Author: Julian & Jarno

Day 09 – Barrow-In-Furness to Carlisle

A rather dull day nine as we drove north along the coast from Barrow-In-Furness to Carlise.

 

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, St Bees Lighthouse
St Bees Lighthouse

 

South Walney

Coastal Road Trip, South Walney, Nature Reserve, Piel Castle
First stop of the day was the South Walney Nature Reserve, with its views back north to Piel Castle, which we had seen the evening before from the other side by Rampside.
Coastal Road Trip, South Walney, Nature Reserve, Ranger's Hut
The ranger’s hut at the nature reserve, an Aladdin’s cave of nature related info.
Coastal Road Trip, South Walney, Nature Reserve, Seagull, Jarno
We encountered a very curious (and hungry) friend.

 

Eskmeals

Coastal Road Trip, Eskmeals Beach, MOD Eskmeals
Next to the pebble beach, we found this sign, we moved on quickly…
Coastal Road Trip, Eskmeals, Lake District Views
But behind the beach there were idyllic views over meadows to the Lake District.

 

Ravenglass

Coastal Road Trip, Ravenglass
Cute seaside cottages (very close to the sea on the other side) in the small village of Ravenglass.

 

Sellafield

Coastal Road Trip, Sellafield
The word’s first commercial nuclear power station.  Julian had remembered adverts for the visitor centre as a kid, and was weirdly curious to visit.  However, it seems the visitor centre no longer exists, so instead we made do with these views across the fields.

 

St Bees

Coastal Road Trip, St Bees Lighthouse
More views across fields.  We were trying to get a closer look at St Bees Lighthouse, but down a very narrow quiet country lane we came across private property signs.  So we decided to view from a distance over this golden brown wheat field.

 

Whitehaven

Coastal Road Trip, Whitehaven, Lighthouse
A bit of a tired looking lighthouse at Whitehaven.
Coastal Road Trip, Whitehaven, Harbor, Industrial past
Remains of Whitehaven’s industrial past.

 

Maryport

Coastal Road Trip, Maryport, Lighthouse, Paintings
Next to Maryport Lighthouse there was a display of lighthouse paintings by local school children, so here is one of them to add a bit of colour to day nine of our Coastal Road Trip.
Coastal Road Trip, Maryport Breakwater
A bleak and cold evening at the Maryport breakwater.

 

Siloth

Coastal Road Trip, Siloth
Before heading east along the coast to Carlise we stopped by Siloth, with its surprisingly wide cobbled streets, and long stepped promenade stretching into the distance.

 

Daily video

Day 08 – Preston to Barrow-In-Furness

Today’s drive on the north west coastline was pretty varied as we covered everything from quiet coastal villages to busy holiday resorts like Blackpool.

 

Photo of the Day

Coastal Road Trip, Blackpool, Blackpool Lights, McDonalds
Blackpool Lights

 

Preston

Coastal Road Trip, Preston, Marina, Lighthouse, Morrisons, Lighthouse
As you follow the north west coastline, Preston is the first crossing point over the River Ribble.  As luck would have it there was a disused lighthouse by the local Morrisons supermarket at the town marina.  I guess not many lighthouses have a trolley park at their base.

 

Lytham St Anne’s

Coastal Road Trip, Lytham St Anne's, Lytham Windmill
Lytham Windmill, our first windmill (keeping Jarno happy), right on the edge of the grassy Ribble estuary.
Coastal Road Trip, Lytham St Anne's, RSPB
The view across the estuary from the local RSPB sanctuary.
Coastal Road Trip, Lytham St Anne's Pier
Lytham St Anne’s Pier and the broad sandy beach.
Coastal Road Trip, Lytham St Anne's, Beach, Donkey
Donkeys being prepared for the day ahead on the beach.

 

Blackpool

Coastal Road Trip, Blackpool, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Mr Chippy
A few typical sights along the long Blackpool seafront.  First at the southern end, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, behind a chippy.
Coastal Road Trip, Blackpool, Blackpool Lights, McDonalds
The Blackpool lights (by day), no prizes for guessing who were sponsoring this section of the lights.
Coastal Road Trip, Blackpool, Blackpool Tower
And at the northern end of the promenade, the magnificent Blackpool Tower.

