Trwyn Yr Wylfa Campsite North Wales July 2023

The weather was fine again, as it had been for weeks, This trip was booked blind over the internet, with the pictures of the Trwyn Yr Wylfa campsite https://tinyurl.com/4vvnku6v overlooking the sea looking very enticing. After a three and a half hour drive there we found the reality was something different. What looked in the pictures and on the site plan, to be a level site next to the sea turned out to be on the side of a mountain, with the terms and conditions that were handed to you upon arrival banning every activity known to man. It was a very disappointing start to the holiday. We arrived and hooked up as usual, and in late afternoon thoughts turned to our evening meal. From research on the internet, and from the leaflets we were given, we knew that there was a pub down the hill that provided food, the Gladstone https://www.thegladstone.wales. We started out, following the directions provided, and very soon came across an ewe with it’s lamb in the road ahead of us, and we couldn’t get passed as Finn got very excited every time we neared them. We ended up herding them into the outskirts of town where the Gladstone was situated, with them at the last minute, taking a right when we needed to go left. With that excitement over we approached the pub which seemed to cater for the residents of all the nearby touring caravan and camping parks. At least it was dog friendly, and Finn got a fuss whenever the busy staff had a moment or two to see to him.

When I approached the bar to order our first drinks I became aware of a heated debate going on behind the bar regarding a large booking for meals that the kitchen was going to find hard to cope with. I joked with the barmaid that if I asked for a menu that the world would cave in. She put me right by saying that we were alright and the problem was going to arrive with a booking for eleven at 6.30pm. With that I took our first drinks of the holiday and the menus back to the table that we had taken. We ordered our meals, with me risking a whole rack of ribs ( without protective clothing!) and Sue opting for a tomato and red pepper pasta. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal, leaving nothing more than a pile of bones on the board (a plate hadn’t been provided!). Sue was less than satisfied with hers, and I had to agree with her when she said it looked like it had come from a can. I failed to mention previously that we had been moved to a designated dining area for our meal, and as we finished we noticed the booking for eleven arriving. As we’d eaten early there was still the daylight for us to explore Penmaenmawr, and to find the bus stop from which we would need to catch the bus to Deganwy, to meet a friend the next day.

As we walked towards the town, after we had found the bus stop, we noted a road which, we thought, would take us in the direction of the campsite, Church Road. It was a steep walk up, and breathless we joined Conwy Old Road up to the campsite. I have failed to mention earlier that in order to arrive at the campsite, in the motorhome, we had to negotiate an extreme switchback from the Conwy Road to the Conwy Old Road. As we walked up we followed Conwy Old Road past the cemetery (and a small footpath that we were to later find out was invaluable), and walked onto the campsite entrance, from where we ascended to the pitch we had been allocated for the duration of our stay.

I have to say that the elevation between the toilets/service areas/washing areas and our pitch was a good three hundred foot, and from there another one hundred foot to the site entrance, so every journey by foot was an effort! However, after a day or two we soon got used to the effort. To be honest, on the first day, after returning from the Gladstone after our first meal (and drinks!) I have to admit that my legs were turning to jelly by the time we returned to the motorhome. Satisfied that we had arrived at our holiday destination, and feasted the first night we hunkered down for the evening.

The next day broke with a blue sky, and Sue took Finn for a walk whilst I dealt with the morning jobs. On her walk Sue discovered that the footpath next to the cemetery went directly to the bus stop, by the football club, that we needed to take to to catch the bus to Deganwy.

By the time she had returned from her walk I had disposed of the previous days rubbish, washed the dishes, and dealt with personal ablutions etc. so it wasn’t long before we ventured out to catch the number 5 (or 5D) in the direction of Conwy. We didn’t know exactly where we were going for our 12.00pm meeting with Jackie (one of Sue’s long standing friends) for lunch, so when the bus came along we asked the driver to advise us of the nearest stop to our destination. It was an interesting journey, especially when the bus had to squeeze through one of the medieval arches of Conwy (there were only inches spare, which is amazing as many buses take that trip every day). Conwy is a perfect example of a medieval town enclosed within it’s castle walls and is worth a good exploration, but we were heading on to Deganwy for lunch!

