Wednesday 17 November 2010 - Mynydd Tir-y-Cwmwd, and the Iron Man

A thoroughly wet morning drew us to overdue domestic chores, albeit whilst watching egrets, goosanders, grebes, a heron and many more birds foraging in the harbour outside our living room window.

However, by lunch time the sun was shining again, so we ventured once more to the Lleyn Peninsula, which according to the map houses lots of excellent short walks.

It was sunny at Llanbedrog, between Pwllheli and Abersoch, and from there we could see that the 'mainland' was engulfed in dark cloud, so heading west was a good call today.

From the beach we headed south east along the shore to reach a steep path leading up a cliff. A barrier blocked our way. The path was shut due to a landslip. We looked around; the place was deserted. So we ignored the sign and climbed easily and safely up the steps to the top of the cliff, where we negotiated another barrier to escape from the closed path, and admired the Iron Man, a sculpture that looks out over a dangerously exposed (but freely available to the public) precipice.

The wrought iron man was a millennium project to replace a Tin Man that had looked out over Cardigan Bay to Barmouth and the Rhinogs since the 1980s.

Continuing along the path and around the headland into a blinding sun, the holiday town of Abersoch and its long sweeping beach came into view. Neither of us had seen Abersoch before. From this angle we didn't feel we had missed very much.

Gradually we progressed around the headland to a position where the low sun was behind us.

This was the signal to turn right and ascend gently to the trig point and cairn that mark the summit of Mynydd Tir-y-Cwmwd, a mere 133 metres in height but commanding views in all directions - west to Abersoch; east to Pwllheli and the mountains extending south from Snowdon along the periphery of Cardigan Bay; north to the Rivals (Yr Eifl and its outliers).

Three people followed us up - we didn't surprise them Mark, unlike the middle-aged couple who we startled the other day whilst they were engrossed in their lunch.

We lingered at this summit (pictured) admiring a Toposcope that confirmed that on a clear day much of Snowdonia is visible from here.

A short descent back to Llanbedrog took us past St Pedrog's Church Hall, home of St Pedrog's Knitting & Sewing Guild, then past the church itself to Plas Glyn-y-Weddw, a dower house built in 1856 by Lady Love Jones Parry. The Gothic mansion became an art gallery and ballroom in 1896 and was served by a horse-tramway from the railway terminus at Pwllheli until 1927. It remains a vibrant gallery, and is one of nine locations that houses the Celtic Neighbours partnership, a group of visual artists from native Celtic communities.

Their art, unlike their tea and cake, was sadly not to our conservative taste.

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