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Hi! I'm Eunice and I live in Bolton, Lancashire, with my two dogs Sophie and Sugar and an assortment of cats - well it used to be Sophie and Sugar, now it's Sophie and Poppie. I first began camping back in 1997 when my then partner took me to Anglesey for my birthday weekend. We slept in the back of the car - a hatchback - using the cushions off the settee at home as a mattress, and cooked and brewed up on a single burner camping stove. The site was good, the views were great, the weather fantastic and I was completely hooked. Following that weekend we got a two-man tent and some proper accessories and returned to Anglesey two weeks later, then over time we progressed to a three-man tent followed by an old trailer tent, then a new trailer tent, a campervan and finally a caravan. When my partner decided that the grass was greener on the other side of the street - literally - in April 2009 and I suddenly found myself alone after fifteen years, I decided there was no way I was going to give up camping and caravanning if I could cope on my own. This blog is the story of my travels, trials and tribulations since becoming a solo camper - I hope you like it

Monday August 26th 2013 - Walking the walls at Conwy

Another gloriously sunny day arrived and after a chill out morning I loaded the dogs into the van and set off for Conwy. During my Easter visit there I'd discovered that it was possible to walk along the old town walls though at the time I hadn't gone very far, however this time it was my mission to walk the whole way round. 

Driving down to Conwy didn't take long but finding somewhere to park when I got there was a total nightmare - the whole place was heaving with holidaymakers and every available parking space was occupied. I was on my fourth circuit round the one-way system and rapidly losing the will to live when I decided to make one last attempt at finding somewhere in a small car park where I'd previously tried, and this time I was lucky; as I drove through the entrance another car came out of a corner space nearby so I pulled in quickly while I had the chance, and with a ticket for three hours stuck in the windscreen I set off to explore. The starting point of my walk was only a couple of hundred yards down the road and once I'd negotiated the steps up to the top of the wall I took a couple of shots from the very end before starting the long uphill trek.



The walkway along the top of the wall got steeper as I went along, with some parts of it, especially round some of the watchtowers, being really narrow with only just about enough room for two people to pass each other; the views over the roof tops to the estuary were worth the effort though. When I reached the last watchtower on that side I found it had a flight of steep and very narrow stone steps leading up to the top; with nowhere to leave the dogs while I went up alone I wasn't sure whether or not to attempt the climb, but my curiosity and sense of adventure - or maybe recklessness - got the better of me and I decided to go up and take the dogs with me. Going up with the dogs in front wasn't that bad and the view from the top over to the seaward side of the estuary was good though a little hazy, but coming back down was a different matter and I gripped the handrail tightly to make sure we all got to the bottom with our lives and bodies still intact.



The second and third sides of the wall were much more on the level and I went as far as I could before a flight of steps took me down to the street below; various buildings and the railway station meant that one section of the wall had disappeared completely so to complete the walk I would have to rejoin it further along. The next part of the wall led right to the castle but it was only a short section so I decided to do that bit another time, opting instead to have a look down the path which led behind the castle. There was nothing much down there except a pleasant grassy area where a couple of families and several teenagers relaxed in the sunshine so I went back to the road and made my way round towards the quayside and the nearby gardens.



The quayside itself was extremely busy with lots of activity both on and off the water, and if I'd had any thoughts at all of maybe visiting the smallest house they were quickly abandoned when I saw the length of the queue for it. By that time I was more than ready for a brew so I found a cafe with an enclosed courtyard garden where dogs were welcome and ordered coffee and carrot cake, both of which were very nice. From there I made my way down to the water's edge at the far end of the quayside and close to the starting point of my wall walk, where I took my last couple of photos before heading back to the car park for the van and returning to Manorafon.



Back at the site I connected the tent canopy to the van and spent the rest of the time relaxing until sunset, then as the daylight faded I fed the dogs and took them for their last walk of the day. Another early bedtime followed and though I started reading some more of my book the dose of sea air I'd had that day made sure I didn't read much before I drifted off into my last sleep at Manorafon.









6 comments:

  1. Hi Eunice, I vaguely remember visiting Conwy castle as a child. I think we were en-route to Abersoch and decided to stop. From your photos and decription it looks like Conwy was as crowded as it was for us when we went to Devon. We had a day in Brixham that was manic! I ended up carrying our Westie around because he was continually being trod on!

    Great photos! I really like the shots of the boats. The top one looks like a ship wreck!

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  2. I have a close-up shot of the boat at the top Phil, it was absolutely loaded with scrap metal and steel, though I don't know if it was all from the boat itself or from other sources and the boat was just used to store it. It looked a bit of a mess though so I decided against putting the pic on here.

    I've not been in the castle yet, as much as I'd love to they don't allow dogs so unless I could find a really shady parking place I wouldn't like to leave them in the van for too long. Something for the future though, I'll get there eventually!

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  3. Since I began reading your blog, I've said many times that I really like your photos, well I thought I should also tell you how much I appreciate your writing! Your blog is always very well written with great descriptions, something that is becoming less common in modern English writing! I read quite a few travel blogs and most use the 'text' style writing with jargon that is sometimes very difficult to understand! I write for a living (I am a Technical Author) so I do appreciate good old plain English writing!

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  4. I've been going through all the posts I've missed, and all it does is make me want to move to England. And camp with you, as you find the most beautiful places.
    Your photos are fantastic, and as Phil said, your writing adds the perfect touch to your photos.

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  5. Thank you both for your comments and compliments. I've often wondered if maybe I write too much - I wouldn't like my blog readers to get bored - but there are some things which need a more detailed description and which would be 'lost' without one.

    I'm with you on today's style of writing Phil; English was my best subject at school and I had a good grounding in spelling, grammar and punctuation so they mean a lot. Sadly much of it seems to have fallen by the wayside these days; I used to work in a secondary school and the grammar and spelling on some things was atrocious - and that was from the teachers! And don't get me started on the misuse of the apostrophe!! lol

    Christine, I don't know about you moving over here to camp with me, I'm thinking of moving over there to help you catch the pigs!!

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  6. I forgot to say Phil, that your compliments about my writing - and Christine's of course - are in complete contrast to another comment I had recently. This one said that the spelling in many of my posts was dreadful and I should check them before I publish them!

    I always check my posts, both as I write them and before I publish them, and again after they've been published in case I've missed something, so I KNOW there's nothing wrong with spelling. That comment had actually gone into my spam box - obviously someone trying to get me to look at his/her blog. Needless to say, it was deleted, but I didn't know whether to feel insulted or amused!

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I really appreciate good comments - who doesn't? - but due to a recent tide of spam from anonymous readers all comments will now be moderated, and only those with a direct bearing on this blog will be published. I'm sure my regular blog readers/commenters will understand the need for this - and to anyone whose comment isn't published, you know why.