Holiday in Wales, day 2, Tuesday 5 May ( part 3)

Holiday in Wales, day 2, Tuesday 5 may, ( part 3)

At last I’ve sorted through enough of the photos to do the final part of the first day. I thought I would be away house/ dog(s)/ grandchildren sitting for the weekend. But I’ve had a last minute reprieve so here I am again, recanting the wonders of the Welsh holiday.

After the wet rail journey we boarded the coach and Dagmar, the driver, headed for another delightful little tourist spot. This time it was a small town/ village called Betws-y-Coed. To be honest, the well trodden tourist trail full of dragon mugs, flying Welsh witches, Welsh wool goodies and enough fridge magnets to smelt down and build a battle ship was beginning to wear a little thin with me, and we hadn’t even reached the end of the second day! Nevertheless, I was a tourist, possibly the worse type of tourist, one on a whistle stop coach tour where coaches pull in to their target area; eject their contents with strict recall orders and a timetable that must be kept. The tourists then spill out and cover the town as a colony of ants would cover a spilt drink, grabbing glitzy trophies as they go. Of course my friend and I are a totally superior class of coach tourist, we don’t target the post cards and other paraphernalia; we exit the coach and start looking for the best photo opportunities. This time, in cute, flower laden little Betws-y-Coed, we were not disappointed. 

Nestled between rows of unopened sun parasols and the saturated outdoor seating area we found a magnificent gorilla and a couple of wooden crows. 

We also spotted a sausage strewn bicycle, 

a clock tower 

and some green and fertile looking hills away in the distance.   

At this point I must tell you how organized we are. While fellow coach travelers stumble out of the coach and head straight for the nearest watering hole and then on to the biggest, boldest and  brightest gift shop, we head out, take lots of photos, and then scuttle back onboard last as the driver revs the engine and glares at us. And then its time for OUR refreshments, we settle back into our seats, fasten the seat belt, take out our flasks, our cheese and apples, our carefully selected oat cakes, a couple of crusty rolls, and a sharp knife each. Why waste precious photo taking time with queuing to buy overpriced coffee and a plate of limp lettuce? Oh no we are far too clever for that.

Goodbye Betws-y-Coed and onward to the Hotel for the three course evening meal. After refueling the body we were off again, camera and polo mints in hand, ready to seek out new photo friendly places. This time we walked along the sea front in the opposite direction to the previous night. We walked as far as the road bridge which crosses the River Clwyd and the little harbour. It was then we realised we had landed in a sort of Welsh Blackpool. It’s still a bit early in the season for every thing to be open, which I guess was  a bit of a blessing because I suspect  in mid summer the place will be alive and buzzing with amusement arcades emitting lots of loud ‘music’ all awash in the light of many twinkling glitter balls. I’ve made an important editorial decision here, I’ve decided to omit the various ‘Blackpool’ type photo memories and concentrate on the bits I found interesting. 

First on the list is this very peculiar cast iron ‘shed’. Imagine a Victorian glass house without the glass and you have the right image. I couldn’t figure out what it was until the penny suddenly dropped, would you believe it’s the pedestrian exit of the seafront car park?? 

A little further along was another cast iron glass-house like structure, this one  turned out to house a sunken tropical garden complete with little pool. Of course it looked neglected, especially the pool which was empty, possibly because the summer season has yet to start. I liked the look of this little subterranean garden and couldn’t help thinking how lovely it would be in the summer withthe pool filled and the tropical plants in bloom.

 Next along the seafront we came across these tall ‘monoliths’, made of Welsh slate. They line up in unity and face the wrath of the Irish Sea. I just love the way the evening sun hits the slate and brings out all the hidden colours.  I’ve been online trying to find out about these slate monoliths and so far I can’t find a thing. 

Which brings me to my next find, a large curved memory wall that is inscribed ‘Rhyl 1794 – 2006’. Along the wall are inset tiles that have been fired with a collection of old photographs taken in Rhyl over many years. The wall also has engraved memories of donkey rides along the beach. I noticed there were floor lights but they weren’t working, I think this wall would look quite special lit from beneath by these spotlights.

Then onward to Rhyl Harbour

http://www.denbighshireleisure.co.uk/rhylharbour.html

Rhyl Harbour is a natural bay and channel at the mouth of the River Clwyd. It enters Rhyl by cutting through a vast stretch of sandy beach and curves gently inland. 

 

Pont y Ddraig is a new suspension pedestrian / cycle path bridge across the harbour that was opened in October 2013. The bridge closes the gap on National Cycle Network Route 5, which runs along the North Wales coast line. It opens to allow boats in and out of the harbour but unfortunately we weren’t there to see the bridge in action as the tide was far to low to allow any boats in or out. But we did get a fantastic view of the sun setting behind it.   

The harbour itself has been updated with new pontoons and berths for the boats. In a prominent position, at the start of the bridge is this, a piece of public art. It features Sir John Houghton the Nobel prize winning climate scientist and former Rhyl Grammar School pupil, musician Mike Peters, lead singer of The Alarm, and Rhyl FC’s Don Spendlove, who scored a record number of goals during the 1940s and 50s. You have no idea how many Google hours I’ve spent trying to identify these three !

 

The iconic Foryd Harbour Bridge, a listed Grade 11 bridge which sits a little further along the River Clwyd  and  connects Rhyl to Kinmel Bay has also been repaired and refurbished recently. Originally the bridge was constructed in 1932 and it is now defined as a ‘Building of Special Architectural or Historic Interest’. I loved this bridge almost as much as I loved the new one. I liked the way the light hit the graceful arches and bounced off the reinforced supports which held the bridge above the river. 

 

From here we crossed the road and found ourselves looking out across a blue, blue inland body of water. This lake was created in 1895 to meet the recreational needs of the local community. Marine Lake is the only salt water lake in North Wales. It’s a man-made reservoir next to the mouth of the River Clwyd with views out over the hills. It’s used by the many holiday makers AND locals for just about every water sport imaginable. We were there minutes before dark and there was no sign of any one on the water, but the views and the light were amazing.

Darkness was descending fast and we had wandered a long way from the hotel, so homeward we headed, we passed this little gate, I quite liked the way the sun was setting behind it. 

Then we did the last few hundred yards back toward the hotel on the beach. I have since found out that the wind turbines here belong to several different companies and are part of different wind farms but in total there are more than 150 of them out there, actually it looks a lot more from the beach but we were told it was somewhere between 150 and 200.  I liked looking at them, they have a serene beauty. 

Its fascinating to see how they are so clearly visibly in some lights but virtually invisible in other light. Anyway………….that was one very long day, by this time we were totally exhausted and headed back asap to hot chocolate and sleep.