 

Cleveleys

Coastal Road Trip, Cleveleys, Mary's Shell
The promenade looked pretty smart here, it clearly had a recent face lift.  A huge shell work of art (Mary’s Shell) on the empty beach.

 

Fleetwood

Coastal Road Trip, Fleetwood, Pharos Lighthouse
More disused lighthouses, first the larger Pharos Lighthouse at Fleetwood.

 

Knott End-on-Sea

Coastal Road Trip, Knott End-on-Sea view, Fleetwood, Lower Lighthouse
Then whilst having a picnic at Knott End-on-Sea, we had a great view back west over the River Wyre to the Lower Lighthouse at Fleetwood.

 

Lancaster

Coastal Road Trip, Lancaster, Lancaster Castle, Julian, Jarno
Crossing the River Lune at Lancaster, we stopped to look at Lancaster Castle.  Interestingly it was still a working prison until 2011.

 

Morecambe

Coastal Road Trip, Morecambe, Lake District Sculpture, Art, Silhouette
Silhouette of the Lake District mountains, outlined and labelled on this clever art piece on Morcambe Promenade.
Coastal Road Trip, Morcambe, Eric Morecambe Statue
This statue needs no introduction for the Brits, but for the rest it’s a statue of Eric Morecambe.  A famous British comedian.  Julian did a selfie with him but his sunglasses were lopsided, ironic.

 

Arnside

Coastal Road Trip, Arnside, Pier
Small quiet pier on to the River Kent at the quaint village of Arnside.

 

Grange-over-Sands

Coastal Road Trip, Grange-over-Sands, Railway, View
The railway line separating the view back over the River Kent to Arnside.

 

Ulverston

Coastal Road Trip, Ulverston, Barrow Monument, Head Monument
The Hoad (Barrow) Monument on the peak of Hoad Hill to the east of Ulverston.  Only took a picture as it resembles a lighthouse.

 

Rampside

Coastal Road Trip, Rampside, Rampside Lighthouse
Before heading to Barrow-In-Furness for the night we stopped by the rather unusual and slim Rampside Lighthouse.

 

Daily video

Day 07 – Colwyn Bay to Preston

We started day seven of our trip by going back west a few miles to Llandudno before continuing east out of Wales into England.  Some typical and some not so typical British seaside sights today.

 

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Crosby Beach, Antony Gormley's Another Place
Crosby Beach

 

Llandudno

Coastal Road Trip, Llandudno Pier
Early Sunday morning at Llandudno Pier, eerily empty.  Everyone was clearly still in bed, as they knew the heavens were about to open.
Coastal Road Trip, Llandudno
Colourful hotels at the end of the Llandudno promenade.  The start of the Great Orme hill and headland behind.  We then drove around the Great Orme Heritage Coast loop, would have been great views if it it hadn’t been pouring down with rain.

 

Colwyn Bay

Coastal Road Trip, Colwyn Bay
We looped back to Colwyn Bay where we stayed the night before.  The promenade and road along the sea front was closed off due to an ongoing waterfront improvement project.  In the distance we could see the pier, which looked in a sorry state… hopefully that is part of their improvement project too.

 

Prestatyn

Coastal Road Trip, Prestatyn, Lifeguard Board
The lifeguards were having a peaceful day at a very quiet Prestatyn Beach.  Wind turbines off shore in the background, which became a surprisingly common sight on our coastal journey.

 

Talacre Lighthouse

Coastal Road Trip, Talacre Lighthouse, Point of Ayr
The Talacre Lighthouse at Point of Ayr.  Abandoned, but looked great, even on a stormy morning.

 

Flint

Coastal Road Trip, Flint Castle, Julian, Jarno
Flint Castle with impressive views over the River Dee.  We bumped into a lovely Canadian family that had also been staying at the same B&B as us near Cardigan, we had also bumped into them at Cilgerran Castle three days earlier… small world.

 

Flintshire Bridge

Coastal Road Trip, Flintshire Bridge
Crossing the River Dee over a rather striking Flintshire Bridge, flanked by electricity pylons.  Blue sky starting to peep through the clouds…

 

Leasowe Lighthouse

Coastal Road Trip, Leasowe Lighthouse
The now disused Leasowe Lighthouse, not the most attractive lighthouse, but still striking with the blue sky behind.

