We Must Be Mad: Days 33 & 34: Criccieth & Bardsey Island

We took a break from the path for the next couple of days. On the Tuesday we drove to Criccieth where we met up with some friends who I hadn’t seen for 15 years. It was great to catch up with Karen, Darren and their daughter Emily.

On the beach at Criccieth with Karen and Darren Jones

After lunch at Dylan’s we all visited Criccieth Castle, a Welsh castle sitting high and majestic atop a rocky promontory which juts dramatically out into Tremadog Bay. The site contains a combination of Welsh and English remains, which has seen much speculation as to which areas of the castle belong to which building periods.

At Criccieth Castle

Built originally by Llywelyn the Great in approximately 1230’s, this very Welsh of princes included a very English style of gatehouse. Edward I’s forces took the castle some 50 years later, undertook their own improvements and re-modelled a tower for stone-throwing engines. Not as much fun for those at the bottom as it sounds for those at the top! Owain Glyn Dŵr sealed Criccieth’s fate when his troops captured and burnt the castle in the early years of the 15th century. This was to be the last major Welsh rebellion against the English.

The gate towers to Criccieth Castle

Looking towards the gate towers from the rear of the castle

View of Criccieth from Criccieth Castle

The following day we took a boat trip out to visit Bardsey Island whose Welsh name, Ynys Enlli, means ‘the island of the currents’. Christians have been travelling here since the sixth century, when St Cadfan established a monastery on the island. Visiting it three times was considered as holy an act of pilgrimage as a journey to Rome. According to tradition, Bardsey Island is the burial place of 20,000 saints. Only a few sacred stones remain.

Remains of old monastery built on the site

Memorial to landowner

Cross with farm house to rear

Farmhouse and current church on the island

These days, Bardsey is a nature reserve where grey seals bask on rocks at the water’s edge and manx shearwaters, fulmars and guillemots nest each spring. On our boat trip back to the mainland we were lucky enough to see puffins along with many of the other seabirds that nest on the island.

Seal lazing upside down in the sun

Seals basking on the rocks

Sea pink flowers and other flora on the rocks

Gannet in flight

We also had time the explore the remainder of the island which included a lighthouse and buildings at the low end and climbed the steep hill at the opposite end of the island for great views all around.