Stop after stop we heard nothing from the driver, but as we exited the medieval city and returned to the shore he shouted out that our destination was the next stop. He dropped us off by the side of a busy road, indicating that our destination was up the hill to the right. We thanked him, and were immediately lost as the bus drove away. Sue, as usual, took her phone out to ask the great God of the internet what we should do. From looking at that the maps before we had left home I had an idea where Jackie lived and I pointed up the hill across from the bus stop, this agreed with what the internet God had to say, so that was the way we walked. After a short while we were outside 32, Overlay Avenue, ringing the doorbell to encourage Bonnie, the elderly, blind spaniel to bark. The door was soon opened by Jackie, who asked that we enter by the side, tradesmens, entrance, to ensure that the dogs could get to know each other in the garden. Bonnie was very protective of her space, and a bit of a bully, growling at Finn, and scaring him. He has never been much of a warrior, so he took protection under Sue and my legs. We were ushered up the garden and given drinks and provided with seating. All the time Finn was worried by the blind old lady that was Bonnie.

After a short while we were invited indoors for a salad and lunch that Jackie provided with ease, at the same time Bonnie seemed to accept the situation by falling asleep in her bed and snoring loudly, Finn relaxed and the chit chat began. The food was wonderful, and quite filling. Whilst Sue and Jackie were reminiscing about the old days I was thinking about the rest of the day. I had planned to visit a pub that had lots of positive reviews on the web, and I had to organise some kind of takeaway on the way back to the motorhome. When I asked Sue for her phone, to find out the details of buses and the nearest suitable stop to take us back, Jackie, trying to help, took the phone, and without understanding what I was trying to do, decided that we should catch a bus from a stop from what, she thought, was a nearby, suitable stop. As she was looking for the relevant details we were visited by David, her gardener, who was dealing with a very recent bereavement, and was having difficulties in arranging a funeral. To compound issues, also, Jackie had meetings arranged in Conwy, at that time, to organise matters for a city/town in bloom competition, and was keen to get away. We very quickly took our leave, and were on our way to the bus stop advised by Jackie.

After waiting a good half hour or so at the bus stop I was on the verge of returning to the one that we had arrived on when a number 5 arrived at the stop. We awaited for everyone to disembark and then got on, using our return ticket from the morning, to find the bus absolutely crammed with passengers. Luckily, a young lady, looking at our age and infirmity, offered us a seat. As Sue was in a better place than I was, and I was relying upon my stick I took up the offer. Sue was upset that she’d got to that stage in her life were she looked that old that people took pity on her.

As we were travelling along a number 5, completely empty, passed our bus, which explained why our’s had so many passengers on board, there had obviously been a problem with the scheduling.

When we returned to Penmaenmawr football club, we held on for the next stop, hoping to find something of interest in Penmaenmawr and walked in that direction, still with the goal of the Bron Eryri in mind, a pub, given the number of positive online reviews it has received. So we walked through Penmaenmawr, and to be honest, there doesn’t appear to be much to do ( but the option of being run over by a car is likely, given the lack of pavements!). Looking for something to do we bought some much needed alcohol, from the Spar, to top up our reserves and we set off in search of the Bron Eryri, which turned out not to live up to it’s online recommendations. JJ the pub dog, and his owners were away, so were was little activity in the pub whilst we were there, so after a drink, a bag of crisps (and some fancy twiglets!) we took our leave.

From there we walked up the steep Conwy Old Road back to the motorhome. We arrived there breathless, and as the sun was still shining decided to sit on our chairs outside. I then began to think about our evening meal, which, as Sue had eaten so much at lunchtime, would only be for me. I hurried down to the services area and took some menus from the appropriate containers, without my glasses on. I thought that I had picked up a Chinese and an Indian takeaway menu, both establishments saying that provided delivery to the campsite. When I arrived back at the motorhome I discovered that the menu I had believed to be from the Indian was in fact from a burger and grill outlet in Penmaenmawr, and it had nothing on it that I fancied. I then looked at the Chinese menu, and instantly saw ‘Cash Only’, and knowing that I didn’t have sufficient cash on me to buy a meal I discounted thoughts of a Satay or a Salt and Pepper meal.

