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.
I woke that morning to brilliant sunshine and a bright blue sky - typical when it was going home day. Now why couldn't it have been like that all weekend?? It was far too good to waste though, so washed and dressed I grabbed the camera, took a couple of photos of the camp site then went for a walk up the lane with the dogs - the sun was shining on the castle so I should be able to get some decent photos up there.
I'd just taken the last shot when Eileen rang to see if I wanted to meet up for breakfast about 9am. The arrangement had actually been made the previous evening but for a later time; 9am was good for me though so she said they would set off straight away and meet me at the camp site. I'd just got back to the site and was opening the main gate when she and Martyn arrived, complete with Annie of course, and once I'd got Sophie and Poppie in the van we set off for Pantri Bach cafe down by the beach.
After a walk along the dog friendly part of the beach we went to the take-away hatch at the cafe and ordered breakfast, then sat at one of the tables in the sunshine. The toasted teacake and coffee I had were very nice and it was lovely to sit there chatting but eventually I had to go back to Manorafon, pack the tent away and make tracks for home, not only that I was also on a mission. If I could be off the site no later than 11.30am I reckoned I would just about have time to go back to Conwy and take some nice sunny photos before I hit the road for home.
Before I said goodbye to my new friends though we had to take some photos; Martyn took one of Eileen and me with the dogs, and surprisingly they were all looking the same way, then I took a couple of Annie in the back of their car. It was a while later that I realised the car door handle was in the background of the first shot, making it look like Annie had either a tv aerial or a halo on her head; whichever it was I think it really added to the cute factor.
Back at the site I got everything packed away in record time and it was exactly 11.30am when I drove away from my pitch for the last time. It didn't take long to get back to Conwy and this time I managed to get a parking space quite easily, then with three hours on the ticket (I didn't need that long but that was the minimum) I set off to retrace my steps from the day before. I didn't have time to go all the way past the marina to the beach at the other side though so I only went as far as the blue-grey bridge before turning round and heading back towards the quay.
From the quayside I went back across the road bridge and walked halfway along the roadside gardens; the wall on the seaward side had semi-circular viewpoints which jutted out into the water so I used one of these to get several shots looking back towards the castle and the quay - and the sunshine and blue sky certainly made a difference to the views.
From there I started to head back in the direction of the van; even though I had three hours on the ticket I was only allowing myself an hour or so to get the photos I wanted so I didn't want to linger too long, but before I set off for home I had one more thing to do - return to the suspension bridge to see if I could get a nicer shot of it than the one I got the day before.
