The Gales of Anglesey

For ten days now we have experienced gales. As I write the latest observation records 37mph winds from the south. Pauline decided we needed to go over to Tescos at Holyhead today for food we need for Christmas. The fresh food will be purchased just before the stores close for the festivities. So we set off across the island with a strong gale blowing. As we passed Parys Mountain copper mine we entered a short cutting and you could hear the wind noise grow louder as it funnelled through this open tube.

From Llanerchymedd through Carmel and Trefor it was a wet and windy experience. The wind and rain was so bad as we joined the A55 that I went round the wrong roundabout to turn onto the road. Visibility was not too good at that point. I eventually found the slip road and turned onto the A55. A car was coming westwards and the driver had got her lights on - but not headlights. I could hardly see her car as I joined the faster road. The light was very bad and seeing extremely difficult with lots of spray blowing around. Why she did not have the common sense to have all lights on I do not know.

The experience of rain and spray continued right into Holyhead. The car was being battered from the south as the wind just blew across the low lying land from the Irish Sea. Pauline bailed out in front of the store's main door and I went off to find a parking place. After we had bought our shopping we returned to the car. She wanted to go the long way round on the A5025 and see the waves crashing onto the shore at Cemaes and then Bull Bay.

Off we went and the first thing I noticed was the amount of shelter from the wind as we passed Anglesey Aluminium. At Valley we turned left and set off towards Cemaes Bay. When we eventually arrived we stopped to look at the sea. The tide was in, the harbour full of water. The waves - what waves??? The sea was a calm as it could be because we were now on the north coast. It was the same at Bull Bay - not a single slash!

It is worth remembering that when you come on holiday to Anglesey you must not be put off by winds blowing on shore. If they are on shore, all you do is visit the opposite shore where the wind will be offshore. Off the northern coast of Anglesey it is classed as a lee shore by mariners. The effect lasts for about five miles. So, when the wind blows up, you will find ships sheltering upto 5 miles out from the shore around Llaneilian and Moelfre. Michael Williams, who measured our rooms for carpets, is the Second Coxwain on Moelfre Lifeboat. It was he who told me about the lee shore.

Having said all this we cannot complain about average temperatures which are still high for the season. So far, our autumn has been very mild indeed. Now that all the trees have lost their leaves we can see more as we drive around the island. Even though it gets quite wild I can stiil say that, wherever I drive, I still go through wonderful scenery. I could not say that when I lived in the Greater Manchester conurbation!