 

New Brighton

Coastal Road Trip, New Brighton
The view from New Brighton out to the lighthouse and beyond to the cranes on the other side of the River Mersey.

 

Crosby

Coastal Road Trip, Crosby Beach, Antony Gormley's Another Place
One of the one hundred Antony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ statues, submerged in Crosby Beach.  A bit spooky but very striking.  Very cool to see in person.
Coastal Road Trip, Crosby Beach, Antony Gormley's Another Place, www.coastalroadtrip.com
A bit of beach marketing.

 

Formby

Coastal Road Trip, Formby Point
A lovely clean beach backed by sand dunes and pinewoods at the National Trust’s Formby Point.  They’ve clearly struggled with beach erosion though, this looked like an old road or building that had collapsed in the beach and sea.

 

Southport

Coastal Road Trip, Southport, Ice cream van
A Mr Whippy ice cream van finishing work for the day at Southport Beach.
Coastal Road Trip, Southport Beach, Weather Vane Fish
A striking looking weather vane style fish sculpture on the Southport Promenade.

 

Marshside

Coastal Road Trip, Marshside, View to Blackpool Tower
On our way to Preston for the night, we passed Marshside, with views across to Lytham St Ann’s, and Blackpool Tower ghost-like in the distance.  A sneak preview of our trip tomorrow.

 

Daily video

Day 06 – Porthmadog to Colwyn Bay

After beautiful weather on day five, day six started rainy and windy and continued most of the day.  As today’s trip included Anglesey, the weather matched our expectations for the wind swept island… but we had fun nevertheless.

 

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch Station
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Caernarfon

Coastal Road Trip, Caernarfon Castle
Welcome to Caernarfon!  Impressive castle but the verdict is out on the rest of the town.  Though we did have a good coffee.

 

Coastal Road Trip, Caernarfon Castle, Carousel
And the Merry-go-round Carousel in the market square brightened things up a bit.

 

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Coastal Road Trip, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch Ticket
It had to be done, first visit on Anglesey was to the the town with the longest place name in Europe and second longest in the world: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.  Which means even the train tickets have to be extra big.
Coastal Road Trip, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch Station
…and the train station signs… etc etc… you get the idea 😉  Secretly I (Julian) was excited to visit, I had always wanted to since a kid.  Check.

 

Plas Newydd

Coastal Road Trip, Plas Newydd
Next stop was Plas Newydd House & Gardens.  The impressive interior is home to the largest canvas painting in the UK.  We did take a picture of it, but we couldn’t get the whole painting in the shot, so best to just google it!
Coastal Road Trip, Plas Newydd, Garden
A bit of colour on a grey day in the Plas Newydd Garden.

 

Anglesey, west coast

Coastal Road Trip, Anglesey west coast
Most of the west coast of Anglesey looked like this, wet, windy and stormy.

 

Trearddur Bay

Coastal Road Trip, Trearddur Bay
Struggling to get out to sea at Trearddur Bay, we watched a little longer, he capsized a minute later and gave up.

 

South Stack

Coastal Road Trip, South Stack Lighthouse
The rain stopped by the time we arrived at South Stack Lighthouse on Holy Island, also a RSPB bird sanctuary.   We also tuned in to Irish radio and our mobile phones started trying to connect to Irish networks, you then realise how close you are to Ireland.
Coastal Road Trip, South Stack Lighthouse
Great views of South Stack Lighthouse over some pretty severe cliffs.  We walked a bit further on to also try and see North Stack Lighthouse, but the weather closed in and all we got was pictures of sea mist.

 

Beaumaris

Coastal Road Trip, Beaumaris Castle
Following the northern and eastern coast of Anglesey, we ended up at Beaumaris Castle.  Seemed one of the nicest towns on the island.
Coastal Road Trip, Beaumaris Pier
Beaumaris Pier, with seagulls hovering in the wind, almost in formation.

