Ty-hen to Aberdaron 23/6/2013

 

Whistling Sands with sea-edge foam     Colourful cliffs     End of the Lleyn Peninsula

At Ty-hen we noticed alexanders beside the road, which we had not seen for days.  We walked south down the lane almost to Methlem before turning right along a path to the coast.  Along the lane we passed a recently killed young fox, that still looked in perfect condition, beautiful but sad.  We arrived down a little valley and continued south into Whistling Sands, a scenic little bay, which only threw up one shell Patella ulyssiponensis, although the sands were dotted with seaweeds and small lumps of foam tossed from the waves from the gale blowing from the SW, a wind which was to dog us all day, often gusting so hard we could hardly stand up or keep to the path.  It may, however, have kept away any serious rain.  From the end of the bay we took a low path along the cliffs, which was very narrow and we realised (500m later!) that the official coast path travelled along the top of the cliffs.  We found another path taking us back up.  One fortunate thing about this diversion was that we passed many more cliff flowers at the lower level, including spring squill.  Along the cliffs from here we had frequent glimpses of Cornish choughs enjoying the wind.  In fact conditions were reminiscent of the north Cornish coast (but no royal fern).  Banks were often colourful with English stonecrop, sheepsbit, foxglove, wild thyme, catsear.  Where grass was not heavily sheep-grazed there were patches of heather, bell heather, cross-leaved heath, heath bedstraw and heath speedwell (particularly around Mount Pleasant), but only rarely harebell or slender StJohn’s-wort.  Boggy places had hemlock water-dropwort and watercress, but one pool had bog pondweed, water-plantain, and lesser water-parsnip.  Eventually we had a longer climb to the very top of Mynydd Mawr, with a view of Bardsey Island, but the wind did not allow too long appreciation of views.  Here the continuation of the coast walk was vague and confused with minor paths that sometimes seemed major ones and it took us time to find the correct path to the tip of Lleyn Peninsula.  From the southernmost tip of Pen y Cil (past one small patch of bog pimpernel) the walk was almost due north to Aberdaron.  On this stretch the pathsides were flowery but the grass uncut, so that we were drenched more by brushing through wet grass than by the fine drizzle.  At Port Meudwy fulmars were nesting on cliff-ledges.  When the path dropped down at Porth Simdde we were able to leave it and access the beach for a change.  The tide was sufficiently out to allow access along flat wet sand below the wide upper stretch of shingle, but still no shells.  At the middle of Aberdaron we rose to the centre of the village and the pleasant bridge over the river, where we could phone for a taxi, having a quick decent coffee in the shelter of one of the pubs there.  At Aberdaron alexanders appeared for the first time since we started at Ty-hen. Bog pondweed and round-leaved crowfoot Flat wrack on beach