Marathon Day Coastal Walking

April 21, 2024 / Dee and Steve / Leave a comment

Sunday 21st April 2024

Holyhead to Valley

*Setting off from Holyhead Ferry terminal*

No, we didn’t walk Marathon mileage today, but we did set off late morning so that we could see the start of the London Marathon on the TV, and we made it a short walk in order to be back to watch the finishers – we all had several friends running it today.

We’re staying in the village of Valley in North Anglesey, logistically planned for our walk around the coast of Holyhead (otherwise known as Holy Island).

*Our new accommodation in Valley, North Anglesey – great views*

Again it was all three Roses – Steve, David and myself – a right bunch!! We planned to get a train to Holyhead but there was a replacement bus service, which worked super nicely, particularly as it was free. And on arriving at the busy Ferry Terminal, there was just one thing to do before setting off – coffee and cake. It’s tough!

Impressive views of the Irish ferries as we left to start our walk along the estuary coastline, taking us through Penrhos Coastal Park. The beautiful woodland promised viewings of red squirrels but despite cricking necks, not a bushy tail was seen. There were minimal inclines today – it was a manageable and pleasant walk with perfect weather. While we had all the walking gear on, we passed many casually dressed Sunday strollers – must have thought that I was a real weirdo with a walking pole – I’m just not taking any chances ever again! It was mostly single track walking so we took it in turns to be the ‘pacer’ in true Marathon fashion.

And literally 300 yards before the end, just when we imagined arriving back with spotless boots, we hit a muddy cow field – but still nothing in comparison to earlier days so hardly worth a grumble. Just short of 5 miles today – a walk in the park.

And now we are back in our lovely accommodation, enjoying tea and biscuits, and scanning the sectioned TV screen, trying to catch sight of those green Redway Runners’ T-shirts, as well as our friends in their Charity T-Shirts, crossing that famous finish line.

Congratulations everyone!

And back to yesterday: Saturday 20th April 2024

We checked out of our stunning accommodation in Abersoch (early) in order to drive to Pwllheli for the parkrun. The most stunning of parkruns but one of the hardest too as it’s running on soft sand and pebbles. We all found it hard and definitely zero chance of a PB. Rewarded ourselves with a full Welsh Breakfast afterwards, as you do.

*Pwllheli Beach – it doesn’t come more tranquil than this.*

*This is what we were running on though – tough going!*

Drove up to Anglesey and then on to Holyhead – spent a couple of hours relaxing on the beautiful beach at Trearddur Bay – you see it’s not all hard work – before checking into our new accommodation in Valley.

And the day before that: Friday 19th April 2024

While David did an admirable 18 mile coastal walk from Llanbedrog to Criccieth, Steve and I on the other hand had a leisurely morning and an indulgent lunch at The Sandbar restaurant on Abersoch beach. The weather was absolutely stunning, so much sunshine. We just had to finish the day off with a couple of beers at The Vaynol pub, watching the sun go down.

*Views from the Sandbar restaurant, Abersoch Beach*

*A cheeky couple of Friday night beers!*

So all in all the last few days have been wonderfully relaxed – with a little bit of running and walking thrown in. Now this feels like holiday.

The three Roses set off from Hell’s Mouth … the pole came too!

April 18, 2024 / Dee and Steve / 2 Comments

18th April 2024

Hell’s Mouth (Porth Neigwl) to Abersoch

So I jumped back in today and joined Steve on the coastal path – the final bit we needed to do on the Llyn Peninsula – hoping beyond hope that I’d made the right decision. That is the trickiness though – you just don’t know until you get there. And we were joined for the majority of it by our buddy, David Rose. This meant we could park David’s car in the Hell’s Mouth car park and be able to use ours when we returned to Abersoch where we’re staying. With the sun shining and blue skies we keenly set off in our walking shorts, ready for the adventure ahead.

I can safely report that it wasn’t disappointing, in fact it was the BEST day of coastal walking I’ve done in such a long time. It completely restored my faith … and my confidence. This time I remembered to bring my walking pole so for the odd bits of mud and downhill slopes we encountered it made such a difference. On the whole though, the ground was so much drier, hardly a slip hazard in sight – bliss.

*Sometimes previous walkers leave us with a little help ….*

The route was a series of stunning beaches, views a-plenty. Some significant climbs it has to be said and a small amount of narrow paths on cliff edge but as long as it’s not slippery I can cope with that. And the two men were always there to give me a hand! There were large parts where we could walk three abreast and chat about life and politics … oh, and about animal poo!!

