Day 1 - Menai Bridge to Llanddona
Well, after a lot of girlie preparation (What are you wearing? Where’s my lip balm? Do you think we will need any wet weather gear?) Helen, Lindsay and Rozza set off on the first leg of their mammoth fund-raising trek around Anglesey. Accompanied by Rozza’s faithful friend, Numpty, we set off from Menai Bridge to the tune of “Country Roads – Take Me Home” (the pumped up re-mix of course!). Stu set up the easy-up gazebo and got the crowd (all 4 of them!) dancing and cheering, and as we left the car park, they formed a guard of honour – but unfortunately it was to the wrong path, so we had to come back and start again! Unperturbed, we walked under Menai Bridge (built by Thomas Telford) and on to Beaumaris, with our spirits high. The route took us past a road that was built for Queen Victoria’s visit to the island, but it was never used. The weather was fine and we could see blue sky across the Snowdonia mountains.
The phrase of the day – “Ooh look at those blackberries!” was mostly followed by a screwed up face when they turned out to be too tart – and made our tabs laugh!
We stopped for a cuppa in Beaumaris, and a kind lady gave us a £5 donation towards the cause. Beaumaris Castle wasn’t as big as we remembered it. After Beaumaris, we met a chap from Ireland who fell in love with a Welsh lass in 1951 and has been here ever since (beware boys!). The path then followed the stony beach for a while, which turned out to be “quite hard going”, as Lins reminded us several times.
We finally reached the Dovecote (built in 1601) and Augustinian Priory at Penmon (amongst cries of “are we nearly there yet?”) and from there it was a short jaunt to the café at Penmon Point, where we had lunch outside, which was when the rain started. Just a fine drizzle at first, and we laughed and said that a bit of rain was quite refreshing, and that it would soon blow over. Little did we know.
Roz’s sister Jackie and her bloke Bashir (aka The Thins) met us at the café, having run from the finish point – nutters! They then walked back with us, as it got progressively wetter and windier the further around the headland we got. The rain was horizontal, and despite being soaked to the bone, we kept smiling!
Stu, Sam and Helen’s parents and sister Ruth had optimistically set up the finishing party at 2 o’clock – we finally got there about 4.15! In the meantime, the easy-up gazebo had bitten the dust in the strong wind, so we had to make do with a tape as the finish line. The kind lady in the café on Llanddona beach kept the café open so that we could have hot chocolates to warm us up – she also gave us a generous donation.
So, Day 1 - total miles travelled – 15, only another 90 to go! Back at the caravan now, having had a hot shower, and with a glass of Chardie – looking forward to tomorrow’s stage, from Llandonna to Dulas. Hopefully Stu will be able to post this blog on Monday morning (giving him and Sam a great excuse to visit McDonalds to take advantage of their wi-fi)!
Stop press – just received a £30 donation from Chris ‘dahn sharf’ via text message, thanks mate :o)
Well, after a lot of girlie preparation (What are you wearing? Where’s my lip balm? Do you think we will need any wet weather gear?) Helen, Lindsay and Rozza set off on the first leg of their mammoth fund-raising trek around Anglesey. Accompanied by Rozza’s faithful friend, Numpty, we set off from Menai Bridge to the tune of “Country Roads – Take Me Home” (the pumped up re-mix of course!). Stu set up the easy-up gazebo and got the crowd (all 4 of them!) dancing and cheering, and as we left the car park, they formed a guard of honour – but unfortunately it was to the wrong path, so we had to come back and start again! Unperturbed, we walked under Menai Bridge (built by Thomas Telford) and on to Beaumaris, with our spirits high. The route took us past a road that was built for Queen Victoria’s visit to the island, but it was never used. The weather was fine and we could see blue sky across the Snowdonia mountains.
The phrase of the day – “Ooh look at those blackberries!” was mostly followed by a screwed up face when they turned out to be too tart – and made our tabs laugh!
We stopped for a cuppa in Beaumaris, and a kind lady gave us a £5 donation towards the cause. Beaumaris Castle wasn’t as big as we remembered it. After Beaumaris, we met a chap from Ireland who fell in love with a Welsh lass in 1951 and has been here ever since (beware boys!). The path then followed the stony beach for a while, which turned out to be “quite hard going”, as Lins reminded us several times.
We finally reached the Dovecote (built in 1601) and Augustinian Priory at Penmon (amongst cries of “are we nearly there yet?”) and from there it was a short jaunt to the café at Penmon Point, where we had lunch outside, which was when the rain started. Just a fine drizzle at first, and we laughed and said that a bit of rain was quite refreshing, and that it would soon blow over. Little did we know.
Roz’s sister Jackie and her bloke Bashir (aka The Thins) met us at the café, having run from the finish point – nutters! They then walked back with us, as it got progressively wetter and windier the further around the headland we got. The rain was horizontal, and despite being soaked to the bone, we kept smiling!
Stu, Sam and Helen’s parents and sister Ruth had optimistically set up the finishing party at 2 o’clock – we finally got there about 4.15! In the meantime, the easy-up gazebo had bitten the dust in the strong wind, so we had to make do with a tape as the finish line. The kind lady in the café on Llanddona beach kept the café open so that we could have hot chocolates to warm us up – she also gave us a generous donation.
So, Day 1 - total miles travelled – 15, only another 90 to go! Back at the caravan now, having had a hot shower, and with a glass of Chardie – looking forward to tomorrow’s stage, from Llandonna to Dulas. Hopefully Stu will be able to post this blog on Monday morning (giving him and Sam a great excuse to visit McDonalds to take advantage of their wi-fi)!
Stop press – just received a £30 donation from Chris ‘dahn sharf’ via text message, thanks mate :o)
