ZigZag Wanderer

Wednesday 8th October 2025

It was dry and bright for an early-ish start to our run back to the ferry port. There was a slightly anxious moment, though, when a low-loader and crane pulled up beside us, blocking our exit, to lift one of the boats out. We needn’t have worried though, as they were very efficient and the tatty old hulk was soon on its way to Athlone to be auctioned off.

Can’t see them getting much for it, mind.

The run to Dublin was fairly hassle-free; mostly clear motorway miles, with just a few sticky bits through the capital as you might expect. Boarding was fairly straightforward, too, but as we’d erred on the side of caution and arrived rather early, it was fairly protracted.

We took up station in the Pet Den once again, but this time were not so lucky as there were two cats in there, thus guaranteeing a very agitated Lacy. Oh well. ‘It’ happens…

At least we sailed bang on time, and the sea was quite placid. I’ll take the wins.

Bye, Ireland…

…and hello Holyhead

Egress from ship and port was swift and painless (shock!), and after a quick stop at Asda, we were on our way along the Expressway, turning off for the Campra Aire which is just south of Amlwch on Anglesey’s north coast.

It was all going swimmingly, and we were enjoying the weather and the views… until, just a few miles short, we encountered two police cars with blues on, a tractor stopped in the middle of the narrow road, and a WPC indicating that we should disappear, sharpish, from whence we came. Bearing in mind that we had no clue as to the best way to re-route (Google really doesn’t help in situations like this), we had a quick chat and she kindly plonked a suitable destination into the phone’s map from whence we could start again. Sadly, that made for a detour of well over twenty miles on narrow roads, and looking now, it really was the only feasible option. Ah well, it was still just about daylight when we made it to the aire!

And the ‘Anglesey Aire’ as it’s called is fine. It’s based on an old farm in the middle of nowhere in the shadow of Mount Parys with its disused copper mine winding-head atop, so it’s very peaceful, notwithstanding the odd trainer aircraft from nearby RAF Valley overflying. Yes, it could be described as a little rough round the edges (but what farm isn’t?) but it has everything we needed for a tenner for 24 hours, and we had it to ourselves. Winner, really.

Thursday 9th October 2025

A dull but dry and still (still) morning.

Sausage batches for breakfast (just a sausage for Her Lacyship), and we headed out northwards on the very short hop to Amlwch in search of coffee, and found it at the dog-friendly, and tiny, Blueberries cafe. What a great find, and another strong recommendation. We took away a couple of lumps of home-made fruit flapjack (everything is home-made by the lovely ladies there) and they were found to be delicious when we had them later.

Next stop, Amlwch Port. This is a tiny inlet which was blasted out many years ago to permit shipbuilding and the export of copper from the aforementioned mine.

Amlwch Port looking seawards

The exhibition is in the small stone building. Worth a look.

There’s also an interesting and totally free exhibition on the subject of the unique (genuinely wide-ranging) geology of the island and the people that surveyed/mapped it. Be warned though, if the same chap that manned it today catches you, you ain’t getting out very quickly. As they say, he can talk the hind legs off a donkey. Nice guy though, and very, very knowledgeable.

Moving on, we drove down the east coast, passing the Menai bridge and crossing the straits (with the ‘swellies’ visibly boiling away below) at the Britannia. Our destination was Blackrock Sands just west of Porthmadog, where we’d (whisper it quietly) booked a couple of nights on the Haven site there. Normally we wouldn’t entertain such a place, but, it was pretty good value, and the touring site is totally separate from the sea-of-aluminium statics site, and really isn’t bad. No, really.

Sea of aluminium (there’s a LOT more off-shot to the right).

But turn round, and there’s the huge beach!

Friday 10th October 2025

Tiny bit of drizzly stuff first thing, then fine for the rest of the day – which was just as well as we’d booked a train ride up to Blaenau Ffestiniog in the morning.

Arriving at the Harbour Station of the Ffestiniog Railway way too early (10am for a 10.40 train) we got (dubious) coffees and set about waiting for the off.

We last took this trip some forty-odd years ago, so it felt like time to re-live it, partly in memory of my old friend Nick Meredith who passed away in April. Nick was a long-time member of the railway, spending a lot of time volunteering there back in his student days in the early eighties, and kept coming back as it was a place, and cause, he dearly loved.