I, again, had to walk down and back up the steep incline to fetch an Indian menu, which when I got back to the motorhome I sat down to read and select the meal I wished to feast on that night. I rang the number on the menu with trepidation, as I was unsure whether I could pronounce the name of the campsite for the delivery. Even so, as this was the only way I was going to get fed that night I made the call. When it was answered I asked for a takeaway, picking a meal I had never had before, a peli peli chicken. I was then asked, for collection or delivery? I, of course, answered, delivery, and was then told that this was not possible as their delivery vehicle had broken down. Dejected I realised that I would have to cook my own tea, and there was little food on board. I made do with a cold sausage Butty with mustard washed down with the wine I had earlier bought at the Spar shop.

To make matters worse the weather began to turn, with the early evening breeze turning into a blustery onslaught. I sat looking out of the window at the holiday makers in tents trying to prevent their accommodation for the night being blown away. The couple on the pitch next to ours were feverishly hammering in their tent pegs, which were refusing to stay in the ground. However they were not having such a hard time of it as the three youngsters, who had just arrived at the pitch opposite, and were trying to put their tent up.

The wind brought with it some rain, and we realised too late that our table and chairs were still outside, and we watched as they became wet. Hopefully the sun would resurface the next day, and dry them up. I went to bed hungry and dejected that night.

Luckily, the sun did come out the next day, when we planned for the first time, to leave our pitch mid-holiday, for a day out at Bodnant Gardens, which was not on a convenient bus route. After breakfast I set to unhooking the electricity and switching off the gas, whilst Sue ensured everything inside was secure for the trip. I wedged our motorhome reservation sign at the back of the pitch with the freshwater container, in order that no-one would take our pitch whilst we were away.

Thankfully the trip to Bodnant Gardens was fairly straightforward, and we were there dead on 12.00pm, the time I had booked our tickets for. Parking the motorhome in the car park was an issue, however, with the parking attendant advising we park at the top of the car park away from the cars, where there was space to ensure that we could manoeuvre. However, this resulted in the entrance to the gardens being a long walk down.

The gardens were just as dramatic as they had been described to us by friends who had been in the past, and with the attendant on the entrance directing us to the wonderful rose garden in full bloom we were expecting a good show. The rose garden lived up to the hype. From there, with the garden map in hand I devised a route that would take us to a café within the gardens. The gardens are huge, with many long established trees and plants. There are many paths leading in all directions. We zig-zagged down the steep incline to the river that flows through the gardens and soon found the café, and were lucky to find an empty table, as it was very busy. I ordered our drinks at the counter, and as Sue had spotted a small sign offering sandwiches I ordered the last two, a tuna mayo for Sue and a ham salad for me.

As we were sat there enjoying our break a lady in a mobility scooter approached our table and sat down next to Sue, as if she had a right to be there. I initially thought it to be very rude, and her husband, who had been in the queue for drinks, came across to apologise for her behaviour. As she was there, and very much in need of a sit down we said we had no objection to her joining us. When her husband returned with their drinks he sat down next to me, and we all, initially, began to talk about how wonderful the gardens were. She had on her face a horrible looking black patch, which was skin cancer, as we were later to be informed. The patch was that dramatic that I found it hard not to look at it when I looked at her. As usual, in conversations between people of a certain age the topic of health came up. Other than her skin cancer, she was suffering from arthritis, which was impacting her mobility so much that she relies upon a mobility scooter.

Her husband had, in the last year, survived a stroke, and as I survived a stroke a number of years earlier we compared notes. He was not very well informed on the subject, and knew nothing of TIA’s and the emotional problems that stroke can bring with it. With me being involved in a stroke charity, and having done a lot of research on the matter, I imparted my knowledge. Earlier in the year Sue had received treatment for a skin cancer on her eye, and was explaining it all to our ‘invader’. At one stage the two gentlemen on the table were involved in a conversation on stroke, whilst the ladies opposite were engrossed in a conversation on skin cancer. It seemed so bizarre.

It transpired that her husband was born and used to live in the town of my birth. He recognised my accent, which I thought would have been softened from years of living in Cumbria.

