Gronant to Abergele 4/7/2012*

Wales Coast Path sign Yellow horned-poppy Crab at Abergele

A series of downpours prevented us exploring Gronant Dunes Nature Reserve where there are sand lizards, unlikely to be seen except on sunny days.  At the centre of the first town, Prestatyn, the Offa’s Dyke path, that we had followed years ago, reaches the coast.  At the beach is the Nova Centre with a good café for coffee, welcome on a cool rainy day.  From here we had to resort to the concrete walkway above the beach, part of the official Welsh coast path, because high tide prevented walking along the sandy shore.  Even the concrete in places had crannies where the likes of Danish scurvy-grass, eastern rocket and sea mouse-ear could find a hold, and in one place tawny sedge.  We saw a dozen or so sandwich terns fishing in the sea, taking breaks on the posts of breakwaters, along with herring gulls.  At one point a group of five or six grey seals put their dark dog-like heads above the waves to look at us watching.  Rhyl stands above a sandy beach still mostly covered by the sea, but where we could get down it was covered with file-shells and other bivalves like the Point of Ayr.  At the end of the typical resort seafront is a beach with lots of sea rocket where the River Elwy descends and the main road has to be followed over a long bridge to Foryd.  Here we reached the Kinmel Dunes, part nature reserve, sand over shingle, with a little sand cat’s-tail.  A brief brighter interval allowed a couple of meadow browns to take a short flight, along with one silver Y moth.  A viewing platform on the other side of the river provided a good view back to the Rhyl seafront.  A line of oystercatchers stood along the edge of the sea.  Further on, the top of the beach had sea-defences formed of large imported boulders, where the occasional sea-fisherman operated.  Among these were isolated clumps of rock samphire and sand couch.  Approaching Abergele the walkway fringes the shingle beach with the railway close on the other side, and beyond that caravan parks that are more or less omnipresent.  Banks of the railway cutting, and some of the shingle, had silver ragwort and a lot of long-headed poppy and brown sedge.  The shore at Abergele, where we finished at the free beach car park conveniently near the train station, is shingle mixed with sand and well vegetated.  Plants included yellow horned-poppy, sea campion, sea kale, sea holly, sea sandwort, kidney vetch, rest-harrow, Portland spurge, fern-grass and rough clover.  One section is fenced off to protect the nesting range of ringed plovers.  Taller plants in seed attracted a flock of greenfinches.  There is a wind-farm offshore.  Tonight, as last, we stayed a little way inland near Abergele at St George, the Kinmell Arms, a former pub now a restaurant with rooms.  The excellent breakfasts are particularly convenient, as they are placed in the room-fridge the night before and you are free to take them when you want.  There was also plenty, so we could save some for our lunch! Shingle ridge into Abergele