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 June 11th 2018 - Part 1 - A visit to the doctor's & Cemaes Bay

Weather-wise another glorious day arrived and with it my quest to find and photograph the old Porth Wen brick works on the coast between Cemaes Bay and Bull Bay. I'd seen and read about the brick works on Ruth's blog the year before last but since then I'd been told by more than one person that it was very difficult to find and get to, so difficult in fact that some of the locals didn't even know how to get there. Internet research and my map book had given me a rough idea of its location and it seemed that the best way of finding it was via part of the Anglesey Coastal Path, so I set out that morning with the intention of driving to Cemaes Bay, parking the van and walking along the coastal path until I found what I was looking for.

 Before that happened however, I ended up at the doctor's surgery in the village! The day before I'd been bitten just above my right elbow by a horse fly, and though I thought no more about it just then by the time I was going to bed that night the top half of my arm had swollen up to twice its normal size and felt really heavy, sore and itchy. So before I set out on my day's travels I went to the pharmacy in the village to get something for it, whereupon the assistant took one look and advised me to go to the doctor's as it was so swollen. 

 The health centre was only just along the road so I went straight there, registered as a temporary patient, and was seen half an hour later. The lady doctor was very nice and gave me a prescription for some antihistamines, saying that I would find a marked difference in my arm after taking the first one, so after collecting the tablets from the pharmacy I took one straight away and by the time I'd driven up to Cemaes Bay my arm was already feeling much better.

 Parking in a lay-by just above the bay I thought that even though the tide was out I may as well have a quick wander round and take a couple of photos while I was there, and it was while I was over on the harbour wall that I got talking to a lovely old gentleman who told me how to get to Porth Wen without walking all the way from Cemaes, although much of the route was very up-and-down. To walk from Cemaes would be at least four miles one way so to be able to drive some of the way sounded much easier, however I didn't know then exactly what I was letting myself in for....

Driving out of Cemaes Bay and heading back the way I'd gone I took a left turn off the main road - I'd been told to follow the lane all the way down and round to the right and eventually I would find a farmer's gate where I could safely pull in off the road, and opposite I'd find a footpath which would take me across the fields to Porth Wen - except things didn't quite work out like that....

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8 comments:

  1. Anabel Marsh18 June 2018 at 23:02

    Ooh, a cliff-hanger! Sounds a nasty bite. I first started following Ruth’s blog when she was in Anglesey I think - Wales anyway. Is that really the year before last, time flies.

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  2. Tigermouse18 June 2018 at 23:35

    It was, almost literally a cliff-hanger! I was going to write it up tonight and make it all one post but I'm really too tired just now so I've split it into two.

    It was you who first put me onto Ruth's blog and it turned out she was on Anglesey at the same time as me although two days ahead - I was there for ten days and I've often wondered since if our paths had crossed without us knowing about each other.

    I seem to have a very bad reaction to horse fly bites, I discovered that 20 years ago after being bitten twice within a couple of weeks and having to have my rings cut off at the hospital, but I've not had one since then so I'd forgotten about the effect until my arm swelled up. It was okay within a day or so of getting the tablets and it's fine now :)

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  3. nashvillecats219 June 2018 at 00:28

    Sorry you were bitten on the arm Tigermouse but pleased the medication worked for you. You have left us all wondering what happened next.

    Yvonne.

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  4. Tigermouse19 June 2018 at 01:06

    Let's just say that what happened next isn't something I would be in a hurry to repeat! lol

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  5. Eileen H19 June 2018 at 07:26

    That does sound a nasty bite and severe reaction to it. I'm glad you were seen and treated so quickly. I've yet to revisit Ruth's blog to read that part of her Anglesey coastal path walk so I will do that before reading part two of your adventure.

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  6. Tigermouse19 June 2018 at 10:09

    I certainly did have a bit of a nasty reaction to the bite, although I only took a couple of the tablets (1 per day) and by the time I was going home the following day my arm was right as rain again. The tablets are good for another couple of years yet so I'll keep them just in case I get another bite sometime as they were certainly very effective :)

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  7. Bag End Gardener23 June 2018 at 20:29

    The NHS is forever getting stick, but to be seen so quickly whilst you were away is testament to the hard work of the frontline staff. What with your foot (how is that, by the way) and now a bad bite, you've been in the wars recently :-(

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  8. Tigermouse23 June 2018 at 22:39

    To be honest I didn't really want to go to the doctor's that morning as I expected to have quite a long wait so I was surprised that I could be seen so quickly. I'd actually explained to the receptionist that I couldn't really wait more than half an hour as I had two dogs in the van so she said if I went back out and stayed with them she would come out and call me when it was my turn, and sure enough she did. Funnily enough I got another bite on my other arm that same day but it had no effect as I'd already taken one of the tablets :) My foot is fine now by the way, it was all healed up by the time I went away and all I have to show for it now is a faint red mark :)

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