Before we left them they advised that we had to see the ‘waterfall’ (a weir draining the artificial boating lake the owners used many years ago), and we set off in that direction, admiring all the flora on the way. From there I devised a route back to the rose garden, but managed to get us lost on the way. In fact we didn’t get lost as a passerby confirmed that we were on the correct path. As time was getting on, and we had a booking at the Mulberry in Conwy Marina that evening, we decided to leave, so made our way to the exit. On the way Sue stopped off in a gallery/shop for a mooch. I called into the accessible toilets given we had a journey to make.

Just outside the exit there is a café, and Sue was very thirsty and wanted a sparkling water and a cake. I decided it was an opportune time for a cider so wandered inside to make an order. I noticed inside a tray of cheese scones and decided that Sue would prefer one of those instead of a cake. We took a table outside, just at the top of the ramp which leads to the subway under the road. As we were finishing our drinks our friends from earlier appeared on the ramp making their way from the exit. When they noticed us the lady joined Sue and I whilst her husband went inside to order. When he returned, and expertly placed their refreshments on the plate, he noticed that he had lost his stick. He went inside to find out if he’d left it there, and returned to the table with it. His wife, meanwhile, had been waiting for the accessible toilets to become free, as the public toilets in the car park entailed a journey up fifty odd steps, as per her estimation. Eventually the toilets became free and she left us. At that time Sue and I took our leave, and said goodbye to the husband. We climbed the incline back to the motorhome.

We then began our journey to find the Mulberry at Conwy Marina https://mulberryconwy.pub. As I had studied the map I had a good idea where it was, but Sue wanted to utilise the SatNav. Between us we managed to make it there without incident. However, it was very busy when we got there, and the car park was getting full. We needed to park at an angle over two spaces to prevent the length of the motorhome blocking the thoroughfare. The benefit of this is also makes it difficult for other cars to park too near making the extraction of the motorhome a problem. I am sure that there would have been a number of drivers annoyed at our solution, they being desperate to find a parking space. Leaving our vehicle askew we entered the pub and quickly found a table. The menus were on the table and I was instructed to order at the bar. Sue opted for the King Prawn Linguini and I opted for the Katsu Chicken Burger, and a sparkling water was ordered for Sue (as she was driving) and a medium Shiraz for myself. I thoroughly enjoyed my tea but Sue had a problem with her prawns not tasting of chilli, and the dish being very bland.

After our tea we opted to take a stroll along the marina, with the berths accessible only by an automatic rolling gate. We walked along by the apartments that had been built on the frontage, many of which would spend their lives as holiday homes. There was a large seated area outside the pub, which was full of drinkers and diners. With that said it was a quiet and peaceful area.

After our walk we returned to the motorhome, where I was expecting to see a rude note left by an irate motorist! There was none, and I opted to help Sue reverse out of the space, and in the process held up a number of motorist trying to enter the car park. Within minutes we were back at the site, where on the way in, I took the opportunity to empty our chemical waste, to save humping it down and up the incline. I also took the opportunity to further educate Sue on the procedure. With that task complete we returned to the motorhome for the night. End of day three.

Day four dawned with bright sunshine again, and after my breakfast we left to take the footpath down to the bus-stop again, for our day out in Conwy. We had found the bus timetable online earlier in the week, and were soon on the bus that we had planned to catch. Now we were conversant with the route, and no longer felt like fish out of water. I had planned that we were to get off the bus at the railway station, but as we entered Conwy, and after the bus had squeezed through the narrow arch, we came to a busy street, and I decided that we should disembark there. I noted after we had got off that there was not a corresponding stop across the road, so we set off on a search for the bus stop to take us back to the site that night.

Luckily there was a tourist Information centre just around the corner, with the railway station bus stop opposite. Problem solved. Next, as Sue had not had a breakfast that morning we went in search of a café, and again, around the corner was an entrance for a subterranean patio, next to a bakery. Spanish chill music was playing on the sound system and the place felt very Mediterranean. I ventured inside to check whether dogs were welcome and I was given two menus, and returned to the table we had taken outside. The weather was still ideal.

