North coast of the Llyn Peninsula

We're staying on the south side of the peninsula and have visited south- and west-facing beaches. Let's now cross the Llyn to look at the north coast. One of my favourite places here is Porthdinllaen, a natural harbour sheltered from the sea by a headland curling around the bay. From the golf course (Welsh: cwrs golff), one catches first sight of the village.

Below: another view of Porthdinllaen, this time from the beach. Mist and drizzle - usual meteorological  conditions in a part of the UK where the Polish concept of mikroklimat is highly visible. Just ten miles away, on the other side of the Llyn, it can be brilliantly sunny - or vice-versa. You don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, but it helps. The BBC weather website has proved very accurate this week.

Below: inside the Tŷ Coch ('red house') Inn, the building to the left of the group in the above photo. It's gone up-market since my first visit some 20 years ago, when it was less well-known. Bar prices are some 35% higher than in most pubs on the Llyn.



Below: another interior view of the Tŷ Coch. A plethora of nautical nick-nacks and antique artefacts remind me of Maszoperia on Hel.

Below: the old lifeboat station in Porthdinllaen, now converted into a residential property. The current lifeboat station is now located at the tip of the foreshore. It's not long after high tide, but during neap tides and storms, the sea level can cover the footpath (left).

Below: it's still misty as Eddie and I walk back towards Morfa Nefyn. After our morning walk, we'll make our way to meet my brother and his family for a sunny afternoon on the beach at Porth Oer.

Below: Porth Oer, or Whistling Sands, looking north. My personal choice for finest beach in the entire United Kingdom, a sublime place. 

A tidal reflection - the amplitude of tides around the British Isles is vastly greater than on the Baltic. Is this because British beaches are very gently sloped? Or the fact that open sea surrounds the islands rather than it being an enclosed basin?

Above: Porth Oer looking south. The brochures claim this is only one of two such beaches in Europe where the sand 'whistles' as you walk over it - caused by the fineness of the grains. If so, I must have visited the other five (unless you count the entire Polish Baltic coast as one beach, which in theory you can). The sand whistles underfoot also in Międzyzdroje, Kołobrzeg, on Hel and Gdańsk's Jelitkowo and Stogi beaches.

I braved the sea - it was painfully cold. Nearly all the bathers were wearing wet-suits; even in late July the coastal waters of the British Isles do not make for enjoyable swimming. The Baltic is decidedly warmer!

This time last year:
The Accursed Soldiers - a short story

This time two years ago:
Driving impressions of the Toyota Yaris
[Two years on - no imperfections to report whatsoever]

This time four years ago:
Poland's dry summer

This time five years ago:
The UK's wettest summer ever
[five years on: wettest April, wettest June, wettest first week of July ever]