Monday August 15th 2016 - Part 2 - Conwy suspension bridge & Rhuddlan Castle

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.