Leaving Moelfre behind I headed north along the A5025 towards Amlwch, then a couple of miles before the town itself turned off onto the 'B' road which took me uphill to Parys Mountain. I'd driven past the mountain a few years previously and at the time I'd thought it looked like a rather huge blot on the country landscape, but as it was featured in the photography book my quest now was to find an old windmill on top of the mountain and photograph it according to the book.
A rough-surfaced and rather pot-holed car park just off the road gave me somewhere to leave the van, and though I would have liked to take the dogs with me I didn't think it would be a good idea given that the terrain I would be exploring was very rough with many steep drops, so I left them with a couple of chew sticks each to keep them occupied while I was away.
From the car park a wide footpath went to both left and right and not knowing exactly whereabouts the windmill was I decided to take the left hand side and work my way round in a clockwise direction. The path narrowed after a while, winding up and round the mountain through a rough terrain of grass, rocks and loose stones, and as I climbed I was glad I was wearing my trainers - beach sandals on ground such as this just wouldn't do. Eventually the old windmill came into view and the path widened out again - another few minutes and I was at the highest point of the mountain. I was quite surprised to find that the inside of the windmill was accessible on two levels, and though there was nothing to see in there the view from outside it was good - I could see for miles across the Anglesey countryside, with the Snowdonia mountains in one direction and Point Lynas lighthouse in the distance in front of me.
Continuing in a clockwise direction I wound my way down the far side of the mountain; there were many paths going in various directions and all offering the chance to explore the mountain at length, but I didn't want to be away from the dogs for too long so I took what looked to be the most direct route back to the car park. As I got further down and round I came to the huge open cast area which reminded me of a strange lunar landscape, or maybe something from Lord Of The Rings - and it wouldn't have surprised me to see Doctor Who's Tardis landing somewhere nearby.
Further round from the open cast section I came across a large lake and several smaller lakes and ponds with hawthorn bushes and clumps of buttercups and other flowers dotted here and there. With much more greenery around the area it didn't look quite as desolate as the open cast section and it was hard to believe that all this was part way up a mountain.
With my final few photos taken I continued my downward route and eventually arrived back at the car park. The dogs were asleep in the back of the van but they soon woke up when I opened the door, and after a quick drink and a couple of circuits of the car park we set off back to the camp site, where I spent the rest of the day and evening relaxing with my book. Thinking back to my walk round Parys Mountain I had to admit that I was surprised and somewhat amazed by the area; far from being a blot on the countryside as I'd previously thought, in its own way and with the blue sky and sunshine it was strangely beautiful. I knew I hadn't explored as much of it as I could have done so that would be one place I would certainly go back to in the future.
Monday had been another cloudy day and as it was also my birthday I'd treated it as one of my chill-out days. The morning had been spent in and around the tent and I'd got chatting to the couple in the camper van who were in the process of packing up. They had two lovely little Jack Russell dogs, Ted and Katy, and a very placid cat called Guinness, and being the sucker I am for cats and small dogs I just had to take a couple of photos of all three of them before they left the site.
In the afternoon I'd taken Sophie and Sugar for a walk along the path which skirts the cliff at the bottom of the site, only going about a mile from the site and just as far as the small headland with the abandoned partially built cottage, although when I got there I was quite surprised to find that it was no longer abandoned. The rectangular four-walled shell which had stood open to the elements for many many years had finally found someone to love it and it now sported an extension at one end and a smart grey-tiled roof. Looking at the deep tyre tracks in the ground and the mini digger parked at the side it was obvious that the work was recent - maybe next time I go that way it will all have been completed and the cottage will finally have residents.
The evening had been spent watching tv and indulging in a couple of glasses of cherry Lambrini and the miniature cake supplied by my son and daughter-in-law, plus a large handful of chocolates from the box given to me by another family member. Okay, so I pigged out a bit, but having a birthday is as good an excuse as any to do it.
So Tuesday morning arrived and with it came the sunshine, meaning that this would be one of my days out. While walking the dogs the previous day I'd noticed an orange object in the distance across the water and a large crane causing a blot on the landscape at Moelfre, so after a chill-out morning, and curious to know what was going on, I loaded Sophie and Sugar in the van and drove over there. It turned out to be the construction of a new lifeboat station; the old building had been demolished to make way for the new one and the orange object was the lifeboat anchored just offshore.
Having satisfied my curiosity I walked along the cliff path to the end and back, which meant making a detour because of the building works, then walked back through the village, stopping to take a few photos here and there. Moelfre is such a small place that it's impossible not to repeat any photos already taken, but it's so pretty that on such a nice sunny day it was worth taking a few more.
Back at the van I gave the dogs a much needed drink then set off on the second part of my afternoon - a visit to one of the very few places on the island where I had not yet been. To be honest it was a place I'd never really thought about going to but I was following the photography book and wanted to get my own version of the two photos in there - it would be interesting to see if I could find the exact locations for both.
