Anglesey Coastal Path

Anglesey Coastal Walk Stage 1 Sunday Sept 8^th to Saturday Sept 14^th2013

How We Organised It

When you hear Viv Lee say “it’s one of the best walks I’ve ever done” it certainly whets your appetite. That’s what happened when Kath Page’s group had finished doing the Anglesey Coastal Path in 2012. I asked one or two others and pretty soon we had a group of eight wanting to go. But how to organise it? We enquired of the accommodation Kath used but it didn’t work out. However the Tourist Information Office came up trumps and gave me the number of Anglesey Walking Holidays.

This is a husband and wife team, Eurwyn and Gillian Williams, and we cannot recommend them highly enough. Whatever walking holiday you want on the island they can organise. They have a minibus and a car for transporting to and from the route, contacts second-to-none and local knowledge which cannot be beat, Eurwyn having been born and brought up on the island side of the Menai Straits and subsequently marrying Gillian a Porthmadoc girl.

Kath’s party had had a lot of comments to pass on about the walk itself - and the guidebooks for which we were highly grateful. They told us they had some really tough days but there was much to see, investigate and savour. We decided that we were going to make sure we gave ourselves the utmost opportunity of getting the most out of the walk. If we kept the mileage to a reasonable level each day we would have time to take a good look at any points of interest without having one eye on the clock. We put this requirement to Eurwyn and in the final analysis it could not have been planned better.

Keeping the mileage to around fifteen miles in a day maximum meant spreading it out over extra days but that’s what we wanted. The entire route is around 130 miles depending on diversions for tides and places of interest. So we decided on ten days split into two sections. In September we went down for the full week, stayed in the north west of the island and walked the island anticlockwise from four o’clock to eight o’clock, two thirds of the route. Back home for four weeks rest then we went back in October and did the southern third of the isle. Eurwyn put us in the Valley Hotel up near Holyhead for the first week and the Carreg Bran, literally turn left and left again off the Britannia Bridge, for our second tour.

Bed, breakfast and evening meal, all planning and transport, maps and route description, plus full backup service and Eurwyn charged us £60 per day each for that. We had booked early so we got the 2012 price but even so the price for 2014 has only risen to £65. He also gave me a sheet each day with documentation on any historical sites or points of interest, cafes and ladies toilets listed! We have talked to people who have made their own arrangements for doing this walk and they can’t believe this price. Whilst we were there Eurwyn had an American couple doing four days walking, a small group of ladies who go back each year to do a little bit more of the route, two Swedes, A Canadian and he has now been asked to help someone plan doing Offa’s Dyke so he is “invading” the mainland! Ours being a slightly larger party enabled Eurwyn to give us a group discount.

For anyone interested Eurwyn’s number is 01248 713611, email eurwyngill@btinternet.com or his website www.angleseywalkingholidays.com

Comments on the Route

After the first week and walking the top two thirds of the island anticlockwise I thought the walk was excellent – well waymarked, good footpaths, good documentation, stunning views, amazing history, very friendly people. It is only after going back to do the section from Rhosneigr to Menai to Beaumaris to Red Wharfe Bay that I unreservedly agree with Viv’s comment that this walk is in a league of its own. The day we walked round Maltreaeth Sands estuary (site of William and Kate’s “home” whilst he was stationed at Valley), through the pine forest and onto the breathtaking sands of Newborough with its views along the entire coastline of North Wales and inland to Snowdonia I felt could never be equalled. The very next day we walked along the Menai Straits with early morning mist shrouded views across the water to Caernarfon Castle and beyond Snowdon, beautiful countryside and architecture, Nelson’s Memorial, the two bridges, Menai and Brittania and into Beaumaris which is a joy at any time of year in any weather. It was a total contrast to the previous day but equally as memorable.

This was a great trip in every aspect, wonderful company, spot on accommodation and a route that fully rewarded every effort.

The Detail

Week 1 – Sunday September 8^th to Saturday September 14^th

The Team

Mary Robinson, Ruth Redmayne, Paul Banks, Jeanette Howerd, Dave and Alma Walsh, Margaret Oliver and John Bullen. Joining us Thursday and Friday was Kath Page but she stayed in her caravan.

Tour operator – Anglesey Walking Holidays – Eurwyn and Gillian Williams

Accommodation – The Valley Hotel, Valley

Red Wharfe Bay to Rhosneigr

Day Walk Actual

Day 1 Sun Red Wharfe Bay to Pilot Boat Inn 10.2

Day 2 Mon Pilot Boat Inn to Bull Bay 15.2

Day 3 Tue Bull Bay to Church Bay 16.75

Day 4 Wed Church Bay to Valley 13

Day 5 Thu Valley to Trearddur Bay 16

Day 6 Fri Trearddur Bay to Rhosneigr 15

Total Mileage (according to Dave’s GPS) 86.15 miles

Anglesey Coastal Walk Stage 2