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

Saturday September 22nd 2018 Part 2 - Port Dinorwic

Driving back along the A487 with the clouds gradually clearing and the sun deciding to show its face I did a detour down to Y Felinheli, otherwise known as Port Dinorwic. It was a quaint little place set on the edge of the Menai Strait and I hadn't been there for a couple of years so it was worth taking another look. A couple of rows of attractive cottages faced the water and a long grassy area with parking spaces along its edge separated the road from the shingle beach. 

 At one end of the green was the sailing club enclosure with its rows of private yachts on trailers and at the other end was the start of a large modern housing estate. Walking along by the sea wall I spotted a heron perched on the end of a seaweed covered breakwater, and though I thought it would probably fly away before I could get a photo it didn't and I managed to get several shots while it stood there posing.


 It was quite a distance to walk through the estate to the marina so I drove round instead and with very few people around there was plenty of space to park at the roadside. Nothing much seemed to have changed since the last time I was there so it only took fifteen minutes to wander round and get a few photos before returning to the van and setting off once more.
Driving back towards the A487 I passed an intriguing looking place set back off the road; with fancy iron gates and long high stone walls there was nothing to see except lots of trees and the roof of a gate keeper's cottage just inside the gates. A fancy plaque on one wall told me that this was the grounds of Vaynol Hall and was 'strictly private' - a shame really as it looked just the sort of place I like exploring, although later information has told me that the estate and hall are sometimes open to the public for various festivals and concerts.

With the last photo taken I hopped back in the van - which I'd momentarily parked in a bus lay-by - and continued my journey back to the camp site with no further stops, then after making a brew and a snack meal I settled down in the van for the rest of the evening, only venturing out again later on to take the dogs for their bedtime walk.

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10 comments:

  1. nashvillecats230 September 2018 at 21:29

    Some more wonderful pictures Tigermouse, also a great account of your day.
    Brings back fond memories of my days of caravanning.

    Yvonne.

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    1. Tigermouse30 September 2018 at 22:02

      Well I've managed not to delete your comment this time :) It's a shame you had to give up caravanning as there are so many wonderful places to see and photograph. I intend to continue camping for as many years as I'm physically capable of doing - as my son once said, I'll still be camping when I'm 90!

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  2. Anabel Marsh30 September 2018 at 21:31

    A right poser, that heron!

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  3. Tigermouse30 September 2018 at 22:04

    He certainly was, he was on the end of that breakwater for ages, in fact he was still there when I got back in the van :)

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  4. Eileen H1 October 2018 at 08:38

    Lovely photos of the heron. I'm sure Vaynol Hall would be a nice place to visit, it looks very grand. We're watching an interesting programme about the Menai Straits at the moment, it's on for half an hour on Friday evenings I think.

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  5. Tigermouse1 October 2018 at 10:18

    I've been watching that programme but completely forgot about it last Friday as I was busy writing the first blog post of my latest trip. I must try to catch up with it before this week's programme comes on :)

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  6. Kernow Camper1 October 2018 at 11:32

    I love the look of Vaynol Hall too. x

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  7. Tigermouse1 October 2018 at 16:08

    It looks really intriguing, I'd love to get in there and explore :)

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  8. Bag End Gardener2 October 2018 at 08:02

    Excellent heron pictures, and the marina looks lovely too. Knowing you, it won’t be long before you get inside Vaynol :)

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  9. Tigermouse2 October 2018 at 09:50

    I think I may have already found a way of getting into the grounds of Vaynol - something to pursue next time I'm down that way :)

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