Llanddwyn Island

August 23, 2010 | Posted by Wendy

If you’ve been paying attention these past few days you may remember that I said this unassuming path

path

led to lots of lovely things…

The path in question is a long, wide path made from crushed seashells, running the length of Llanddwyn island

path

which is just off Newborough, in Anglesey, North Wales. You can reach the island most of the time from the beach at Newborough, although it’s sometimes cut off at high tide.

My photos really don’t do the island justice. It is well worth a visit – you’ll have to pay £3 at the barrier at Newborough to allow a car through. There’s adequate parking as well as toilet facilities and picnic benches next to the car park - but nothing else aside from an abundance of trees, sand and sea.

Don’t do what we did. We went when the sun was nearly setting one night (we thought it’d be a lovely place to watch the sunset). The machine took our money but didn’t let us through, so we decided to walk. We trudged a long way but it was getting dark, so we ended up turning back. It was only when we went back the next day we realised how close we’d got to the beach: another corner and we’d have seen the end of the long and winding road and the dunes leading onto the beach! A pleasant walk, but it was dark by the time we got back to the car. As night fell, the cutest baby frogs were hopping all over the road under our feet – it was a minor miracle that only one of them was sadly squished underfoot.

Once you’ve parked in the clearing of the wooded area, it’s a gorgeous walk along the long, wide, beautiful and mostly empty beach

Newborough beach

and across to the island

llanddwyn island

And here’s a sneak peek of the tiny island in photos.

Gorgeous, empty beaches

beautiful beach

beach

sweeping beach

beach and lighthouse

waves on the beach

another beach on llanddwyn

beach and rocks

a wealth of history

cross with lighthouse in the background

ruined church

Surely there aren’t houses on here… I can see rooftops peeping over the hills…

rooftops

Yes, unbelievably – a row of tiny cottages right at the end of the island…

cottages

originally built for the pilots who guided ships… but now only one is lived in, by a volunteer ranger. What an amazing job in an amazing place! I can only imagine how exhilarating it must be to live here. A long trek to the shops if you happen to run out of milk though!

Wild ponies live here too (they seem fairly well used to the visitors!)