Tuesday 8th May – Holyhead, Anglesey

After a relaxed start, we headed the short distance into Holyhead to stock up at Tesco and then out to the coast SW of the town. This took us past a small campsite next to the activity centre but it seemed to be on a 1 in 4 hill and didn't attract us. We were actually looking for Blackthorn Farm as the Rough Guide told us that it had wi-fi and we hadn't had access to the Internet for over a week. We found it and as it was just after noon, we were able to book in and hook up on the pitch for lunch. The full price of the site is high (£20 for the pitch and £5 for electric hook-up) and we would have thought twice about staying at that price but they offered us an out-of-season price of £18 including electricity.

After lunch we drove the short distance to the RSPB car park at South Stack, which was the start point of a walk in our copy of the 'Best Walks in North Wales' (by Richard Sale, published by Frances Lincoln). The first point of interest on the walk is the Iron Age huts in the field directly opposite the car park. These were very impressive and in a remarkably good state of preservation. We then walked on to Ellin's Tower that was constructed in 1868 by the wife of the Anglesey MP. It is now an RSPB observatory and we were able to climb up to the first floor where we could see the thousands of birds nesting on the cliff and feeding in the sea beyond.

The walk took us up, past the South Stack Lighthouse to the Cliffs above North Stack before climbing to the summit of Holyhead Mountain. Here we were at the centre of an Iron Age hill fort, unusually not enclosed by banks and ditches but high stone walls only on the sides not protected by the high sea cliffs. This is a very stony area, so this makes sense and the area does not lend itself to farming. It is therefore thought that the inhabitants of those Iron Age huts (and others beside) would have only used the fort in times of threat. The fort was also used by the Romans and they constructed a beacon at the summit. The views from here, the highest point on Anglesey are excellent – we could see across most of island although Snowdonia and the Llyen Peninsula were, once again, covered in thick cloud. On a clearer day we would have been able to see the Isle of Man and Ireland. We enjoyed those views all the way back to the car park.

Photos: One of the Iron Age huts, this one has an entrance passage; The South Stack Lighthouse; The remains of a signal station, built in 1814 as part of a system to give advance notice to Liverpool of the sighting of a tea clipper or Irish packet boat.