New Walk, Old Friends

It was one of those weeks when the outlook for the weekend weather had started out promising but gradually got less and less optimistic. I had a window of opportunity to fit another walk in on the Saturday but a front was moving in. On the Friday it looked like it would slip by above North Wales and we would be spared the worst of it. When Saturday morning arrived the front had decided it would also like to try out the Wales Coast Path. I left Chester still with a slight hope that as I headed West into its path that, by the time I reached Colwyn Bay, it would have cleared. It was not to be.

My mates Derren, Gareth and Phil on a road trip in my trusty Escort Mk2 to Portmeirion (that Derren doesn’t remember) just before they all dispersed around Britain

When I told my Facebook friends I was planning to walk the Wales Coast Path, a few had expressed an interest in walking a leg with me. One of these was my childhood friend, Derren Jones, who lives in Llandulas which is along the route I had planned. He had asked me to let him know when I was doing this route and luckily he was free to join me. For those who have grown up with constant immediate access to modern communications this next part will seem unimaginable. Derren and I probably saw each other most days for about 10 years right through till A levels. Once everyone left for university, you saw hardly anyone again. Especially as the fashion was to get as far from North Wales as possible - Derren went to Plymouth! Once in a while, you might bump into someone over a holiday period but there was no Facebook, no mobile phones or even direct landlines in colleges back then. It is so long ago that neither of us were exactly sure, but it is probably 30+ years since we last met up. This might be excusable if one of us had moved to New Zealand but Derren only lives about the same distance from my parents house as we were going to be walking that day. We finally got back in touch in the Facebook era. Derren is happiest when somewhere up in the Welsh mountains. He has been increasingly combining this with photography which he admits he wishes he had taken up sooner. This started with the landscape and birds he saw on his walks, but he has has developed a strong interest in the Warbirds that frequent the valleys of the “Mach Loop”. He has a website for his photography here.

The plan was for me to meet Derren at the end point of the walk and then I would drive us back to the Point-y-Ddraig in Rhyl where I finished the last walk with my sister. We would then walk the path back to Colwyn Bay where we could reverse the relay process. Derren suggested we met at where the Colwyn Bay pier used to be. This involved some Googling on my part because, the last time I had been down there, you could tell where the pier used to be by there still being a pier. Apparently, after a long, sad decline while people argued over what should be done with it, Storm Doris had made a decisive intervention in 2017.

Logistics complete, we headed off along the path over the bridge and into Conwy County. We didn’t have to brave the likes of Storm Doris but what we had was a steady drizzle/mist that just sucks the colour and contrast out of everything. It is the hardest kind of light to get excited about as a photographer. It made it harder to make the effort to find shots especially when you have 30 odd years of catching up to fit into 10 miles!

Wide sands of the Kinmel Dunes Nature Reserve

Crossing the bridge also takes you into Kinmel Bay which is the first place I ever lived. We moved later into Rhyl when my sister arrived. Derren’s family lived close by and we first met there. They moved up to Dyserth before us and so when we moved there too, just up the road from their house, Derren’s family were the only people I knew at first. Kinmel Bay grew up as an adjunct to Rhyl as its bigger neighbour over the river expanded. I am not sure of the exact history, but I believe a lot of land I was walking on had been reclaimed from the sea. At the time Edward 1st was expanding the Norman castle at Rhuddlan, it had been closer to the sea. Edward’s naval superiority meant that a castle with a port could not easily be beseiged. Until you reach Llandulas, the land here is flat with sandy soil. Around the area of the estuary, the beach is particularly expansive. This particular Saturday, it was disappearing into the drizzle but, on better days, it is a Mecca for beach lovers.

Various notices pinned to signs and poles told us that today we would be sharing the path with a charity cycling event. The path is shared with National Cycle Route 5, so is wide and cycle friendly. It made a change from the runners on the last walk. It is nice to see these facilities being so well used. Apart from a large Asda most of the little towns that hug the coastline are dedicated to the holiday trade. The flat land with beach access makes it ideal for Caravan and Holiday camps. Most of what you see from the path are static caravans and lodges catering to longer-term visitors. Lots of neatly arranged and kept homes in groups.

Mini Ferris wheel waits for summer to turn up.

Occasionally you will come across a cafe or a visitor attraction nestled in amongst the camps. Some were still waiting on the season to reach its stride when the schools break up. Some were up and running and enjoying the sudden influx of hungry and thirsty cyclists.

Cyclist ride the Wales Coast Path and cycle route between the holiday homes and the sea defences

That flat land is also a reminder that the sea does not easily forget that which has been taken from it. In 1990 a combination of bad weather and high tides breached the sea defences and forced the evacuation of many residents in the area. I had friends whose homes or business were impacted and I remember how devastating it was for them. Much of the area I have now walked was impacted that day but the effects were worst here. It is a reminder that the robustness of the sea defences which carry the Wales Coast Path are not primarily for the benefit of walkers, runners and cyclists.