 

Conwy

Coastal Road Trip, Coastal Road Trip, Conwy Castle
Back on the mainland we passed through Bangor to Conwy, and its grand 13th century Conwy Castle, before heading to Colwyn Bay for the evening.

 

Daily video

Day 05 – Dolgellau to Porthmadog

Sunshine again!  Best day of weather so far.  On day five we drove the remaining part of the Welsh west coast, then looped around the Lynn Peninsula ending back at Porthmadog.

 

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Braich y Pwll, Heather, Sheep
Braich y Pwll

 

Barmouth

Coastal Road Trip, Barmouth, Lifeboat
Lifeboat resting in the shallow and still early morning waters of Barmouth.

 

Harlech

Coastal Road Trip, Harlech Castle
Old meets new at Harlech Castle, with is modern bridge linked into the medieval fort.

 

Portmeirion

Coastal Road Trip, Portmeirion, Julian, Jarno
The totally surreal village of Portmeirion.  Created by Welsh architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis.  Weird but we kind of liked it.
Coastal Road Trip, Portmeirion
The Central Piazza, but nothing is quite what it seems…
Coastal Road Trip, Portmeirion
Yes, this is Wales..?!

 

Criccieth

Coastal Road Trip, Criccieth
Criccieth with the contrast between the trim colourful town houses and the headland with Criccieth Castle perched on top.

 

Abersoch

Coastal Road Trip, Abersoch
Abersoch, tide is out again…

 

Plas yn Rhiw

Coastal Road Trip, Plas yn Rhiw
The blooming cottage garden at the modest yet comfy Plas yn Rhiw House, another National Trust property.

 

Aberdaron

Coastal Road Trip, Aberdaron
The former fishing village of Aberdaron with its bay and beach, plus car park concertinaed in this panorama shot.

 

Braich y Pwll

Coastal Road Trip, Braich y Pwll
The most westerly point of Wales, with breathtaking views from the single track lane to the coastguard lookout at the top.
Coastal Road Trip, Braich y Pwll, Julian, Jarno
Hello from Braich y Pwll and the Irish Sea.
Coastal Road Trip, Braich y Pwll, Heather
Braich y Pwll sheep enjoying the weather too.

 

Porthor

Coastal Road Trip, Porthor
Another National Trust stop at Porthor Beach on the north side of the Lynn Peninsula.

 

Porthdinllaen

Coastal Road Trip, Porthdinllaen
After trying to find Porthdinllaen precariously walking across a golf course, we turned back to the car park, and realized we could see it in the distance on the other side of the headland.
Coastal Road Trip, Porthdinllaen view
And in the final photo of the day, with the view to the east from Porthdinllaen across to Porthnefyn.  We then headed back south to Porthmadog for the evening.

 

Daily video

Day 04 – Cardigan to Dolgellau

Today we are starting our journey near Cardigan then driving up to Dolgellau, about 130 miles.  And yay!.. a sunny day 🙂

 

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Coastal Road, Sheep
Coastal Road Sheep

 

Cilgerran

Coastal Road Trip, Cilgerran
Being welcomed by this gentleman at Cilgerran Castle entrance.

 

St Dogmaels Abbey

Coastal Road Trip, St Dogmaels Abbey, Julian, Jarno
A few minutes down the road we reached the remains of St Dogmaels Abbey.  As well as castles, and lighthouses, lots of abbeys on this trip too!

 

Cardigan

Coastal Road Trip, Cardigan, Parking
Slightly worrying sign whilst parking near Cardigan.
Coastal Road Trip, Cardigan, Colourful Houses
The Welsh love their colourfully painted houses, this was on a side street behind the castle.  And yes, we did wear cardigans in Cardigan.

 

Aberporth

Coastal Road Trip, Aberporth
We enjoyed a picnic, with great views overlooking Aberporth bay.

 

Penbryn

Coastal Road Trip, Penbryn Beach, Telephone
A curious telephone at Penbryn Beach.
Coastal Road Trip, Penbryn Beach
And families enjoying the golden sands at Penbryn Beach, protected by the National Trust.  Free parking at the top of the hill if you are National Trust member.
Coastal Road Trip, New Quay
Again colourful Welsh houses at New Quay, we missed the turning for the town, so stopped further along the coast at Llanina Woods.  A muddy car park, with short walk through the woods to the pebbly and sandy beach.

