My Adventures 3: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

On the 26th July 2016 we set off from the caravan to visit Llanddwyn Island on the beautiful Isle Of Anglesey. Connor hasn't visited Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch before so of course a quick detour was mandatory. Click on the name to hear its pronunciation.

It is alternatively known as Llanfairpwll, Llanfair PG, or Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. The long form of the name was invented for promotional purposes in the 1860s; with 58 characters it is the longest place name in Europe and the second longest official one-word place name in the world.
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu in North Island New Zealand having the longest.

This village was originally known as Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll and is sometimes still referred to as Llanfairpwllgwyngyll and was given its long name in the 19th century in an attempt to develop it as a commercial and tourist centre (see Significance of the name below). The village is still signposted Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, marked on Ordnance Survey maps as Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll and known to locals as Llanfairpwll or Llanfair. The railway station, despite having signs displaying the long name, is officially named Llanfairpwll.

We drove on and after a short drive we arrive at the barriers paid our £4 to park and drive on through a conifer wood that apparently is home to red squirrels and park up near the beach and the sand dunes.

Llanddwyn Island (Ynys Llanddwyn) is a magical place. Located at the far end of a pleasant beach near Newborough Warren, this narrow finger of land is an ideal picnic site during fine weather, but also an exhilarating place when the winter winds blow. Its rolling dunes, large rock outcrops and mixture of historic buildings makes it an ideal place for an afternoon of exploration.
Llanddwyn is not quite an island. It remains attached to the mainland at all but the highest tides. It provides excellent views of Snowdonia and the Lleyn Peninsula and is part of the Newborough Warren National Nature Reserve.

As the family sat down on the beach I pointed out Ynas Llanddwyn in the distance, funny enough it was only me that wanted to do the walk there and visit. So I left them on the beach and walked on.

I would like to apologise now for the sheer amount of photographs but with beauty like this its hard to not want to share them all.

Llanddwyn Island is part of the Newborough Warren National Nature Reserve. The dunes, mudflats and saltmarshes of the reserve support a wide range of plants and invertebrates. The flowers found on the Island include herb-robert (Geranium robertianum), bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), thrift (Armeria maritima), bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) and yellow horned poppies (Glaucium flavum).
The cliffs around the island support a wide variety of nesting seabirds, including cormorants, shags and oystercatchers. Ynys yr Adar (Bird Rock), a small islet off the tip of Llanddwyn, throngs during the spring with one percent of the total British breeding population of cormorants. Waders such as turnstones and sandpipers are found along the coast and terns can be seen fishing in the bay. The mammal population is supplemented by a flock of the unusual Soay sheep that graze near the chapel.
As you approach the island you pass between several large rocks in the sand. These are pillow lavas, part of the Precambrian Gwna Group. These mounds of rock were formed by undersea volcanic eruptions; as the hot molten rock met the cold seawater a ballon-like skin was formed, which then filled with more lava, forming the characteristic pillow shape. These extend down much of the length of Llanddwyn Island, giving it its interesting rolling topography, and are also found in many other places around Anglesey.

Ruins of Llanddwyn Chapel

The name Llanddwyn means "The church of St. Dwynwen". She is the Welsh patron saint of lovers, making her the Welsh equivalent of St. Valentine. Her feast day, 25 January, is often celebrated by the Welsh with cards and flowers, just as is 14 February for St. Valentine.

Dwynwen lived during the 5th century AD and was one of 24 daughters of St. Brychan, a Welsh prince of Brycheiniog (Brecon). She fell in love with a young man named Maelon, but rejected his advances. This, depending on which story you read, was either because she wished to remain chaste and become a nun or because her father wished her to marry another. She prayed to be released from the unhappy love and dreamed that she was given a potion to do this. However, the potion turned Maelon to ice. She then prayed that she be granted three wishes: 1) that Maelon be revived, 2) that all true lovers find happiness, and 3) that she should never again wish to be married. She then retreated to the solitude of Llanddwyn Island to follow the life of a hermit.

Dwynwen became known as the patron saint of lovers and pilgrimages were made to her holy well on the island. It was said that the faithfulness of a lover could be divined through the movements of some eels that lived in the well. This was done by the woman first scattering breadcrumbs on the surface, then laying her handkerchief on the surface. If the eel disturbed it then her lover would be faithful.
Visitors would leave offerings at her shrine, and so popular was this place of pilgrimage that it became the richest in the area during Tudor times. This funded a substantial chapel that was built in the 16th century on the site of Dwynwen's original chapel. The ruins of this can still be seen today.

Twr Mawr (big tower) was, from 1845 until 1976, the lighthouse which marked the rocky peninsula near the south west corner of Anglesey known as Llanddwyn Island. Built in a conical style, perhaps inspired by the design of Anglesey's windmills, this 35ft tower with an effective height above sea level of 82ft was visible from 7 miles away. The original 'Twr Bach' beacon just across the bay, equipped with a directional flashing light, replaced Twr Mawr as lighthouse for Llanddwyn in 1976.

Tŵr Mawr, which was modelled on the windmills of Anglesey, was built nearby in 1845. The older lighthouse has now returned to service after a modern light was placed on top.

Llanddwyn Island is situated near the southern entrance to the Menai Strait. As a result it became important as shipping of slate from the ports of Bangor, Caernarfon and Felinhelli increased. A beacon, called Tŵr Bach, was built at the tip of the island to provide guidance to ships heading for the Strait. Another more effective lighthouse, Tŵr Mawr, which was modelled on the windmills of Anglesey, was built nearby in 1845. The older lighthouse has now returned to service after a modern light was placed on top.

During this time cottages were built near the towers to house pilots who guided ships into the Strait. Two of these cottages have been restored, with one housing an exhibition about the local wildlife. From 1840 a lifeboat was also stationed there. It was manned by the pilots as well as volunteers from Newborough; the cannon that was used to summon the lifeboat crew can still be seen near the cottages. During its time up to the closure in 1903 the lifeboat from here saved 101 lives in 35 separate incidents.

The Lighthouse cottages

I walk along the coastal path now back to the beach and spot a seal bathing in the sea, just blovely!

As I leave the Island the sea was cutting off the route I had take onto it. Wasn't sure how far it would cut off but I had timed it just right it would seem.