I asked Sue what she wanted from the menu and she replied ‘ a tuna mayo sandwich’, I then informed her that I was considering the chocolate fudge cake. She then said she would like a slice of cake as well. When the food arrived I was told that I had made a mistake, and the server was puzzled, thinking he had made a mistake. What I hadn’t realised was when Sue said she wanted a slice of cake, she meant instead of the tuna mayo sandwich. When I ordered I ordered her both. She said there was no way she could have eaten both, in her mind, and she opted just to have the sandwich, which left me with the dilemma, could I demolish two slices of gooey chocolate fudge cake? After a seconds thought I concluded that I could. The cake was gone in seconds whilst Sue looked on enviously. We then paid up and commenced our tour of Conwy. Whilst I paid I asked the server where the smallest house in Britain was. She told me that it was right out of the entrance, and through the arch by the chip shop. We wandered in that direction, briefly stopping at a music shop to browse the guitars, to see if there was anything I could add to my collection. We got to the chip shop, and went through the arch to find the main road that we had been on earlier that day, on the bus. There was no sign of the little house, the area did not match that which I had seen on a photograph of the house earlier. We then returned through the arch, and into the town again, and took the first left thinking that the house would be in that direction. As we were walking along the road I noticed a postman and asked him the directions. He said ‘turn right, and then left, and through the arch’. By the time we had reached the bottom of the road I was unsure whether it was left then right, particularly as Sue was confident that it was in that direction, as the bus had squeezed through the narrow arch that way earlier in the day. It turned out that it was right then left, and then we found another chip shop by another arch (all very confusing).

Through this last arch was an area with a harbour for the more traditional older boats, unlike the ‘boys toys’ which we’d seen the previous night at the marina. There were a lot of people in the area, and I instantly noticed a large queue outside a little red building with the sign on it’s flank stating it was the smallest house in Britain. We ambled along the sea wall until we were opposite the house, which, indeed, did look very small. Sue noticed a blue yacht nearby and wanted to take a photograph of it, and left Finn and myself watching the melee, whilst listening to the busker in his mobility scooter singing well known folk songs and shanties. The house was so small that I couldn’t see the point of paying a fee to wait and look inside, I was just happy to people watch. Most of the people who queued were more interested in having their photo taken outside the house by the attendant. There was a pub nearby with outside seating and it was proving popular on this hot day. When Sue returned we set off on a quest to find a chemist, the server in the café earlier having told me that there was not a Boots in town. We managed to find one not so far away, and carried on walking, having done a circular tour of Conwy since we had arrived. We then decided to take a walk down a central road that effectively split the town in half, but first we had to inspect the floral display in Lancaster Square that Jackie had been working so hard on for an ‘in bloom’ competition, due to be judged on the following Sunday.

We then found a wine shop and decided to stock up for the evening, it was a strange shop with a good collection of wines, and a beer garden. From there, Sue was wanting an ice cream, and there was an ice cream parlour across the road. When we got inside she asked what flavour  I would like, I replied that I didn’t want an ice cream but would fancy a cider in the pub next door. With that, she changed her mind, and walked out of the shop saying that she would like a sit down in the pub, so there we went. It was the wrong decision, Ye Olde Mail Coach is one of those pubs that has been spoilt by the erection of numerous TV’s on the walls, and the clientele were the sort of folk attracted by that environment. The pub did win one award , however, it had the filthiest toilets of any pub I have ever been in, as I had to wade through quarter inch to half an inch of ‘fluid’ on the floor. However we entered the pub and took a table by the door, and ordered the necessary ciders. I also asked the barmaid if I could have a bowl of water for Finn, as he was suffering from the heat. She came over with the bowl, made a fuss of him, and gave him a treat. He tucked into the water straightaway. When I got up to go to the bar to fetch another drink I forgot that the water bowl had been placed right by my feet, and I upturned it, spilling the contents on the floor. I had to approach the bar for paper towels to stop the area under our table being swamped. We dried up as best as we could, and finished our drinks and left, in order to catch the next bus, as shown on the App. We weren’t very far from the railway station, where we assumed our bus would arrive. We were successful in catching a number 5 bus, and within minutes we were by the football club bus stop ready for the walk up to the site.