 

Llanerchaeron

Coastal Road Trip, Llanerchaeron Estate
Making the most of our National Trust membership, driving slightly inland to visit the Llanerchaeron Estate.  Understated interior and beautiful gardens.
Coastal Road Trip, Llanerchaeron Estate, Gardens
A little potter around the gardens.
Coastal Road Trip, Llanerchaeron Estate, Coffee
..and time for coffee.

 

Aberaeron

Coastal Road Trip, Aberaeron
Then back to the coast to the colourful harbour houses of Aberaeron.

 

Coastal Road Sheep

Coastal Road Trip, Coastal Road, Sheep
Sheep along the coastal road.

 

Coastal Road Drivers

Coastal Road Trip, Car Interior, Julian, Jarno
On the road again…

 

Aberystwyth

Coastal Road Trip, Aberystwyth Castle
The remains of Aberystwyth Castle on the sea front.  Aberystwyth was grander than we had expected with its long promenade.

 

Aberdyfi

Coastal Road Trip, Aberdfyi
Views from Aberdyfi across the calm evening waters of the Dyfi estuary to Ynyslas.

 

Tywyn

Coastal Road Trip, Tywyn, Telescope
Jarno checking out the view from Tywyn promenade.

 

Bryncrug

Coastal Road Trip, Bryncrug, Woolly Street Art
Woolly street art over the bridge at Bryncrug.
Coastal Road Trip, Bryncrug, View to Snowdonia
The view over houses and woodland to Snowdonia.

 

Coastal Road from Llangelynin to Fairbourne

Coastal Road Trip, A493, Llangelynin to Fairbourne
Rolling landscape
Coastal Road Trip, A493, Fairbourne
Sea views
Coastal Road Trip, Fairbourne, Setting Sun
And setting sun.

 

Daily Video

Day 03 – Pembroke to Cardigan

Off on our third day of travel.  We will cover about 130 miles of coastal roads today.  A grey sky, but we’ll bring some sunshine.

 

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Newgale Beach
Newgale Beach

 

Milford Haven

Coastal Road Trip, Milford Haven, Flowers, Statue, Harbour
Colour and thoughtful art above the industrial landscape of Milford Haven.

 

Dale

Coastal Road Trip, Dale, Rain, Julian, Jarno
Welsh summer, heavy rain at Dale Beach – time for a coffee to wake us up!

 

St Ann’s

Coastal Road Trip, St Ann's High Lighthouse
Stunning views, steep cliffs and choppy waters at St Ann’s High Lighthouse.

 

Martin’s Haven

Coastal Road Trip, Wooltack Point
Walkers at the National Trust’s Martin’s Haven.
Coastal Road Trip, Martin's Haven, Wooltack Point, Midland Isle, Julian, Jarno
And here are two of those walkers with Wooltack Point and Midland Isle behind us.
Coastal Road Trip, Martin's Haven, Skin Care Cymru’s Don’t Be A Lobster Flag
Skin Care Cymru’s alternative Welsh flag: ‘Don’t Be A Lobster’, flying above the coastguard’s hut at Martins’s Haven.

 

St Brides

Coastal Road Trip, St Brides
Julian stayed here at St Brides with his family 10 years ago, so was keen to visit again.

 

Little Haven

Coastal Road Trip, Little Haven
The cute little village of Little Haven, with 30min free parking, just enough time to do a mini tour.
Coastal Road Trip, Little Haven
And the view west from the top of the short cliff path walk above Little Haven.  Lush grass clinging to the rocky cliffs.

 

Welsh Roads

Coastal Road Trip, Windy Welsh Roads
We thought this Pembroke single track road was funny, double yellow lines on both sides, no chance to pass someone never mind parking!

 

Newgale

Coastal Road Trip, Newgale Beach
The tidy, wide and flat sands of Newgale Beach.

 

Solva

Coastal Road Trip, Solva
Looking down over Solva Bay with its boats waiting for the tide to return.

