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.