Part 3 of our Highlights from the Welsh Camino series explored the final stages of the Welsh Camino! Follow our journey from the magnificent pilgrim church in Clynnog Fawr, along the spectacular coastal pathway down to Aberdaron.
Background
The North Wales Pilgrim’s Way aka “Welsh Camino” is a 130-mile (210 km) walking trail that winds through the beautiful Welsh countryside, linking ancient holy sites and churches. The route offers a journey of spiritual significance, inviting walkers to connect with the natural world and explore the region’s rich religious heritage. Along the way, pilgrims can collect stamps and upon finishing the walk obtain a certificate in Aberdaron. The traditional end point of the Welsh Camino is Bardsey Island, also known as the “Island of 20,000 Saints”. Located off the coast from Aberdaron, the island has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries, and is believed to be the resting place of many Welsh saints. It was said that two pilgrimages to Bardsey Island was equivalent to one pilgrimage to Rome.
St Beuno’s Church, Clynnog Fawr
We visited this pawesome church during stage 10 from Penygroes to Trefor. After walking through farmland (where we had an incident with nursing cows), we carried on up and down the hill, zig-zagging through this beautiful countryside. Near Capel Uchaf there was a break along the hedges and we could see Caernarfon Bay, with the airfield in sight! I’m still waiting for my maiden flight with Mommy, *nudge nudge*
From here we followed the road downhill and arrived in Clynnog Fawr, a teeny tiny village, and was welcome by the magnificent St Beuno’s Church. It was quite an enormous edifice for the size of the village.
St Beuno was a Welsh abbot and saint from the 7th century, also referred to as Beuno of Wales and is celebrated as a patron saint of the region. He founded the ‘clas’ (a combination of monastery and college) at Clynnog Fawr in 616 and died here in about 640. There are numerous miracles attributed to St Beuno, which we would cover in another post regarding his niece St Winefride!
Medieval pilgrims would typically stop at this church on their way to Bardsey Island, where they would receive a blessing from the priest and spend the night in the churchyard. This was known as “ty bach Beuno,” or “Beuno’s little house,” and was a place for pilgrims to rest and prepare themselves for the journey ahead.
The original church that stood here has long gone, destroyed in a fire during a Viking raid around 978. The current building dates back to the 12th century, although it has been modified and restored over the years. It features a 16th-century wooden rood screen, a 13th-century font, and a 15th-century tower with a peal of six bells.
There were several objects of interest inside the church, amongst them were: a set of dog handling tongs, used to control dogs inside the church! Luckily I’m a very well-behaved dog… I didn’t like the look of those sharp spikes.
There was also “St Beuno’s Chest“, an ancient box used to collect offerings from pilgrims going to Bardsey Island, and also where sinners could ‘pay’ for their sins by putting in a financial contribution.
We stopped to have lunch here before carrying on walking along the old road, parallel to the A499. About 200 m west from the Church lies St Beuno’s well, one of several other holy wells dedicated to St Beuno in Wales. For generations, locals have turned to this well as a remedy for sick children, particularly those afflicted with epilepsy and rickets. Following a therapeutic bath in the well, they were transported to St Beuno’s chapel where they were laid on rushes for the night on Beuno’s tomb, situated at the center of the chapel. It was said that if the patient slept through the night, the cure would take effect.
Nowadays, the well was was enclosed in a square with stepped seats on 2 sides. It looked a little bit abandoned with overgrowth of algae at the bottom of the spring.
Soon the old road rejoined the A499 and we had to walk along the A499 for 4 km! Luckily for the most part, there was a pedestrian sidewalk. There should have been a footpath, about 1 km after the well to bypass some of the motorway, but it was closed. After 4 km, we turned right to the village Trefor. We followed a footpath here that led us down to the beach. We were lucky that we arrived at low tide so we could finish our day’s walk by walking on the beach towards the village.
Trefor
The following day, we continued from the car park at Trefor beach and followed the Wales Coastal Path (WCP) around the headland. There was a steep climb up to the Bwlch yr Eifl but we were awarded with this spectacular view! Despite the wall-to-wall sunshine, it was very windy, and Mommy lost her beloved cap, blown off the cliff edge.
That was the last photo of Mommy with her beloved cap (or was it really???), as you can see, even I didn’t really enjoy the wind ruining the aesthetics of my face in pictures!
Because of the wind, we decided to follow the inland route to Pistyll. We past the granite quarry and walked through the pass between the quarry and Tre’r Ceiri Hillfort. The path was shared with other walkers walking up towards the hillfort and we often got asked about the way up to the hillfort! Which meant, on our way back after the Camino, we had to visit the hillfort 😀
Once we were over the hill, the wind subsided and it was a scenic walk over farmland and the lovely little church, also called St Beuno’s even had rushes and straw strewn over the floor, making a very comfortable bed for me to rest.
We had a good picnic lunch here at the church. In the 7th century, Beuno sought solitude in this location, which was later transformed into a hospice to aid pilgrims en route to Bardsey. The church, primarily constructed in the 15th century, potentially has some components dating back to the 12th century. For many years, the roof was thatched, but in the early 20th century, it was replaced with slate. Occasional services, including Christmas Eve and the celebration of Lammas in August, are held in the church on a monthly basis. The term “pistyll” means fountain in modern Welsh, and in this instance, it pertains to a spring located beneath the farm adjacent to the church.
