Wednesday July 12th 2017 - Part 2 - Porth Dinllaen

A couple of minutes drive along the main road from Nefyn took me to the village of Morfa Nefyn. Just off the beginning of the lane leading to the golf course was a National Trust car park so I left the van there and headed up the lane towards the clubhouse. Since my accidental discovery of Porth Dinllaen a couple of years ago I'd found out that if I stayed on the path across the golf course instead of going down to the little hamlet I would come to a lifeboat house and a small beach, and another path from there would lead me round the base of the cliff back to the hamlet; from there I could go along the beach back to the car park and the whole route would make a good circular walk.

On the cliff top above the lifeboat house was a 'bench with a view' and I spent several minutes just taking it all in - the hills across the bay standing out clearly and the little hamlet of Porth Dinllaen nestling below the cliff over on my right. A wide block paving path led from the cliff top down behind the boat house and onto the small beach and at the far side a series of shallow steps took me round the base of the cliff. The path from there was quite narrow, and though I had several opportunities to stop and take photos some of those chances were unfortunately scuppered by people coming the other way and wanting to get past.

Eventually I came to a white weatherboarded house with a small corner garden set against the foot of the cliff, and here the path became even more tricky than before - it went across the top of the retaining sea wall and was only just wide enough for one person to walk along. Several people were coming the other way so I had to wait a few minutes before I could go, though while I was waiting I managed to get a shot of some lovely vibrant flowers in the garden.

At the far side of the sea wall the path widened out a bit and another few minutes walking took me behind a couple of cottages, through a small courtyard and right onto Porth Dinllaen beach. Just by the cottage on the corner was a raised flower bed full of brightly coloured blooms - with the white walls and blue cottage door it looked very Mediterranean-like and was worth a photo.

Even though it was the middle of the week and not yet school holidays the main part of the beach was quite busy, though once I'd got past the cottages built out over the rocks I found the next beach was completely empty. Past another house on its own set at the base of the cliff and the next beach, Morfa Nevyn, was long and wide, sweeping for quite a distance round the curve of the bay. About halfway along a wide concrete slope took me up onto a short pleasant road of private houses and bungalows and this in turn led me back to the car park where I'd left the van.

Just across from the car park entrance was the Porth Dinllaen cafe; it had a very pleasant outside seating area and as the afternoon was getting on I decided to treat myself to a meal, however I soon abandoned that idea. There were no menus on the outside tables and when I went inside the only menus I could find on the counter were for sandwiches, snacks and cakes rather than proper meals; all the items listed had some sort of strange code number against them rather than a proper price but I managed to work out that a sandwich would cost me £5.50. That was just a ridiculous price and no way would I pay it so I went back outside, unhitched the dogs from the bench seat where I'd left them and went back to the van - I could make my own meal when I got back to the camp site.

The drive back in the late afternoon sunshine was really pleasant and as I headed along the B4417 not far from its junction with the A449 I came across a view on my right that I really had to stop and take a photo of. Luckily there was a convenient lay-by to hand so I pulled in and crossed the road; I could see right across the Llyn peninsula to the beaches of Harlech and Shell Island on the far side of Tremadog bay, with the hills and mountains of Snowdonia National Park rising up behind. Beyond the road in front of me the view was of hills and a patchwork of fields dotted with houses, farms and animals - it was the sort of view that I could happily spend the rest of my life staring at. 

Back at the camp site I finally made myself a long-awaited meal then settled in to watch a dvd. It was when I was ready for taking the dogs for their last walk at 10pm that I noticed the sky over the far side of the camp site - it was ablaze with colour left behind by the setting sun. Definitely a photo not to be missed, and the perfect end to an almost perfect day.

     

Wednesday July 12th 2017 - Part 1 - Nefyn beach

The previous night's metaphorical finger-crossing had obviously worked as I woke that morning to sunshine and an almost cloudless blue sky, perfect for some exploration and photography. I would normally wait until later in the holiday to have what I call 'my big day out' off the island but knowing how changeable the weather can be there was no time like the present.

About seventeen years ago, when I was with my partner, we had discovered by accident a rather out-of-the-way beach somewhere along the Llyn peninsula; after that one visit we had never been back there but I'd never forgotten it, and though I've tried to find it myself three times in the last few years I've drawn a blank each time. I'd got to the point of thinking that maybe it had been a dream, although I knew it wasn't, then just recently I hit on the idea of using Google Maps to see if I could find it. It took a bit of studying but I found it eventually - it was at Nefyn, a little place I'd passed through on my search for it a couple of years ago. The lane leading down to it was clearly showing on the map so I couldn't think how I'd missed it, but when I actually got there I realised why.

As I drove through the village I was looking for a sign for 'beach' but there was nothing, and I knew if I went far enough I would end up in the golf club car park above Porth Dinllaen which is exactly what happened last time, so I turned round, went back to where I could park up, and walked along the road until I found the lane I was looking for. With a name like Beach Road (although written in Welsh as Lon Y Traeth) it had to be the right one so I went back to get the van; I remembered that the end of the lane had gone down a very steep hill with a double bend and I was right, it was certainly steep but I got down safely and parked in one of the handful of spaces overlooking the beach.

There was a cafe near the bottom of the hill but it was closed - it had been closed all those years ago too - and a concrete slipway leading from the end of the lane straight onto the beach. A couple of dozen beach huts were set back against the wall at the bottom of the cliff and further round the bay were three or four cottages and a handful of what appeared to be holiday chalets or possibly fishing shacks. A harbour wall and a dozen or so small fishing boats completed the picture; it looked a lovely quaint little place and I was glad I'd finally found it after all this time.

Setting off along the sand I walked from one end of the beach to the other and back, stopping every so often to take a photo - and there were plenty of opportunities as it was such a scenic little place. Nestled at the base of the cliff and so close to the water it was hard to believe that anyone actually lived there but there was evidence that a few people did and one of the cottages was undergoing some work.

When I'd seen just about everything of interest - these are just a handful of the photos I took - I made my way back to the van, and as I drove back up the hill I could understand why there probably wasn't a sign for the beach. The lane was narrow, the hill and the bends were steep, and parking was limited to just a dozen or so spaces, so a sign could very well encourage more people and vehicles than the little place could handle. I was glad I'd finally found it after so long though - at least I'd proved to myself that it hadn't been a figment of my imagination all those years ago, and now I know where it is I'll certainly go back there sometime in the near future.