We stopped about half way for our picnic lunch – David is having a good influence on Steve in terms of stopping for sustenance. We spotted a great bench that was clearly for someone who had long legs … David and I just had to dangle ours! We were joined by several sheep and lambs who seemed fascinated by our egg sandwiches and made us feel guilty with their piercing stares. When Steve dropped a piece of banana there was practically an avalanche of them. Who would have thought? And as we walked away a couple of them followed us – clearly getting bored with their diet of grass.

As I walked today, I was reflecting on a little book I’m reading, given to be my lovely chum Anne – it’s entitled ‘Mindful thoughts for Walkers.’ I was following their advice about being mindful, getting into a rhythm and breathing, listening to sounds, being aware of the smells, just appreciating the nature around us and being present. So therapeutic. It’s a great little book based on Buddhist philosophy.

About a mile out of Absersoch we parted company with David as he was walking on to Llanbedrog (we had already covered that section). Steve and I walked the last bit along the beach which is always a beautiful way to finish.

And rounded it all off with coffee and yummy cake back in the village before setting off in our car to collect David and return him to his parked car. Eventually we all end up back in our accommodation, now showered and revived … the men are snoozing while I reflect on the day for our blog.

I can wholeheartedly say that today’s walk was “FAB-U-LOUS” – 8.5 miles of loveliness. I think that’s me back in … for now!

Aberdaron to Porth Neigwl (Hell’s Mouth)

April 17, 2024April 17, 2024 / Dee and Steve / Leave a comment

Travelling alone again today and probably a good decision with there being plenty of climbing and oodles of mud along the thirteen plus miles and five hours. This did though enable Dee to drop me off at the start and meet me at the end of the walk.

Leaving Aberdaron at 9.30am with still a chill in the air, the first couple of miles were through farmland before reaching the first of several huge climbs. This meant though the views were incredible in both directions and the bright clear weather helped despite the rather strong winds!

Other than shedloads of mud today I also spotted a few flowers including this magnificent display of Bluebells, in a woodland with a stream running alongside, spectacular!!

Interesting seeing various signs along the way and this one covers off most jobs including ‘knapsack spraying’ …. I have absolutely no idea?

Normally I travel light, meaning no bags / food etc but today I had a change of plan and it’s fair to say that eating lunch with this view was pretty special.

Porth Neigwl is referred to in English as Hell’s Mouth, reflecting the dangers to shipping along this part of the coast. One of the most famous disasters being the sinking of ‘The Twelve Apostles’ which caused a lot of comment!

Tomorrow we complete the Llyn Peninsula with a walk from Porth Neigwl to Abersoch and I’m being joined by Dee and our good friend ‘Rose The Younger’ aka David Rose, so it’ll be nice to have company and we might, just might, have a beer on arriving back in town.

Spectacular Aberdaron to Porth Colmon

April 16, 2024April 16, 2024 / Dee and Steve / Leave a comment

Another day on the coast path and a complete change of weather, with lots of the mud drying and easier conditions underfoot. Still a small matter of hills and a mighty wind to contend with but the incredible sea views, coves and beaches more than made up for this!

Today was just ‘Billy no mates’ venturing out as Dee had quite rightly decided not to partake because of the aforementioned mudfest that we had seen the day before. The plan for today’s route of 15 miles, included a small section of path actually on the beach, with high tides expected a path closure across the beach was probably for the best!

Lots of good things to report today, in no particular order:-

Plenty of coastal path signs, lots of downhills (of course lots of uphills as well), awesome views, a few other walkers on the path, amazing weather albeit a tad windy (cobwebs defo blown away) and top of the list was Dee being able to track the walk on Garmin, enabling her to co-ordinate meeting me at the end with sandwiches, cakes and drinks!

Can you spot the coastal path … it goes either up and down (generally) or occasionally round all these lovely inclines!

Always a memorial along the path and today’s two feature ‘The view for Leo” being just a sign, so I assume Leo stood here rather than sitting. This was made up for though a little later when a white painted bench came into sight but there was no plaque?

Most of the focus on pictures today revolves around sea views, a feature of coastal path walking is getting so many photo opportunities. All of these are taken with my phone, as I’d made the decision to travel light today which seemed a good decision as apparently there are Banjo’s locally?

Two more days of walking on The Llyn Peninsula before we move onto Holyhead next week for more walking exploits!