The Ormes just visible through the drizzle over the sea wall.

The main road carrying traffic that links the North West of England to the North Wales coast is the A55. It is now mostly dual carriageway from Chester through to Holyhead on Anglesey. Up to this point it has been inland crossing the hillsides well above the coast. It finally meets the coast at Pensarn where it starts to hug the coast leaving a narrow strip of land for the coastal path and the railway. Nestled in that junction is Abergele and Pensarn’s rather cute victorian railway station. Brooding on the wooded hill behind it is Gwrych Castle. Wales is well known for its mediaval coastal fortresses but this is not actually one of them. In fact it is only 30 years older than the railway station. I have always imagined that Edward 1 would have had a few choice words (probably French ones) at where it was sited. However, it is a handsome building with interesting history of its own. As we have seen with other Welsh attractions along the route, it has had a few owners and false starts in recent years but currently the outlook is looking more optimistic. Update: Gwrych Castle has since become famous as the location for “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here”.

Abergele and Pension Station and Gwrych Castle.

This also marked the end point for the charity cycle ride and beach cafe was packed with bikes, riders and well wishers. There was a great atmosphere and they weren’t letting the drizzle dampen their enthusiasm.

Looking back towards Rhyl along the pebble beach near Pensarn

The beach beyond the sea wall now changes character and becomes more pebbly and less sandy. There are still a few lodge parks where space allows but they are more spaced out and Derren and I have the path pretty much to ourselves. It’s not just the beach that is getting more rocky, the hills too are starting to march to the sea. A solitary watchtower looks down with its head in the clouds.

Those type of rocks at the feet of the watchtower are in demand and Llandulas is the site of large quarry. From the road you can see the gash carved into the hills but from down on the path you don’t see it quite so well. We will see more evidence of existence later though

For the first time on the walk we were starting to get some elevation changes. The A55 taking this route so close to the sea is still a recent thing (at least in my mind). Previously the route used to take you on a steep climb up the bluff in the picture and through the middle of Old Colwyn. On the top of the bluff used to be a hotel called the 70 Degrees where you could enjoy a fine meal and amazing view. It is now a housing development that is enjoying that view. The A55 skirts round the foot of the cliff under the arch of the bridge

Derren and I were deep into reminiscing at this point. We both remembered how travel to Chester or to Anglesey used to be adventure before the A55 became a dual carriageway and found new routes round the bottlenecks of the towns and natural barriers. Our parents all had their favourite escape routes to try and circumvent the holiday makers and exploit their local knowledge. I was able to start exploiting Derren’s local knowledge at this point with a bit of local wildlife.

At this choke point the path is more or less under the road and this has provided a blank canvas for the local aspiring Banksy’s to practice their art. I think they probably need to practice a little more before people start chipping chunks out of the bridge supports to take home.

We reached a long jetty stretching out into the sea. On my many drives along the A55 above us you sometimes see a ship moored alongside but not today. The ships are there to take away crushed rock from the quarry which travels down the jetty on a conveyor belt for loading. Whilst much of this part of North Wales features limestone hills the limestone from Llandulas has a purity which makes it prized in the chemical and cement industries. It’s fine porcelain-like appearance also features in the construction of notable local buildings like St Margaret’s Church in Bodelwyddan - known locally as the Marble Church.

The strange hexagonal shapes you see in front of the jetty were developed to bolster the sea defences for the new road. The complex concrete shapes are in a H shape but with the uprights of the H turned through 90 degrees. Made in there thousands the strange shaped blocks are piled on top of one another. The shape interlocks the blocks together to prevent them being dislodged. I expect the irregular pattern breaks up the force of the waves. If you think that they also look a little unforgiving to anything that should find itself unfortunate enough to bump into it you would be right. The MV Carrier found this to its cost in 2012.

Derren took me down a side path which lead down to a gap in the rock face. The cliffs on either side bear witness to the age old battle between the sea and the land. A slightly precarious looking stone shed looks down to the see below.

It’s just a short walk from there before the path joins up with the end of the Colwyn Bay promenade. The weather was clearing but wet start had kept the casual beach users away. Those using the beach had specific activities in mind. First came the anglers, their rods clamped into stands and the lines disappearing into the sea beyond the wall.

Next came the jet skiers who were making use of the slipway at the new Porth Eirias centre. The combines a waterspouts centre and a restaurant run by star chef Bryn Williams with a panoramic view of the bay.

This was the other end of relay and Derren drove us back along the route of our walk to pick up my car. We still had time before we parted to head back to different parts of Wales for a bit more reminiscing. We also made a promise to not leave it quite so long to meet up again!

Walk date 6th July 2019, distance 15.4km