Moelfre

It is in Moelfre that the Anglesey Committee for Macmiillan Cancer Support holds its meetings. Having said this, I can assure you that there is much moe to say about Moelfre. Visitors to the village can have a lovely pint of Robinson's bitter in the local pub, The Kinmel Arms. They also do some very appetising bar snacks with a choice of kids' meal too. In the summer it can get very indeed, as its fame has spread!

Facing the Kinmel Arms is the shingle beach where the Vikings raid Anglesey every two years. They sit quietly in their two longships just off ther lifeboat house until they receive the siignal. After that the crowd waits with bated breath until they come into sight and land on the tiny beach. At this point the Vikings and the local "troops" start knocking ten bells out of each other. At the end of the battle veryone lives to fight another day.

If you walk along the footpath which begins at the bend in the village road you will eventually pass a bronze statue of the late "Dic" Evans outside "Seawatch" a seasonal exhibition centre which has a Watson class lifeboat to see. In the main car park for the Seawatch centre you can see a large piece of the hull of the "Royal Charter" that sank off the cliffs back in the 19th Century.

Further along the footpath you find yourself at the modern Lifeboat Station with its Tyne Class all weather lifeboat and D Class inflatable inshore liifeboat. When Alan, the steward, is on duty you can walk down the side of the life boat which looks hughout of the water and filling the boathouse wo within 4 inches of the roof beams. I think I am right in saying that eventually the lifeboat station will get a new lifeboat - one of the new Tamar class.

Moelfre lifeboat station's list of rescues includes two in which "Dic" Evans won the RNLI Gold Medal as coxwain of the lifeboat some years ago. They say that to win a Bronze Medal you have to to go to hell and back. Just what you have to do to win a Gold Medal I cannot imagine but "Dic" Evans did just that. In saving the crew of the steamer, "Hindlea" Dic set off without a full crew as there was some problem with communications on that day. In fact one crew member was not a serving lifeboat crew member. He was a land based person who assisted in the launching of the lifeboat usually.

The footpath is part of the Anglesey coastal path and so you can carry on walking round the cliffs to another shingle beach which looks out at Ynys Moelfre, a small island a few hundred yards off. The island is a haven for many seabirds and seals can be seen in this area from time to time. To the right of the shingle beach is a rocky shoreline where, in summer, many anglers come to fish for mackerel. There are even people who come to harvest mussels on the beach.

Following the footpath you come to a concret base with a seat that commemorates the saving of the crew of the "Hindlea". Walk even further along and you will come to a large stone that is there to remember the wreck of the steam/sail ship "Royal Charter" in a hurricane in the mid 1800s. As you look out to sea you will see a number of ships at anchor. They are waiting there for one or other of two reason. They may be waiting for a pilot into the Port of Liverpool or there may be a gale blowing and they are taking shelter. The north coast of Anglesey has cliffs for a few miles which create a lee shore for about five miles. As the prevailing winds are south westerly, Anglesey can play its part in protecting the lives of sailors.

This part of the Anglesey coastal path is very popular with visitors each year and is well used as a result. To get to Moelfre you take the A5025 from the Britannia Bridge, going towards Amlwch. At the first roundabout you take the third exit and proceed down Richard Evans Road into the village. There is free car parkiing at Seawatch.