The lovely Llyn Peninsula

April 15, 2024 / Dee and Steve / Leave a comment

Monday 15th April 2024

Tudweiliog to Penllech Beach

We’re back where we belong – on our beloved Coast Path and on the gorgeous Llyn Peninsula in North Wales. The sky was blue today and the coastline was spectacular, the sea dramatic with the wild winds. So atmospheric that I wish I could say it was a wonderful walk … however it just wasn’t, it was grim. It was only 5 miles but each mile was either a muddy farm field or a boggy cliff path – from beginning to end we were up to our ankles in squelchy mud.

It all started off in promising fashion – we drove to Penllech and found a parking spot down near the beach. We started with a two mile uphill climb to the bus stop on the main road and there we had ourselves a little picnic while waiting for the bus. The timing was perfect, the bus arrived exactly on time and I congratulated Steve on his logistical planning as we confidently rode along, admiring what appeared to be a nice easy terrain for today’s ramble. The only difficult bit so far was pronouncing ‘Tudweiliog’ to the bus driver in our awkward tongue rolling attempt at the Welsh accent … but he kindly said we did well.

As soon as we hit the coastal path we were squelching, the farm fields were SO wet, quite unbelievable. We trudged on, amongst the sheep and young lambs, thinking things could only get better once we reached the cliff paths. Sadly it didn’t, the grassy areas were a mass of bogs and there was no way of avoiding wading through thick, sticky gunk.

Having said all that, there were definitely some gorgeous parts to the day:

We could tolerate the strong winds and even the occasional downpour but the state of the ground just made it a miserable exercise – not our usual exhilarating hike … this was an endurance test. And I’d stupidly left my walking poles in the car again (after having said I would never walk without them again)!! Maybe if I’d had them it would have been better – although Steve found no pleasure in today either.

I just seem to have become a wobbly, whiney walker – not that I whine externally (because I hate the thought of this thing beating me) but inside I’m whining big time. My confidence has taken a knock from recent muddy walks and slips (another slip added to the list today) so sadly I’m going to hang up my hat for a while, hoping to return when the paths are drier or there’s a nice stretch of promenade. Steve will soldier on and keep the blog going.

On a cheerier note, we’ve settled into our super smart accommodation in Abersoch and have been joined by the lovely David Rose who is here to walk some of the Peninsula too. Looking forward to a few days here – the men will be walking while I have some leisure-time … bring it on.

Welcome to the mudfest!!

February 21, 2024 / Dee and Steve / Leave a comment

Watchet to Shurton (Hinkley Point)

Previously known as King Charles III Coastal Path, at the moment there is actually more resemblance with the nearby River Parrett which has perhaps been re-routed without us having received the email.

Today’s blog is a guest visit from the ol’ fella as your regular blogger made a great call deciding that today was a step / bridge / water feature too far, that decision being well founded!

An eleven mile walk included a diversion around the new under construction power station along with just about every natural feature you could wish for and I list in no particular order:-

Steep climbs / descents (on mud and running streams), rock climbing, the opportunity to get stranded on the beach along with aforementioned path diversion which entailed wading through water about twelve inches deep … the picture is below, and if you’re thinking that’s a river then you are correct, although it’s supposed to be a road but in the meantime the heavy plant from the power station has had different ideas. The warning sign picture of high tide flooding was actually after I had walked along three miles of beach, it would have been a real help if that sign had been at both ends of the beach!

However for all these obstacles it was splendid to see the Somerset coast on a rather warm day and with Dee not walking it enabled me to call thirty minutes before I needed meeting for the drive back to base.

That concludes our walking for now as normal life beckons and judging by the amount of rain falling today I would guess the coastal path could be even more challenging over the next few days!

Thank you for following our rambles, we’ve now covered some two thirds of the England and Wales path. Our next plans include North Wales and Anglesey in April joined by David Rose, followed by The Gower Peninsula in September with David once again, along with Ros and DJ as the ‘Five Go Exploring’ story continues. Until then….love to all xx

A heartwarming reunion

February 20, 2024 / Dee and Steve / Leave a comment

Monday 19th February 2024

Watchet to Minehead – 8 miles

*Today was so special meeting up with these lovely people. Our walk was taking us through Blue Anchor Bay* – in July 2017 we stayed there, at the Langbury Hotel for a couple of nights, before nervously starting off on our retirement project of walking the UK Coastline. Nigel and Paula were our wonderful hosts. So we couldn’t just walk by without seeing if they were still there and letting them know that we were still rambling. Imagine our surprise when they greeted us so warmly, remembering who we were as they’d been following our adventures through the blog. That is why I say ‘heartwarming’ in the title because it warmed our hearts that they had done that. We had a fabulous hour exchanging our stories – Nigel and Paula too are great travellers and wildlife photographers. https://www.langbury.co.uk/ *They now run their stunning residence as self-catering accommodation – if you’re down this way, we would highly recommend.*

The day started off with the most wonderful breakfast, served up by Keith, the owner of this fabulous hotel we’re staying in – http://the-georgian-house.somersethotels24.com/en/ Watchet is great, the hotel is great – life is good.

