out and about - 2013
18 February 2013 .............. Rhoscolyn Head
Rhoscolyn is a lovely beach, with loads of flat sand, and several rocky bits out in the bay to add interest. Access is down a very narrow road to a generous car park, however even in February I`ve seen the car park almost full. So in summer you`ll need to get there early - very early !
Out of the bay there is quite rugged coastline on both sides, and open exposure to significant tidal currents.
These pictures were taken on a beautiful day in mid February, along 2 -3 km`s of the coast to the west and north of the bay, including Rhoscolyn Head. After leaving the beach, the path meanders considerably round various houses, but eventually you do get right to the coast, and you begin to appreciate how rugged it is.
Quite by chance I caught a good breaking wave.
The other thing that dominates the seascape around this area is Rhoscolyn Beacon on a set of islands about 300 metres offshore, although this photograph was actually taken from a bit further along the coast, because you get a better, more spread out, view of them from there.
When I was there it was quite noticeable that immediately to the north west of Rhoscolyn Beacon, the sea was much rougher than it was to the other side. The Rhoscolyn Beacon islands cause quite an obstruction to the tidal flow, which is quite strong around this part of the coast. Consequently, there are several different tide races around the Rhoscolyn Beacon islands.
Looking northwest up the coast, the rugged coastline just goes on and on, and one of the things that is quite noticeable is the many rocks rearing up out of the sea, some of them close to the coast, some of them a bit further out - but they all have in common jagged spikes of rock sticking up, that would make mincemeat out of a wayward boat in a very short time.
You can also see one of the large indentations or slots that characterise much of the Anglesey coastline.
I think this is the same slot looking down on it from above, it is difficult to get a sense of just how deep the slot is from the picture.
From around Rhoscolyn Head, you begin to see up the coast towards Holyhead Mountain.
Looking back from where you`ve come, you can look back towards Rhoscolyn Beacon and at some of the various rocks waiting to catch the unwary, and a bit further round, a longer view across to the headlands Braich-lwyd and Carreg-y-tral, and beyond that the lighthouse on Llanddwyn Island, with the mountains of Snowdonia beyond that.
Some way round from Rhoscolyn Head, without any warning, you are suddenly looking straight down into another one of these huge slots.
Further round, you are looking across to a headland with an amazing rock formation - it looks like two very different kinds of rock are meeting here.
Just along from there at the end of another, somewhat wider, slot there is a fine arch. Looks like some good rock hopping could be had here, but the waves coming in produced some very wild seas in there. I`m not a geologist, but it looks like chalk or limestone or something similar, which is quite different from the rest of that bit of the coastline.
I am afraid to say that I can`t work out how far I went - I think it was maybe about a kilometre from Rhoscolyn Head, but on the way back, you get to see the coastline on the north side of Rhoscolyn Head.
The whole coastline from Rhoscolyn round towards Trearddur is a fabulous bit of coastline, and could provide quite challenging and committing sea kayaking with quite strong tidal currents - and I don`t recall anywhere that you could land, but there may be further on.
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