YNYS MôN

It’s been a somewhat traumatic and hectic few weeks, with our first grandchild arriving, a busy time in the garden and a dear neighbour locked in a losing battle with cancer, so it was a blessing to get an invite from Steve to spend a few days with him on his cherished future territory ‘Ynys Môn’!

I really needn’t have worried about my relative lack of recent riding as Steve went to great lengths to impress on me that the focus was to be on relaxed riding, good food and banter.

The weather forecast for the first day was dire, wall to wall heavy rain, so I set off up the M6 at a leisurely pace to meet Steve at around 1pm at Beaumaris. The weather continued to improve the closer I got to Anglesey and by the time I pulled into the car park, it was bright and sunny, albeit quite breezy. We decided we’d take a steady cruise down to Penmon Point where there’s a cosy café that sells cake and stunning views across the Menai Straits and on to The Great Orme in the distance. We took in the view and then retraced our way back up the toll road (free for cyclists) and paused at Penmon Priory and St. Seiriols Priory church, and whilst neither of us are particularly devout, churches always convey a sense of history and sometimes paint an insight into life many hundreds of years ago.

Back on the coastal road and another pause for photos at the picnic area before a fascinating diversion along a gravel track to Castell Aberlleiniog, a motte and bailey fortress dating back to the 11th century, well hidden now, but at the time of its construction, it would have given a commanding view of the Straits. We followed the trail through into the village of Llangoed where we joined the road back to Beaumaris.