*The sumptuous dining room where we enjoy breakfast.*

We’d been pre-informed that there was a diversion off the Coastal Path as you leave Watchet – we just needed to follow the yellow signs. This was really helpful although we still got a little lost … we diverted off the diversion somehow!! But once we were back on it again the path was fairly straightforward, largely walking through woodland but with coastal views too. A fair amount of uphill, a fair amount of mud and water and this meant a fair amount of slippery downhill slopes – I took it very slow, I mean literally inching my way down, I must have looked ridiculous!!

*An excellent bar we’ve found in Watchet*

*There are lots of these little men around in Watchet – possibly connected to the Arty community here and the town’s history of tin mining*

*Nothing like walking through muddy puddles – wet feet again!!*

Half way along the route we reached Blue Anchor Bay – a place that holds fond memories for us and where we enjoyed our meet up with Nigel and Paula.

And then on to Minehead via Dunster Beach. A gloriously flat walk, quite a lot of water around but plenty of chances to divert and stay dry. The white peaks of Butlins loomed ahead as we entered the town but if felt good to be walking along the promenade again. It was amazing looking up at the hill where our walking first started – how it didn’t put us off I’ll never know.

I guess we should have saved this bit to the very end but it’s just seemed silly not to do it while we were down this way. We reckon we have ‘rambled’ 2/3 of England and Wales now – we still have bits and pieces to do here and there. Scotland is probably out of the question now – we may do that in a different style of transport.

*Looking back on our very first climb!!*

*The very start of the South West Coastal Path – on Minehead promenade.*

But today’s meet up with Nigel and Paula summed up the beauty of creating memories – we all said what fabulously interesting people we had met on our journeys and how they had enriched our lives … and there’s always room for more.

And this is a link to the blog where our rambling days started:

https://wordpress.com/post/deestevetravels.blog/71

The bit we left off!

February 18, 2024 / Dee and Steve / Leave a comment

Sunday 18th February 2024

A fabulously gentle 5 mile stroll today – our project being the bit of the coastal path we left off on Wednesday … abandoned due to uncertainty of terrain, darkness looming and low spirits! The path was between Brean and Weston-super-Mare. We largely stuck to the cycle path in preference to the sea wall and it completely paid off – a perfect walk, very enjoyable.

The last two miles of it was walking along the beach, so so populated with dog walkers as well as kite surfers and buggies. We walked right up to the Grand Pier and before saying our farewells to WSM we indulged in some hot sugary donuts and coffee – relief treats!

Brean Down

We’d left our house-sit today, saying our goodbyes to Dave and Gathina (super friendly cats) and drove down to our next stop – a small hotel in the lovely seaside village of Watchet. We’ve had a little look around and first impressions are great … seems to be an arty community here, lots of galleries and small theatres. Looking forward to exploring more over the next couple of days.

*Our pretty bedroom for the next few nights*

*East Quay, in Watchet – an interesting collection of galleries, studios, shops and cafes*

And we’ll be back out on that muddy path tomorrow – wish us luck.

It’s all about Bristol …

February 17, 2024February 17, 2024 / Dee and Steve / Leave a comment

Saturday 17th February 2024

What could possibly be better, when you’re having some resting days from coastal walking (for physical and mental reasons!!!), than a two hour walking tour around the city streets of Bristol. But it was fantastic – interesting, informative and a huge variety of stories and experiences. Our guide Luke was a wonderful narrator and the time flew by. What a fascinating city Bristol is – packed with history, both ancient and modern. Our guided tour ranged from Bristol’s seafaring history, including the links to slavery, the churches and cathedral, the range of architecture spanning centuries, famous Bristolians, right up to modern day street art. https://www.getyourguide.co.uk/ – really recommend it.

