Sunday June 10th 2018 - Rhosneigr & Holyhead

After a leisurely few hours in yet more good weather the first place on my agenda late morning was the big car boot sale on the show ground over at Mona, although in spite of all the stalls there was nothing which attracted me enough to buy it. From there I went across to Rhosneigr and on my approach to the village from the south I was lucky enough to see a vacant space in the small free roadside car park so I left the van there and set off for the main beach. My quest that day was to find and photograph Sausage Castle and a short walk along the sand from the bottom of Beach Road soon found it. 

Not actually a castle but a large private house with castellated walls it's real name was Surf Point Villa. It was built next to the beach in the early 1900s by Charles Palethorpe, a member of the famous pork butchery family specialising in sausages, and hence the house became know as Sausage Castle. With a couple of shots taken I continued along to where the Afon Crigyll flowed out across the beach; I hadn't been so far up that end of the beach before and the riverside looked intriguing so I decided to take a proper look.

Following the river inwards through the dunes I eventually came to where it swept round to the right in a large curve then almost doubled back on itself before turning again and heading off inland. Ahead and to my right was a static caravan park with a footbridge over the river and a small group of kayakers were in the water; another path took me from the riverside across the grass to a small cul-de-sac of houses next to the caravan park and another few minutes walking had me back on the main road through the village. Although I couldn't get close to Sausage Castle from there I managed to get a zoom shot of the back of it from over the wall in front of me then I made my way back to the van.

From Rhosneigr I headed up to Holyhead with the intention of getting some fuel in the van at the Tesco supermarket before it closed then going back to Penrhos coastal park for a cheeseburger from Pete's Burger Bar. As I got to the embankment crossing from Valley towards Holyhead I was met by the strangest thing I've ever seen on Anglesey - a sea mist so thick that it obscured the whole bay from view but the road running alongside it was completely clear and the sun was still blazing down from a blue sky. I just had to get a photo of that but with traffic behind me and nowhere to pull in I continued the couple of minutes up the road to Tesco. 

It didn't take long to get the fuel and drive back to where I could park near the burger bar but in that short time the mist had completely disappeared and the bay was in full sunshine. Talking to Blue as he cooked my burger it seemed that the mist had been coming and going all day and it would probably come back yet again, but though I could see a few wisps lingering out to sea it hadn't returned by the time I'd had my burger and coffee and was ready for leaving.

My next port of call was Breakwater Country Park at the far side of Holyhead; it had been a few years since I was last there so it would be nice to have another look round the place. The car park was a pay-and-display and as I didn't intend being there too long I thought an hour was enough so with my ticket duly stuck in the van window I set off round the nearby lake. It wasn't a big lake so it didn't take long to walk round it, then I went through a gate in the wall and took a walk along the nearby cliff top. In the distance I could hear the faint throb of an engine and it wasn't too long before the Dublin Swift ferry came into view on its way across to Ireland; it was well-named Swift as it certainly seemed to be making fairly rapid progress for the size of it, and as my son hasn't so far had the experience of travelling on that one I took a photo of it for him even though he has actually seen it in both Holyhead and Dublin ports.

From the cliff top I decided to tackle the nearby steep path up Holyhead Mountain but only went up far enough to get a good view over the country park and the rest of Holyhead. I was just lining up a shot when coming towards me up the hill, on a rough track no wider than my van and where you wouldn't expect to see any vehicles, was a Land Rover! Now why on earth anyone would want to drive up there I have no idea (unless maybe the guy had some sheep up there) but I had to tuck the dogs in behind me and squash myself into the hedge to let him pass, then once he'd gone I took the shots I wanted and made my way back down the hill to the van.

Driving back through Holyhead I made an impromptu call to see my friends Louise and Derek but they weren't in so I dropped a note through their letterbox and set off back to the camp site, taking the A55 Expressway back to Llangefni as the quickest route. It was early evening when I finally got back to the tent and with a meal made I spent the rest of the time relaxing with my book and a bit of tv before taking the dogs for their bedtime walk round the site. The few families who had come to their seasonal caravans for the weekend had all gone by the time I'd got back from my day out and I had the place to myself again so my last two nights on site were guaranteed to be lovely and quiet.