Beaumaris I. Cruise Around Puffin Island

Beaumaris Pier is functional rather than decorative with lots  of railings where crab fishing and Jellyfish spotting can take place . The cruise took us along the shore past the Penmon Quarry with its deserted buildings to the Penmon Lighthouse with its cottages with their tall chimneys (very reminiscent of the Happisburgh, Suffolk, buildings). We then did a circuit of Puffin Island which lived up to its name though most Puffins have already left to spend the winter on the North Atlantic. We also got close to several Grey Seals.

Parys Mountain

People have mined the metals harboured within Parys Mountain since the  Bronze Age. The mineral had spewed out of a volcano that formed this ppart of Wales and, certainly, it does feel like walking around a crater. A mass of copper ore was discovered there in the late 1760s leading to large scale mining.  It became known as the ‘Copper Kingdom’. 

The Parys Mountain Windmilll was built in 1878 by Captain Hughes in order to supplement power from an adjacent steam engine. The power was used to assist pumping water from the Parys Mountain workings, but also to power lifting machinery for both the miners and the ore in the Cairns shaft. The windmill was closed in 1904, when working at the mined ceased.

Cemaes - Tale of the Toilets, Bay and Church

Public Toilets are being closed all over Anglesey but Cemaes decided to keep theirs open by charging  20p towards maintenance and very nice they are too. The town is colourful, the bay is very scenic and the beautiful  Llanbadrig Church, a 5th century Anglesey Church founded by St. Patrick, is well worth a visit.

 

 

Morning Visit to Cemlyn Bay

To try and get better light on the Tern colony , we visited Cemlyn the following morning. The Sandwich Terns were busy bringing in fish to the colony where pairs were still displaying even though many chicks have fledged and their parents returned south. Other species - Black-Headed Gull already in winter plumage, Little Egret, Common Tern (black tip to bill), Arctic Tern, Grey Heron, Oyster Catcher and Greenshank.

Cemlyn Bay Ternery and Beach

Cemlyn’s curved bay is unique with its shingle ridge known as Esgair Cemlyn dividing the open sea from a saline coastal lagoon. The bay and surrounding land forms part of the Cemlyn Estate which is owned by the National Trust but the North Wales Wildlife Trust lease the lagoon area  with its extensive tern colony which is deemed nationally important as it is home to the only breeding colony of Sandwich terns in Wales.  The lagoon was created in the 1930s by Captain Vivian Hewitt who built a dam and a weir, changing the saltmarsh area into the lagoon. He had a keen interest in birds and lived on the western side of the bay. Pictures here of the scenery and some Sandwich Terns from an afternoon visit with the family. More pics to follow from morning visit the next day.