Day 59: Trefin to Abereiddi

It was a day of delving into history ruins today. Just off the path from Trefin we discovered the ruins of an old slate quarry cut into the cliffs and after descending the headland we encountered the derelict flour mill Melin Tefin complete with grinding stones. This mill, derelict since 1918, was grinding flour for 500 years and is the inspiration for a famous poem by Welsh bard William Williams. The English translation must be a shadow of the melodic Welsh version however when seeing the ruins and reading the poem we can appreciate the poignancy of both. This is the English version:

Trefin Mill

The mill is not grinding tonight

in Trefin at the edge of the sea.

The last pony, from beneath its burden,

turned from the threshold towards home

and the wheel that used to rumble

and grumble through the area

has, since the old miller died,

made its last turn.

The kindly stream still runs on

past the bare forehead of the house

but it no longer comes to mill the barley

and the big old wheel won’t turn again.

Where the wheat of Llanrhiain

lay at summer’s end

now there’s only a trace of seaweed

and a few green reeds.

The stone at rest that watches the place

in the thrashing rain and the wind

is a letterless memorial

to the jollity of former times.

Nobody is milling here now.

It is a time of dereliction

– the grinding down

of the mill at Trefin.

Way maker descending from Trefin

Looking down to Melin Trefin

Original millstones

Climbing the cliff from Melin Trefin we passed rusting old agricultural equipment and further along the dramatic cliffs a lone standing stone standing no less dramatically. 

Standing stone

Our path

The view of huge Victorian looking industrial brick ruins piqued our curiosity as we descended down to Porthgain. This was a busy harbour shipping slate, bricks and dolorite – crushed for road making. The large brick hoppers stored the dolorite which was loaded onto ships via chutes. The town must have been a bustling hive of activity in its day with water mills, trams and quarries. After a quick look at the quaint cottages and galleries in the town we climbed to the top of the cliffs and followed an old tram line to more ruins and the site of the old dolorite quarry.

Porthgain 

Cottages at Porthgain

Porthgain from above Habourmaster's Cottage

Looking along cliffs to dolorite quarry

Building ruins at site of dolorite quarry

 We carried on along the always dramatic and stunning cliffs to the beach at Traeth Llyfn. After much debate about whether we should or shouldn’t, we climbed down the steps to the beach and enjoyed our first sea swim of our walk!! 

Traeth Llyfn

Back on the path and a short walk to the Blue Lagoon - more ruins of an old slate mine deliberately flooded from the sea in 1904  to create a man-made and seemingly bottomless lagoon. After the same debate about whether we should or shouldn’t, we decided not to swim and carried onto Abereiddi Beach and more ruins – houses that were abandoned in the 1920’s after severe storms.

Blue Lagoon

Ruined cottages at Abereiddi