With fine days few and far between this summer, ten members of the East Cheshire Ramblers struck it lucky and were rewarded with a fine sunny day for a recent walk on the Isle of Anglesey.
Setting out from Amlwch Port the group first headed inland on some good and well maintained paths to reach Pary’s Mountain. Rising to a mere 147 metres, the hill is not in the same league with anything in Snowdonia but its claim to fame is that it was once the location of the richest copper mine in the World. Today the landscape is quite alien to the surrounding countryside with piles of ore bearing rocks displaying a variety of colours. Few plants can survive in this landscape but some of the ones that do are unique to the area.
Mining in the area can be traced back 4000 years to the Bronze Age and even the Romans exploited the vast mineral wealth of the area. In 1764 the mine was leased to Charles Roe of Macclesfield for a period of 21 years and four years into this lease the ‘Great Lode’ was found by local miner Rowland Pugh who was rewarded with a bottle of whisky and a rent free house for the rest of his life. In the late eighteen century copper extracted from Pary’s Mountain was used to sheath the British Admiralty’s wooden warships which prevented the growth of seaweed and barnacles on their hulls and made the ships not only more manoeuvrable but increased their speeds.
The walk now continued across fields to the hamlet of Nebo but not without a few footpath problems. After a break for lunch the group now headed for the coast to join the Anglesey Coastal Path to reach Point Lynas Lighthouse. The present lighthouse dates from 1835 and is unusual in that the lantern is at the base of the castellated square tower.
Staying with the coast, on the last leg of the walk to Port Amlwch there was a rich variety of purple heather intermingled with yellow gorse which was looking its best in the strong afternoon sunlight – a fitting end to a lovely walk.
Pary’s Mountain – an alien landscape rich in metal ores interspersed with rare plants.
An afternoon break on the coast in the warm sunshine with a view to Snowdonia and Great Orme’s Head
Point Lynas Lighthouse on Anglesey’s northeastern coast
The group leaving Point Lynas to walk the last leg back to Port Amlwch
What is amazing about this stretch of coast is the vast variety of heather displaying many shade of purple.
A typical view on the Anglesey Coast Path between Point Lynas and Amlwch Port. The whole coast was a wash of a mixture of purple heather intermingled with yellow gorse.