Our accommodation was the nicest to date and given how weary
we felt after the last two days, we booked in for another night so we able to
ditch our large backpacks for the day. After a lovely cooked breakfast, we caught
the bus back to Amlwch Port to continue our walk. Greg was interested in the
port so had done some homework via the internet. He found out that the port has
been operating since the 15th century and at one point was the busiest port in
Wales exporting copper. In his googling Greg was tickled to discover that Lemmy Kilmister, of Motorhead fame, attended Amlwch High School.
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| Amlwch Port |
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| Boats moored at Amlwch Port with plant covered ruins to rear |
We explored the port and Greg was fascinated by the mixture
of old stone docks, bollards and the newer concrete breakwater. He liked the
fact that the port has been operating continuously for at least 500 years.
Unfortunately, being Monday the Copper Kingdom exhibit and the Sail Loft
Heritage Centre were closed so we were unable to visit these.
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| Stone building at Amlwch Port |
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| Old windmill building at Amlwch |
Having explored the port as much as we could we headed
inland round a prison-like area which was fenced off. This was the site of a
bromine extraction facility until 2004. Following the angular rocky shore, we
headed round Porth Llechog into the village of Bull Bay.
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| Bromine extraction plant at Amlwch Port |
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| Bull Bay |
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| Bull Bay |
We then headed along the cliff top path which headed to Trwynbychan. The scenery along this stretch of the walk was outstanding with all the different colours of the rock in the cliffs, the views out to sea and the flowering plant life.
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| Walking along cliffs at Trwynbychan |
The highlight of the day however was visiting the abandoned
brickworks in Porth Wren. As well as a natural arch, the Borthwen Brickworks
are home to a series of beehive kilns and a tiny harbour, from which bricks
were exported for use in the steel industry. The beehive kilns brought to mind
house like structures that features on the Star Wars movies!
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| Views of abandoned brickworks across Porth Wren |
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| Beehive kilns at Borthwen Brickworks |
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| Beehive kiln at Borthwen Brickworks |
The onward route kept climbing to reach the crest where we
continued through the great quartz quarries that fed the brickworks. The path
then descended into Hells Mouth before climbing back up and descending to the ruins
of the clayworks at Porth Llanlleiana, where porcelain was made from local
china clay until 1920.
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| Steps down to Hell's Mouth |
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| Pathway beyond Hell's Mouth |
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| Derelict steps across rock wall |
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| View of clayworks at Porth Llanlleiana |
The path continued along the undulations of the coast to
reach the clifftop churchyard at Llanbadrig. St Patrick is said to have founded
the church here after being shipwrecked on his way to Ireland on Ynys Badrig.
The route eventually made its way to the natural harbour of Cemaes Bay where we
stopped for a quick pint before catching the bus back to Bull Bay.
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| Churchyard at Llanbadrig |
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| Porth Padrig |
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