Author: davidberclas

As a member of the ATA I was offered the opportunity to go on a ‘coach trip’ to Mynydd Parys (Parys Mountain), Amlwch Port and the RNLI centre in Moelfre, with lunch at Lastra Farm: these visits are always interesting and very informative and the idea is that we can pass the information on to our guests.

The morning didn’t start brilliantly – it rained! – but we set off for the north of Anglesey and our first stop. Mynydd Parys has a fascinating mining history stretching back about four thousand years: it is rich in minerals, especially copper, and has been mined since the Bronze Age.

The Romans were very keen to extract its metals and Queen Elizabeth I, whose Tudor ancestors came from Anglesey, sent two of her most senior advisers, Burleigh and Walsingham, to investigate Mynydd Parys.
 

 

The height of activity came in the 18th century when there was a ‘copper rush’ equivalent to the Klondike gold rush, when it acquired the name ‘Copper Kingdom’.

Copper was used to plate the hulls of Nelsons ships, saving them from a wood eating worm in the Med and keeping them free from barnacles and growth, thus making them faster in the water. Copper is still being mined on Mynydd Parys.

Visitors are advised not to stray from the official path but I can recommend a visit to this colourful, mineral ‘lunar landscape’.
Many thanks to David Wagstaff for sharing a lot of information with us.

The whole of Anglesey has been designated a world-wide site of special geological interest and down at Amlwch Port, close to the museum which offers information about Parys Mountain, is Geo Mon’s centre. They are based in the port management building which goes back to the time of the ‘Copper Kingdom’.

Outside is a circle set in a paved area which shows samples of all the different types of rock which make up the island. Specialists come from around the world to study Anglesey’s geology.

Lunch awaited us at Lastra Farm, a short drive away, and it was superb. I expected sandwiches and a cuppa but we had fish and meat platters with salads and accompaniments, followed by some very tempting desserts. It also offered an opportunity to socialise. I can heartily recommend Lastra Farm if you’re in the north east of the island.

Our final visit of the day was to the RNLI Moelfre Lifeboat Station where we were shown round by two members of the crew. The Tamar class lifeboat, ‘Kiwi’ is a superb piece of technology and kept in spotless condition and although she comes with her own RIB, carried at the stern, the station also has a ‘D class’ RIB, ‘Enfys’.

Close to the RNLI buildings are statues and monuments commemorating some of the wrecks and rescues. One statue depicts Coxwain Richard Evans who was awarded two Gold Medals.

The walk along the shore which took us to two of the wreck sites – the ‘Royal Charter’, where many died; and 100 years and a day later, the ‘Hindlea’ where everyone was saved, despite the lifeboat crew being at great risk – forms part of the Anglesey Coastal Path.

Back to the coach, driven by Nia, who had taken her vehicle through some very narrow lanes, including roadworks, during the day, and off to our cars parked in the grounds of Oriel Ynys Mon.

The whole day was very interesting and informative – thank you to everyone involved.

Next week we’ll be visiting a couple of places to the south of Anglesey and lunch will be at ‘The Marram Grass’. I can’t wait – but I’d rather it didn’t rain

Dorothy
11th March 2016

17th January 2016

The weather is settling day by day, less rain, more blue sky and definitely less mild. As I sit in our kitchen writing, I can see Bangor Pier and the trees and buildings of Hirael reflected almost perfectly in the still waters of the Menai Strait.

Beyond are the gentle green slopes of the foothills leading ever upwards to the mountains of Snowdonia. There is a light covering of clouds blanketing the very tips, but clearly visible below them is a beautiful covering of white snow.

This beauty is, of course, deceptive: up at those altitudes the temperatures are well below anything experienced where we are – near sea-level. The Mountain Rescue volunteers are kept busy at this time of year, so if you wish to walk in snowy mountains, be well prepared and stay safe.

Dorothy
January 18th 2016

You would think that living on Anglesey for eighteen years, I would know quite a lot about the island – well, recently I made two new discoveries, both of which I found surprising and quite wonderful. I have been aware for years that Anglesey has a benign climate and is very fertile, both very attractive features to settlers, right back to prehistoric times: and that there is a lot of evidence left behind for us to discover: I even dug up a stone axe head at Coed y Berclas, which is currently with Ian at Oriel Ynys Mon to be recorded and for an expert assessment of its origins etc.

I have seen some of the standing stones and cromlechs (megalithic tombs consisting of a large flat stone laid on upright ones), and have visited Bryn Celli Ddu, a burial chamber on the south of the island. Barclodiad y Gawres, another burial chamber with spiral and zig zag carvings on some of the internal stones, is on my ‘to do list’. Nevertheless, although I had heard the name Din Lligwy, I had no idea what to expect. It is close to the east coast of Anglesey, near Moelfre.

Daf and I drove over there on Sunday evening and were both surprised and thrilled by what we saw: in a glade of trees, on a mound surrounded by fields are the well preserved lower walls of a farming settlement sitting in its pentagonal outer/protective wall. It would appear that the two circular buildings were dwellings and the rectangular ones were used as workshops and for storage. The settlement probably dates back to the Iron Age and was still in use during the Roman occupation of Anglesey, so we were amazed by the state of preservation. We can definitely recommend a visit.

The other new discovery was that Anglesey is an important area for wetlands, second only to Norfolk, in England and Wales, for rich-fen systems.

There are grazing marshes and peat based wetlands scattered across the island and they form important habitats for rare species including otter, brown hare, water vole, harvest mouse, bittern, cuckoo, reed bunting, grasshopper warbler, lapwing, adder, great crested newt, southern damselfly and medicinal leach. It also has its own collection of plant species: marsh fritillary, black-bog rush, bog bean, northern marsh orchis, butterwort, bog myrtle, and waterwort.

Wetlands have been used by humans for thousands of years for various purposes, but they are also important to us today: they help to prevent flooding, capture and hold green-house gases and filter ground water. They are vital environments and Anglesey is using government funding to inform the public and conserve them for the future. That’s how we found out about them – from a booklet produced by Anglesey Council.

Dorothy
14th July 2015