Un-meeting recce

A glorious day on Anglesey today, perfect for scouting out the bivvy spot for the forthcoming un-meeting, just the one problem, a dodgy curry the previous evening saw me scrambling for an open public convenience.

Getting on the road by 6am to drive before the traffic gets too bad was a great idea, except that no where is open, arriving at Cemaes to find the PC was open was a tremendous relief apart from the fact that I didn’t have the requisite 20 pence piece, a quick visit to the newsagents sorted that out and soon enough all was well with the world…ahem!

Anyway, off I set, ambling along the coastal road to get to the first of my goals, a whole two miles in and I was sat staring at the sea at Cemlyn, this is a ritual for me, one of my favourite places to be, twenty minutes staring topped up my needs and then I’m off again to breakfast, coffee and flapjack did the trick.

The coast was lovely today, the sea and the sky as blue as it gets, still a chill in the air though, the local wildlife obviously thought the same, the birds very active, hunting for bugs for their chicks no doubt, stone chat and wheatears competing with the skylarks for their prey made for amusing viewing until a lovely brown stoat turned up and then all went quiet.

Moving on up a (new to me) lane brought about the possible Plan B into mind should the weather turn for the worse, a beach with a view behind a wall that will lend itself perfectly to supporting our tarps, end of the lane and only a few houses within sight, if we arrive late and leave early no one will be any the wiser and we should have a dry nights sleep.

I didn’t make it to Plan A bivvy spot today, the lure of a prawn butty and tea held my attention for too long, that and a long chat with a local about the rights and wrongs of wild camping (she was in favour) the merits of camp stove cooking against boil in the bag convenience and brexit!

Taking my time now, I was perfectly at ease with my sedate pace, mindful of something I had read earlier, along the lines of taking the easiest way up a mountain and not needing to get to the top, suits me perfectly.

Late afternoon now and I’m heading back to the car, but not before another hour or so of staring at the sea, reading my book and eating some chocolate, the constant search for dolphins and porpoises remained fruitless but was made up for by the appearance of a barn owl out for an early evening sortie, I watched for a good ten minutes as it quartered the fields next to the sea, enchanting.

So, we have a Plan A and a Plan B, both around forty to forty five miles each day, not a lot of services nearby either camp spot so bring what you intend to eat and drink, fingers crossed for good weather, see you there.

Words & pictures - Steve Makin.