.
My purpose was raising money for Christian Aid and Oxfam. Donations and promises so
far come to more than £700* so my thanks to all these sponsors. According to Christian
Aid's emergency appeal for Syrian refugees:
• £200 will provide food for a refugee family for a month – including milk, cheese and
beans to keep children healthy.
• £500 will provide 20 women with hygiene kits to ensure they remain healthy even in
unsanitary conditions.
* Now over £1,000 raised so thanks again to all involved.
Bryn Teg is a 250-year old cottage above the village of Dolwyddelan and on the slopes of Moel Siabod in North Wales. This wiki has been created to provide information to visitors about the cottage and its surroundings and also to give them an opportunity to record their impressions and suggestions for future visitors. There are links to many photographs from the excellent
Geograph Project and we gratefully acknowledge the project's public spirited use of Creative Commons licencing which permits this.
Thanks to Dominic, we have had a Mosquito Magnet shipped from the US and with high hopes that it will alleviate the midge problem. The necessary US -> UK adapters for electricity and propane have yet to be acquired but we hope to have this gadget in operation before the end of May 2013.
We have dispensed with the resident computer; please let us know if this will cause you a problem. The wifi is fine so if you want the internet bring your own wireless-enabled laptop or hand held &c.
The now not-so-new barbecue is being well used
The "three score years and ten" walk
This is an account of the walk which I wrote for our church magazine in Manchester:
