Anglesey Day 6 Boat Trip

This morning we went for a boat trip which was much more exciting than I imagined. We left the harbour of Cemaes behind and set out into the Atlantic for a couple of small islands, Mouse Island..  these are bird sanctuaries and the birds are there breeding at the moment. Lots of sitting on eggs but a number of fledglings as well.

Then we went into the next bay and found —- a ruined brickworks! According to the guidebooks, this is very difficult to get into these days from the land side but we got marvellous views of it. There were three fishermen there setting out lines but they had clearly come in by boat. 

I have taken about 500 photos this week and am going to have to sort them. Back at home,

This satisfactory day was rounded off by buying fish and chips from the local (prize winning) chippie. And very good they were too.

Anglesey Day 5 Beaumaris Castle

Sixty years ago the family took a holiday cottage somewhere under Snowdon. We walked up and I remember my mother’s indignation when she arrived at the top to discover she could have taken the train. She took the train down we walked. One day we went over to Anglesey to see Beaumaris and I was impressed. Today we went back. Even with the scaffolding and yellowhatted workmen everywhere, it is still impressive. It is to start with enormous, then it has the outside ring of towers and then the sea moat. I walked on the top and Snowdon was just there across the water. Hardly any people up there. The staircases were narrow and slippery but I got there. 

A few residents

And lots of stone

The weather is still hot and I only hope my instructions about watering the pots and greenhouse have been followed.

Anglesey Day 4 Ruined Brickworks

Today the expedition was to a ruined brickworks. This involved walking align a well tended path by a river, complete with traces of a narrow gauge railway. The walk got narrower and narrower and more over grown until we arrived at the old brickworks. The immense chimney is still intact and most of a kiln which is highly decorated with graffiti on the inside but the chimney is too big for this one kiln and there must have been a lot more once. The one kiln would hardly need a railway to take the output down to ships in the harbour.

This was all done by midday and we decided to go to the Oriel Gallery where there is a large collection of paintings and drawings by Kiffin Williams. All a bit black acrylic paint studies of Snowdon. His linocuts and ink drawings are a different matter all together and are really interesting. A bonus was a gallery devoted to the bird painter Charles Tunnicliffe. I know his work from Nature into Art which had several of his paintings. He lived on Anglesey, hence the gallery. Lovely. Very cheering. 

Anglesey Day 3 Copper Mines

A few miles away there are abandoned copper mines which have been in use since Roman times. Now there is a very large hole and modern mining happens half a mile away with winding gear to go down to the deep tunnels. the old excavations are gorgeous colours and some pits are full of water of a very unlikely and unsavoury colour. Not much grows. Some very scrubby Heather and that is it. A photographer,s happy hour though and I met another enthusiast on our walk.

We went early and were back before the sun got too hot. Have I said we are having a heatwave here? Not what I was expecting. We went out again in the evening to a nature reserve saw some very cross terns looking after their chicks. 

And yet another macro photo. This moth is about half an inch wingtip to wingtip.

Anglesey Day 2 Cemaes

Cemaes is the village we are staying and we spent today pottering about it. The locals are very friendly and everyone seems to have time to gossip with two visitors. Coffee with Welsh cakes and Bara Brith what more could anyone want?  The village has a working harbour, lots of crab pots and a magnificent village hall. I have never seen anything it. Pure 1890s built of brick with tile decoration and a clock tower!!

The beaches are the proper sort with sand and shells and seaweed and lots of rocks not to mention cliffs. And also a surprising number of families. The whole place is a photographer:s paradise. I spent the afternoon, sheltering from the sun, creating a Lino cut.

I wonder what the pork and seaweed sausages are like?

Anglesey day 1

Today we started out with Dorothy’s car loaded down with two adults, their luggage and one large dog and his luggage. No small dog who has gone to stay with our favourite dog sitter, Julia and he is no doubt being spoilt rigid. I did not think he would be happy with such a long journey - seven hours. He cries all the way even on a ten minute car trip and I cannot take to hear him so unhappy. Now of course I worry all the time if he is happy and okay,

We are here in a cottage in Anglesey for a week and have seen the coast and the sea and planned tomorrow’s outing. There is a very pretty garden and I have practised with the macro lens. One of the objectives of this week is photos of the sea but today I concentrated on flowers in the sunshine. I am definitely getting better!!

Photographic exhibition

I have got to the end of my photographic course and the grand finale is to have an exhibition. This caused a lot of heart ache as I selected a topic. In the end it was Making. I photographed people making things. The topics werer ceramics, quilting, furniture, spinning, lace etcetera up to 11 crafts. They were hung in the National Needlework archive. Below are photos of the exhibition hung in their café, one poster to a craft.