 

St Davids

Coastal Road Trip, St Davids
St Davids Cathedral in Britain’s smallest city.  Really impressive, except for the coffee in the Cathedral Cafe, too hot!
Coastal Road Trip, St Davids, Ceiling
The beautifully painted ceiling of St Davids.

 

Pwll Mawr

Coast Road Trip, Pwll Mawr
We took the wrong turn looking for Strumble Head, and ended up with this amazing view west from Pwll Mawr.

 

Strumble Head

Coastal Road Trip, Strumble Head Lighthouse
Getting addicted to lighthouses now… took 100 pics of Stumble Head Lighthouse in the fresh and bright late afternoon sunshine.
Coastal Road Trip, Strumble Head View
And again stunning views west along the Pembrokeshire coast from Strumble Head.

 

Fishguard

Coastal Road Trip, Fishguard
And the final stop of the day in Fishguard, before heading to our B&B for the night near Cardigan.

 

Daily Video

Day 02 – Llanelli to Pembroke

On Day 2 we traveled from Llanelli to Pembroke, about 120 miles again.  Here are some of our more interesting stops.

 

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Tenby
Tenby Harbour

 

Burry Port

Coastal Road Trip, Burry Port
A bit of grey start to the day at Burry Port.  Here with the view out to sea, behind us a small harbor town and rolling green hills.

 

Kidwelly

Coastal Road Trip, Kidwelly Castle
Kidwelly Castle, quite impressive for a little town.  The first of several castles today!

 

Carmarthen

Coastal Road Trip, Carmarthen Castle
Carmarthen, the oldest town in Wales, also had a castle.  Looked quite similar to Kidwelly, at least from the front, don’t you think?  I thought I had a been here as a kid, but then realized I had it muddled with the much more impressive Caernarfon Castle in North Wales.

 

Llansteffan

Coastal Road Trip, Llansteffan Castle, Julian, Jarno
Further down the west side of the River Towy we reached Llansteffan Castle, a pleasant 10 minute walk up from the beach car park.  Great views from the top across to Ferryside and Carmarthen Bay.
Coast Road Trip, Coastal Road Trip, Llansteffan Beach
And back down at the car park, great views again across the beach and the bay.

 

Laugharne

Coastal Road Trip, Laugharne Castle
Further west we reached Laugharne, the final resting town of Dylan Thomas.   An impressive castle for a small town, sitting next to the River Taf.

 

Pendine Sands

Coastal Road Trip, Pendine Sands, Lifeguard Notice
At Pendine Sands the Lifeguards had put up this fun notice board.
Coastal Road Trip, Pendine Sands, Museum of Speed, Babs
Pendine Sands is most famous for its land speed records in the early 1900.  Babs is the most famous car, and is displayed in the  Museum of Speed by the beach.  Sadly its driver (Parry-Thomas) was killed when the car crashed during a land speed attempt in 1927.   The car was buried in the sand dunes, and was later dug up and lovingly restored. Look at that engine!

 

Saundersfoot

Coastal Road Trip, Saundersfoot Beach
At Saundersfoot, one of the most popular tourist towns in Wales, we looked over the beach.  Full of families enjoying the milder late afternoon weather, as now the clouds had started to clear.
Coastal Road Trip, Saundersfoot, Wollen bollard covers
Cute wollen bollard covers in the streets of Saundersfoot, don’t ask me why, but they brightened up the streets.

 

Tenby

Coastal Road Trip, St Julian Terrace
We loved Tenby, and a bonus,  we found a street with my name…. but I’m no saint.
Coastal Road Trip, Tenby, Fudge
Fresh Tenby fudge being prepared.  Another bonus.
Coastal Road Trip, Tenby
Colourful Tenby houses, and boats all neatly anchored in the peaceful harbour.
Coastal Road Trip, Tenby, Lifeboat
Then we heard the emergency signal call for RNLI crew, and a few minutes later a lifeboat was launched.  Hope all was OK.

