Two Welsh Walks: 1 - Cemaes Bay to Bull Bay

This walk is part of the Anglesey Coastal Path and as such is clearly signed. On top of that being a coastal path finding the route is dead easy: you just keep the sea on your left and you can't go wrong.
The walk starts in the tidy little village of Cemaes which has a lot of useful shops including a Post Office, vital when you are on holiday and needing to send post to relatives around the world. This is a linear walk, I was dropped off at the start and my wife drove to the Bull Bay Hotel where I would be picked up later (after an obligatory pint (for medicinal purposes only of course)).
Cemaes Bay itself is a striking example of Precambrian geology with folded and twisted rocks of great age. Part of a subduction zone (a destructive plate boundary where one plate is forced beneath another and destroyed, often forming a volcanic island arc in the process). As an ex-geologist this was a particularly interesting part of the walk for me. The path climbs steeply up beside the coast and for much of the route it is very narrow with little separation between the path and the sea some hundred or so feet below.

The route is about six or seven miles in length but it feels a lot longer as there are a number of steep climbs and descents most of the time with steep rough steps but sometimes not. After about the fourth of these climbs my lungs were burning and my head throbbing – walking the London Loop is one thing – tough coastal paths are something else!
There are many signs of industry round the walk, in particular the remains of a wharf and extensive buildings at Porth Wen.

These are the remains of a brickworks I learnt from the barmaid of the Bull Bay Hotel. From this point the path becomes more level and wide making the going easy and at last I was able to enjoy the views of the coast and the heather coated slopes inland. Keep your eyes pealed for wildlife; I think I saw a seal in one of the coves and porpoises are said to swim offshore. Birds are common too; I saw oyster catchers in Cemaes Bay and a kestrel perched on a fence post about twenty paces away from me at one point. I think he was waiting for me to keel over and flew away when he realised I was not going to be supper! There are plenty of viewpoints suitable for a packed lunch, in particular the Lookout Tower on Llanlleiana Head. The walk, though tough in places is well worth the effort and I felt that I had earned my pint at the end.