Nick would have liked that our train was hauled by one of the unique Double Fairlie locos; David Lloyd George in this case

The train was by no means busy with passengers, which is always a bonus, and soon the Eryri countryside and mountains were unfolding before and beside us, and it’s still as beautiful as ever.

Arriving at Blaenau it wasn’t quite as we remembered it though. We both recalled it being a rather depressing place, dominated by slate and not much else, so we were pleasantly surprised to find it somewhat attractive. Maybe the weather was poor last time? That would definitely colour your viewpoint here.

Station entrance at BF. Clever and attractive use of slate here.

Her Lacyship wasn’t quite so comfortable with it all, though. Her initial reaction was to go into full tremble mode, but fortunately she soon settled down and took up station at the window watching the passing scenery. I guess her initial reaction isn’t surprising. Although she’s travelled in cars, campers, and even aeroplanes, she probably still has an inbuilt, learned, fear of being locked in small noisy environments due to her early days in the cage. She’s getting there, though.

We had a walk round Porthmadog on our return, and it’s a pleasant enough place to pass an hour. Lacy was much happier, though, when we drove to Black Rock sands afterwards!

Back at the campsite we decided to indulge in fish and chips for tea from the onsite chipoil. That was a mistake! They had no haddock, so we both had mince beef pies instead (which, in truth, weren’t bad). The chips and mushy peas, however, were appalling. Just how can folk that cook them for a living fail to understand that the simple piece of deep-fried potato should be brown, crisp, and delicious, instead of pale, soggy, flaccid, and tasteless? Disgusting, and a real waste of money, sadly.

Ah well; we never seem to learn!

Saturday 11th October 2025

The last day of the trip and not bad weather for it. Dry, calm, and cool.

Another early-ish start due to kick-out time being 10am, and, quite frankly, I was ready to leave and get back home.

Packing up went extraordinarily well. We must be getting used to it!

We hit the road well before ten and filled with fuel at the Shell garage almost opoosite the Harbour Station. Petol is not particularly cheap just here, but I increased the bill somewhat by buying a new rechargeable wide-angle head torch for a penny under a tenner. Oddly, I’d only just mentioned wanting a new one – they’re very handy for all sorts of jobs including when Her Lacyship takes me for an after-dark walk – so to see them on sale there at a decent price was a nice surprise.

Leaving the service station coincided with the lights turning red outside, and we were treated to a Welsh Highland Railway train rumbling up the high street before turning off a few feet away as it gathered momentum for its long haul via Beddgelert to Caernarfon Station on the north coast. Couldn’t have timed it better – or worse, if you don’t like that kind of thing…

Sorry if it’s turned into a bit of a railway blog, but hey!

We chose a different route back, via Bala instead of Llangollen. Both have their merits, but the Bala run is very scenic. Traffic was light, but we did get stuck behind a Range Rover towing a big caravan for many miles. It’s a ‘B’ road all the way to the A5, quite narrow and winding, so there was no chance of passing. Even if he was having trouble with his width at points, there was no way that the selfish so-and-so was going to pull over (he had many opportunities) to let us pass. Such is the way of the blinkered though. I did tow a small caravan for a few years, but was always very conscious of traffic behind, and always pulled over where possible. It’s just plain courtesy. I guess we’re all built differently.

Finally, at the A5, we didn’t have to look at his big white tail end any more and headed for our favourite Mountford Bridge café. I guess you could call it a service area, but it’s totally different from any other, and is probably more like many of the French non-motorway ones, being a very large area among trees, with lots of room to walk dogs, and also inside and outside eating areas. All very informal and relaxing. We love it. Oh, and the bacon batches are incredibly good. In fact, it’s all locally-sourced stuff here, and the bacon must be nearly 3mm thick!

Very late breakfast done, the remainder of the trip home was just the boring motorway and trunk road stuff that eats the miles but also seems to eat the soul.

Still, it was nice to finally pull onto the driveway, but then starts the clear-up after five and a half weeks on the road…

But that’s after a cuppa..

Meanwhile, we’ll take stock, and I’ll look at doing a follow-up blog with conclusions, mileages, costs etc., and some thoughts as to what the future holds.

Manána! (That’s not a clue btw 😉).