About Me

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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 15th 2016 - Part 2 - Conwy suspension bridge & Rhuddlan Castle

Back at the quayside end of the road bridge I crossed over towards the castle and went down the same path as the day before to get to the suspension bridge. Thinking I would probably need to stand on the bottom of the gate and half strangle myself again to get a good photo I was quite surprised to find that not only did I not have to stand on the gate, it was open and I could walk straight through onto the bridge. This was definitely an opportunity not to be missed, though I didn't walk all the way along as I would have had pay when I got to the other end - it would only have been £1 but I didn't have any money with me just then. With a dozen shots taken I headed back to the van and drove away from Conwy a very happy bunny.



Back on the A55 I decided on the spur of the moment to return to Abergele and drive back along the coast road through Rhyl and Prestatyn, hoping that eventually I might find Greenfield Dock, but that proved to be a big mistake. From the roundabout near Pensarn station there was a long line of nose-to-tail traffic as far as I could see and nothing seemed to be moving; suspecting that could be all the way along through Towyn and not wanting to be part of it I went up through Abergele town centre and out through a back road where there was very little traffic. This was the A547 which would eventually take me into Prestatyn, completely bypassing Towyn, Kinmel Bay and Rhyl.

As I drove into the small town of Rhuddlan I saw ahead and to my right the castle on a grassy mound overlooking the river - that was another opportunity for a few more photos so I followed the brown 'castle' signs and arrived at a small but pleasant car park right next to the castle ruins. Unfortunately though, unlike the castle at Flint this one wasn't free; adult admission was a very reasonable £3.50 but I didn't have time to stay long enough to explore properly and make it worth paying so I just took a handful of shots from the car park and the riverside then I was on my way once more.



Still following the A547 I eventually arrived in Prestatyn where I picked up the A548 coast road; passing through Llanerch-y-Mor I caught a few brief glimpses of the Duke of Lancaster ship then not many minutes later I was in Greenfield. Driving through the village I passed a double-fronted red brick building which looked like it had once been a pub but was now business premises; it was set back off the main road, on the corner of a minor road, and that's where I saw it - a street sign saying that was Dock Road. It didn't take a genius to work out that with a name like that the road must lead to Greenfield Dock but the street sign could only be seen when travelling in the direction of Flint - no wonder I'd missed it before. Unfortunately though, the detour I'd made to get to Prestatyn and the half hour I'd spent at Rhuddlan Castle meant I didn't have time to go down there to find the dock after all, but at least now I knew how to get to it I could go sometime in the near future.

With no more stops and no delays the rest of the drive home went smoothly and I arrived back at 4.15pm with just time to take the dogs for a quick ten minute walk before I had to go to work. As I downloaded my photos onto the pc later that evening I thought back over the weekend; I'd stayed at a lovely camp site, I'd been round the grounds of Gwrych Castle officially this time, I'd seen some capybaras and best of all I'd met for the first time a blogging friend and her adorable little dog - I don't think the weekend could have been any better.

And finally.....I don't usually put photos of people on here as it's not that sort of blog, but I couldn't end this post without this one - my blogging friend Eileen and me, with Annie, Sophie and Poppie outside the Pantri Bach cafe at Pensarn beach.





8 comments:

  1. Aww Eunice, I am so pleased to have met you too. I just commented on your previous post about our meeting with you, Sophie and Poppie and how much I have enjoyed seeing your photos. Martyn doesn't normally take photographs but the dogs posed perfectly for him. He's even asked me if I would like a better camera for Christmas, of course I said yes :)

    I'm glad you found your way onto the suspension bridge in Conwy. You do indeed pay at one end only and that £1 allows you entrance to the toll house owned by the National Trust. Your photos are excellent.

    Getting caught up in traffic at Towyn is not a good idea in August and using the back road is a much better idea. Rhuddlan is a nice little town and you got some good photos of the castle without paying to wander around the ruins.

    I'm glad you got home in time for work, you certainly packed a lot into your weekend break.

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  2. If a better camera for Christmas is on offer then you can't turn that one down lol

    Regarding the suspension bridge, I'm an NT member so wouldn't have had to pay the charge anyway if I'd walked across but not only did I not have any money with me I didn't have my NT card either. I was wearing cycling shorts and a sleeveless top so with no pockets anywhere I could only carry my camera.

    Now I've seen Ruddlan Castle briefly I think next time I'm down that way I'll take time to go and have a look round properly - it looks quite interesting, and I'm always on the lookout for more photo opportunities.

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  3. The bridge remonded me of Clifton Suspension Bridge. I was brought up in Bristol and it was a most prominant feature of the city. Another wonderful account of your travels Tigermouse. Thanks.
    Yvonne.

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  4. Thank you Yvonne. Your comment about the bridges made me wonder if they were both designed by the same person so I Googled it but they weren't. The Conwy one was designed by Thomas Telford who also designed the Menai one across to Anglesey - there's a definite similarity between those two.

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  5. Gorgeous shots, Eunice! Thanks for sharing your weekend. I enjoyed it immensely.

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  6. Thanks Susie. I'm glad you enjoyed reading this, I certainly enjoyed the weekend. I'm off again for another three nights this weekend so there'll be some more posts to come later next week :)

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  7. Hi Eunice,

    This was awesome, Eunice. Brings back fond memories of the times I've visited Conwy. Aha and there you be with Eileen. Time for a coffee to go, methinks :)

    Gary

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  8. It was a great weekend Gary, especially as the sun finally came out for me, and I'm really pleased with the shots I got of the bridge. It was great to meet up with Eileen too, and her little dog is just adorable :)

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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.