Thankfully, I managed to recover well enough (and wearing war paint!) to give my presentation on Llyn Cerrig Bach to an appreciative audience in Cemaes.
Alan and I took the granddaughters to Holyhead to visit Ellin's Tower by South Stack lighthouse. This is an RSPB site and it was lovely to see lots of other children there with their families. The girls were enthralled with the close up views they could see through the binoculars, both of the lighthouse and the bird colonies.
They also had the benefit of three voluntary guides to point out various species of birds that were nesting by the lighthouse. An excellent informative site to take children for an outing.
We've usually enjoyed visiting the cafe on other occasions but as it was a rare sunny day, we took a picnic with us this time.
We have now started on the summer term U3A Ynys Môn programme. I had the pleasure of organising a visit for thirty five members to one of Anglesey's old mansion houses, namely Carreglwyd, Llanfaethlu. Again, I was blessed that I chose a rare sunny day! The present owner, Tom Carpenter gave us all a warm welcome. We were invited to sit in his beautiful dining room while he told us the history of the house and his ancestors.
Carreglwyd was built in 1634 by Dr.William Griffiths. He was chancellor of St.Asaph Cathedral and Master of the Rolls to Charles the First. You can peruse the whole family tree down to Tom by visiting online - " Carreglwyd 1634 - 2012 - a short history." On this site, you will also see the dates when the house and gardens are open to the public.
Tom took us all then to show the old barns he has modernised as function rooms. Weddings, conferences etc, can be held here. As you can see from the image, the lovely pond area makes a beautiful backdrop for special occasion photos. Please contact Tom to book any arrangements:
07708645000 or email tomcarpenter@carreglwyd.co.uk
Tom then went on to give us an insight into the charitable projects he and his family are part of.
Firstly, he invites a number of schools on Anglesey come to Carreglwyd as part of the "Forest School" initiative. They have their lessons one afternoon a week over ten weeks outside in the woods in all weathers and learn a great deal about nature and themselves in the process.
Also, he and his family are involved with the United World Schools, which is an initiative by alumni of United World
Colleges. They go to post conflict and neglected areas around the world and setup schools for 3 to 11 year olds. It has resulted in over 3,500 students being educated, who otherwise
would have had no access to education.
I came away from Carreglwyd wondering how on earth I hadn't managed to achieve half of what Tom has done during my lifetime!We must have had more sunny days than I imagined, as we also went on one of our favourite walks along Malltraeth Cob on Anglesey. As part of the Cefni cycle route, the path has now been tarmaced. For someone like Alan, who can't walk on uneven surfaces very well anymore, it makes a very enjoyable walk. The community have succeeded in raising and aquiring funding for a car park, picnic area and highly informative information boards to be placed there.
We then crossed the road to our usual little cafe where they serve delicious homemade cakes and scones. They also serve savoury light bites, but we had already had our Sunday lunch before our outing. As you can see from the image, cyclists and walkers can also enjoy wonderful views of Snowdonia. This little side road past the cafe, is rather low down, so just here, Snowdonia can't be seen in all its glory. However, the view is quite breathtaking all along the rest of the route, as the whole of the Snowdonian mountain range can be seen right down along the Llyn Peninsula - sometimes even as far as Bardsey Island !
Don't forget, you are also right by Newborough Forest and the idyllic romantic Llanddwyn Island. ( google!)
Let's hope that we'll have lots more sunny days now, as there are so many beautiful and historical places to visit on Anglesey. Do goggle to find out the info. for yourselves. Happy hunting grounds!
Almost forgot to mention - the yearly Anglesey Walking Festival starts tomorrow May 25th. I shall be at Llyn Cerrig Bach the following morning ( Sunday 26th) at 9.30am.to give a short account on how my father came to find the Iron Age assemblage in the lake in 1943. Initial meeting point is in the RSPB car park over the railway bridge. After my talk, Ian Simms, the RSPB warden, will then do a circular guided nature walk around the area back to the car park. As you can see from last year's image, there is a good turn out for these events.