We had booked a meal with Jackie that night at the Queens Head at Glanwydden https://queensheadglanwydden.co.uk, and she was due at the site to pick us up at 5.45pm. We had planned to shower and change before that time, so our return to the site was quite speedy. I was not looking forward to the shower as the facilities on the site were quite cramped and basic. I decided that I was going to avail myself of the accessible facilities.  It was a good decision as the facilities were excellent, and I had a bathroom, bigger than our one at home, to myself. I dressed myself, for the first time that week, in long jeans and proper shoes, having spent the week in shorts and sandals. Sue, equally of the mind to dress up, changed into something special. We left the motorhome with time in hand, and dealt with a few housekeeping issues on the way to the exit to await Jackie. She was not too late, and we were soon on our way to a new destination, for a feast to celebrate the end of our week in Wales.

We were soon in the car park and Jackie deftly maneuvered her Mitsubishi hybrid into a space at the top of the car park. We were quickly shown to our table, with Finn being given a fuss and a treat. Sue and Jackie talked about the old days and all the characters that they knew, whilst I concentrated on eating my pork dish, which was delicious. When we were finished I snook away from the table to pay the bill, to save getting into an argument with Jackie on the matter. For the trip back to the site Jackie had planned a magical mystery tour, taking in a lot of the local attractions. We drove through Llandudno, up the Great Orme to see the cable cars and ski lift, and were let down by the weather, as a spectacular sun set can be viewed from the top. The weather was closing in, with rain on the way. On the way down we encountered the famous Lockdown Mountain Goats, which had wandered into town when no-one was about during Lockdown. All the way Jackie was regaling a tale about herself and a gentleman, whilst driving at a ridiculously slow speed. As we neared the site the spectacular sun set came into view, which brought our night to an apt conclusion. Given that Jackie was blocking the road as she dropped us off she was forced to drive away in a hurry to avoid upsetting other motorists. We now took our final night ascent to the motorhome, and settled down.

The next morning, still bright with sunshine, was our last on site, and we had little time to deal with matters before our 11.00am departure time. I feasted on a cold sausage and mustard roll, as there was not time to cook a breakfast. The electric had to be disconnected, and the gas switched off before we could move the motorhome. Given the steepness of the hill we opted to deal with the toilet emptying on the way out, which saved some time, but the winding in of the electric cable is always a chore. We were down in time and left the site before the 11.00am deadline.

Soon after we had started the journey home I noticed the awful smell from the grey water tank, one of the plugs had been left open. We had bought some grey water freshener with us but had failed to use it. So, as I noticed a lay-by ahead I asked Sue to pull in so that I could partly open the grey water tank so that it could drip dry on the way home. At the same time Sue put the grey water freshener down any plugs she could find. This improved matters greatly, although it was only for my benefit as Sue has no sense of smell. I soon fell asleep and didn’t awake until we were nearly home. The end of our trip to Wales, I have mixed views, I wouldn’t go to that site again given the facilities and the amount of walking involved, although there was some wonderful views of the mountains and out to sea.

As I had broken the buckle on my usual watch before the holiday I was forced to wear my cheap Chinese copy of an Apple Watch. I very rarely use it, but I was very impressed with the step counting ability it has. However, it has the capability to inflate the number of steps I take! This came to light when I tried to compare my steps with those of Sue, which were measured on a proper Apple Watch. Every day of the holiday a step comparison took place with me outstripping Sue all the time!

This was the first break we have taken when Finn was tethered outside for a good amount of time. Our worries about him being boisterous were discounted when he soon settled down to sleep in the sun. The steepness of the site must have taken a toll on him as he was quieter than normal, and Sue was worried that there was something troubling him. There was a six metre gap between each pitch which meant that there was little chance of him encountering another dog, and he soon became happy in his new home. However, he did develop an excitement whenever we met other dogs on a walk, this is something we will need to address. Interestingly, on this trip he wasn’t fussed over too much wherever we went, he must be losing his looks!

Given the steepness of the inclines we encountered, and the distances we walked I found that I needed to use my walking stick a lot more on this break.

I think we need to do more research in future when we book a site from the internet.