 

Manorbier

Coastal Road Trip, Manorbier Bay, Julian, Car, Jarno
Around the corner we found the beautiful Manorbier Bay, and posed for some road trip selfies…

 

Stackpole

Coastal Road Trip Stackpole Quay
The National Trust owned Stackpole Quay was full of families enjoying the evening sun, playing about in the sea.
Coastal Road Trip, Stackpole Quay, Jarno, Ladder
We climbed down the ladder to reach the second bay.
Coastal Road Trip, Stackpole Quay, Julian, Jarno, Pasta
An evening picnic with great views!
Coastal Road Trip, Stackpole Quay, Beach Books
Back in the car park we noticed this beach books trailer.  We are not sure exactly how it works but we guess that during the day you can borrow books from this, like a mobile library.  If so, what a great idea.

 

Freshwater West

Coastal Road Trip, Freshwater West, Seaweed Hut
A renovated seaweed hut at Freshwater West.  Yes, new to us too!  Apparently used in the early part of last century to dry seaweed that was used to make Welsh lava bread.

 

Angle

Coastal Road Trip, West Angle Bay
Warm evening sunlight as the sun started to set at West Angle Bay.

 

Pembroke

Coastal Road Trip, Pembroke Power Station
Pembroke Power Station viewed across the fields from Angle to Pembroke.  It was quite a contrast to the landscape we had seen so far, but here it somehow looks organic, growing out of the bushes at the edge of the field.
Coastal Road Trip, Pembroke Castle
Pembroke Castle in the evening light, our final castle of the day!
Coastal Road Trip, Pembroke to wind turbines
Final shot of the day from Pembroke Dock across to wind turbines at Milford Haven.

 

Daily Video

Day 01 – Cardiff to Llanelli

Hi!

Welcome to our first blog post. Day one of our seven week British Coastal Road Trip.
Today we started in Cardiff and drove 120 miles along the beautiful Welsh coastline to Llanelli.
Here are some picture highlights of our first day on the road!

 

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Rhossili
Rhossili Bay.

 

Cardiff

Coastal Road Trip, Cardif, Julian, Jarno, Map
Map ready in Cardiff for our Coastal Road Trip!
Coastal Road Trip, Beach chairs, Wales Millennium Centre
Beach chairs in front of the impressive Wales Millennium Centre, bit optimistic considering it was about to rain…

Penarth

Coastal Road Trip, Penarth, Beach, Pier
Penarth pier and pebble beach, a quiet little town across the Cardiff Bay.

Lavernock

Coastal Road Trip, St Lawrence church
The cute little St Lawrence church, where we found two friendly resting locals, who pointed us in the direction of the coastal path to Lavernock Point.
Coastal Road Trip, Lavernock, Marconi Plaque
Marconi sent the world’s first ever radio messages across water at Lavernock Point in 1897.  Sadly the building was abandoned and overgrown, but we found this plaque on the church wall.
Coastal Road Trip, Flat Holm Lighthouse
The view across to Flat Holm, and our first Lighthouse on this trip!
It’s in the Severn Estuary, 3-4 miles away from Lavernock Point, so a bit of grainy pic.

Barry Island

Coastal Road Trip, Barry Island, Red Arrows
A great surprise as The Red Arrows roared over our car as we drove into Barry Island.

Nash Point

Coastal Road Trip, Nash Point, Lighthouse
Nash Point Lighthouse, our 2nd lighthouse – yay!  And its antique foghorns (looked scarily loud).

Porthcawl

Coastal Road Trip, Porthcawl, Rest Bay
Surfers at Rest Bay, near Porthcawl, one of the best surfing beaches in Wales, but looked especially cold today!

Swansea

Coastal Road Trip, Swansea Bay, Mumbles Head, Pier, Lighthouse
After briefly checking out the German Beer Festival in Swansea, we headed south around Swansea Bay to view Mumbles Pier and Lighthouse (love that name… Mumbles).
Coastal Road Trip, Mumbles Head, Big Apple Ice Cream
…and back at the Mumbles Head Car Park, a big apple selling ice cream… curious.

Rhossili

Coastal Road Trip, Rhossili
After exploring some of the beaches along the Gower Peninsula we ended up at the stunning Rhossili Bay.  A National Trust site, but it was early evening by the time we arrived, so all the visitors had left for the day, so we had the place to ourselves!
Coastal Road Trip, Worms Head, Julian, Jarno
And final pic of the day down a short path from Rhossili to view Worms Head.

 

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