Travelling allsorts

There were different reasons for us to visit North Wales. One of us, who likes Scotland and the Lake District, was keen to see Snowdonia National Park and take a look at where his maternal grandparents lived. First of all, we drove to Anglesey and stayed near Beaumaris.  Beaumaris is a lovely coastal town which offers everything for a quiet few days. Go over the old Menai bridge, turn right and, as the sat-nav says 'follow the A five four five for five miles' (ish). The town has an interesting Georgian hotel, The Bulkeley Hotel , built in 1832 to accommodate Princess Victoria and her mother on a Royal visit to the island. No more than 50 metres beyond this, is one of Edward I's castles. Beaumaris Castle was never completed but it's lovely to explore; entry is less than £10 per person. Another stunning site to visit for half a day, is the Parys Mountain Coppermine, near Amlwch at the north-east of the island. When the sun shines to highlight the colours, it's stunn...

We've been to Wales before so, obviously, we packed for wet weather. Our plan: visit Portmeirion and Snowdonia and a few relatives who we've not seen for years. Of course, plans are for breaking so we abandoned them and wandered around Anglesey and the North Wales coast. We walked through a woodland where there was a hide for watching red squirrels; we visited Holyhead where there was a small maritime museum; we ran out of time to visit the nearby gardens and manor. Our favourite visit was to Beaumaris Castle (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) details on gov.wales/cadw . Red Squirrel The ‘new’ bridge to Anglesey leads to the famous little village of Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch but we preferred to use the more attractive original Menai bridge. And, as it was our anniversary while we were on Anglesey, we ate at a very nice restaurant, Harry’s Bistro  at Henlly’s Golf Course. Also, there was a family gathering, organised within 48 hours, j...