And of course, Saturday wouldn’t be Saturday without the inevitable parkrun photo – this morning’s run at Eastville Park … I warn you it’s hilly.

A Valentine’s Day to remember

February 15, 2024 / Dee and Steve / Leave a comment

Wednesday 14th February 2024

In the 32 years we’ve been together, this is the first time that we’ve not exchanged Valentines Day cards, flowers, chocolates etc. We’re far too busy rambling! Actually, we were aware it was looming but it just caught us out in terms of acquiring said gifts. Nevertheless, what better than a stroll from Burnham-on-Sea to Weston-super-Mare … we’re just a pair of old romantics.

We drove the car to Weston-super-Mare as yesterday’s reliance on public transport had added an extra 4 hours to our day out. Unfortunately we just missed a bus and had to wait an hour for the next No. 20 to Burnham. On arrival we were pleasantly surprised that we could walk along the beach (as opposed to the sand dunes) the 6 mile route taking us to Brean. It was overcast but dry and there was lots of life on the beach – dog walkers and children playing – a beautiful start to the day. There were frequent signs about sinking mud further out, so we made sure we kept close to the back of the beach. We didn’t need any stress today.

We stopped in Brean for refreshment and could see a huge climb ahead – Brean Down. Steve did mention that we could skip this part altogether but we just couldn’t bring ourselves to cheat – what is wrong with us!!? So up the flight of steps we went – 97 metres of it – but at least we could stay upright and there was a handrail … luxury! And boy was it worth it, the views were tremendous – looking out over the Bristol Channel towards South Wales and over the Somerset levels. We both said that in all our years of walking it was one of the most magnificent views we had seen. You see, there is some logic and benefits to this crazy life we lead.

At the top is a site of a Roman temple and the path led us up and down to a National Trust property called Palmerston Fort – it is now a ruin but was built to defend the country against a possible Napoleonic invasion and later used in WWII. It was fairly muddy underfoot and slippery so we kept looking for shortcuts but they weren’t abundant. We were fairly close to the end of the headland when we spotted one – it meant a fairly steep descent so we took it steady – we had about a metre left to go when my feet went from underneath me and I took a slip slide down, caking myself in thick yellow mud. I wasn’t amused.

Luckily the lower path was drier and flatter so I managed to compose myself as we walked back along the other side – we had magnificent views of Weston-super-Mare from here and it made it seem so much more doable. We found ourselves at a junction where a tarmac path would have taken us back to where we had lunched in Brean – but our OS app was indicating that the coastal path route was the other option – a muddy narrow path downhill through the woods. No prizes for guessing which path we chose. I don’t know why I did it because I grumbled and moaned the whole way down about it being ridiculous – I was extra nervous after my tumble. Once again, just shy of the end, I fell onto my side this time and collected an even more muddy look. My very words were “that’s it, I’m not taking any more risks.”

And to think we could have skipped the whole headland as we were pretty much back where we started an hour ago. But we would have missed the views!

It wasn’t even 5 minutes before we were forced to take said risk!! The coastal path sign indicated that the path was available between April and July. The trouble was that there didn’t seem to be any alternative and we had to get back to our car. Steve was getting concerned about getting back in daylight. The gates to the embankment path were open so on we went, and the next few gates were open too. It was wet, muddy and unpleasant but it least it was taking us back to where we needed to go. About halfway along the 3 mile stretch of embankment however, the gates were padlocked … but climb over we did in preference to going back. Our spirits were low but we trudged on and climbed over numerous gates. When we got to the turning point to take us to the other side of the estuary, we made the decision to abandon ship – we were facing another 3 or 4 miles of embankment walking and unknown territory in terms of locked gates etc.

*A rerminder of the dreaded estuary and its embankment wall*

We found a route to a bus stop a mile away and then had to wait an hour for a bus into Weston-super-Mare. We cheered ourselves up with an orange Club biscuit – simple pleasures. We hated having to give up but we needed to get back safely. It was a bath, food and an early night for us – completely exhausted. Happy Valentines Day. xx

Thursday 15th February 2024

We’re taking a day or two off walking. The travelling to our start points is getting too long and complicated. We’ll be finding something a little more leisurely to do for a few days until we move further down the coast at the weekend. Planning a belated Valentines meal out today.

Yesterday was a day to remember, perhaps a turning point in this retirement project of ours. We need to stay safe and we need to enjoy our times on the coast. So King Charles, if there’s no official coastal path we’re just not going to do it.

The rambling roses

Come along with us on our journeys :)