After the church, we returned to follow the WCP and past a luxury holiday homes development called Nature’s Point. Just after midday we arrived in the fishing village of Nefyn. The old parish church of St Mary’s is now converted into the Llŷn Maritime Museum, unfortunately it wasn’t open at the time we came to visit. Most places here closed during the winter and only reopened from April/Easter. Nefyn is a traditional stop point on the Welsh Camino, but we ploughed on towards the next destination Tudweiliog.
From Nefyn to Tudweiliog we followed the coast path, and it was incredible!!! We walked past Morfa Nefyn, the next village and this was where we stayed for a few days while we walked along the Llŷn Peninsula. There is a promontory at Morfa Nefyn to Porth Dinllaen but we saved that for our next trip. Instead we head straight down towards the golf course. Wait, golf course?
Yeap! Both the Welsh Camino and the Wales Coast Path go through the golf course and then followed the edge of the golf course along the coastline. I had to be careful when crossing past the weekend golfers – the good weather had brought many many golfers to the area. Walking along the edge, it was clear where the manicured golf course ended and where the muddy walker’s footpath started, of course I preferred the muddy side with tall long natural grass.
At the end of the golf course, the route plunged down to the inlet at Abergeirch. Walking along the coastal path for a few days, we frequently found that the route went up and down like this.
We didn’t mind because it meant we can dip our feet in the water! Or watched some seals sunbathing.
It had been a rather long day when we finally reached Towyn Bay/Porth Towyn, very beautiful. To our delight, there is a fantastic cafe/shop there called Cwt Tatws (meaning Potato Hut). The owner was very kind and enthusiastic.
Tudweiliog
By the 3rd day, Mommy was feeling quite tired. On the first day we had our little incident with the cows. Apart from losing her beloved fleece which was now ripped in places, her whole body was covered in cuts and bruises. Yesterday we did 2-stages in one, and Mommy also lost her beloved cap! When we arrived at Porth Towyn, her mood was a little low so we went inside the cafe again.
The kind owner was there, although the coffee maker wasn’t switched on yet as we were a bit early. She reassured us that we would have plenty of time to reach Aberdaron so we had time, if we wanted to, to wait for the coffee machine to heat up and she would make us a very good cappuccino. She even asked which coffee beans we wanted because she was going to refill the machine with coffee from the shop. So she chose an extra strong one for us 😀 It was, according to Mommy, the best coffee she ever had! Now reenergized, she decided to have a look at the shop and bought a very posh handwash because it smelled lovely. So now she put this extra 500 ml hand wash in a fancy glass bottle, into her backpack 😀
Oh, we also had a discussion as to what the best way was to deal with cows. Apparently one of the fields we would pass today, also can sometimes have cows. Although the general advice is usually to keep dogs on lead around livestock, if the cows are coming to attack us, we were advised to let me loose, so I could outrun the cows and Mommy won’t get attacked. Another alternative was to go down the cliff to the lower path because the cows won’t be able to chase us, and errr maybe we would fall off the cliff. Mommy could also try to hide me under her jacket but I was a bit too big for that. So we just hoped we wouldn’t really have to come across cows again (but we did, 2 more times).
Aberdaron
We knew the views today would be fantastic and there were so many beaches to choose from. So we asked a few locals for the best beach along the Llŷn Peninsula, and the one highly recommended was the Whistling Sands. Apparently the name came about because if you walked barefooted on the beach, and gently shuffled your feet left to right, you can hear the soft sand making a whistling noise.
After playing on the beach, we returned to walk along the cliff top where there were some benches for picnic lunch.
After what seemed like forever, including another unplanned rest stop because Mommy was feeling hot, tired, and frustrated, we finally arrived in Aberdaron!!! This little village is located on the western tip of the Llŷn Peninsula. The 12th-century St. Hywyn’s Church is on a headland overlooking the sea and offered a spectacular panoramic view of the Irish Sea, the coastline, and the surrounding countryside.
We arrived just after 4PM and the caretaker had locked up the church (!). Luckily Mommy managed to find her phone number and called her (we had to walk up the hill to get reception, which was where we took picture of the church) and the kind lady said she would drive back to let us in to the church, because we had walked such a long distance and this was our finishing point.
So I had a nap while waiting for the caretaker to arrive!
The church is dedicated to St. Hywyn, a Welsh saint who is believed to have lived in the area during the 6th century. The earliest records of a church on the site date back to the 12th century, although it is likely that there was a place of worship here even earlier. The church is built in a simple Gothic style, with a nave and chancel, and a square tower at the west end. Inside, the church has a number of interesting features, including a font that dates back to the 13th century and a pulpit that was carved from a single piece of oak in the 17th century.
Inside the church we found a pilgrimage record book for the Welsh Camino, so we signed our names there. It also had photographs from previous groups who had visited, including pilgrims from an Episcopal church in Pennsylvania in 2015!
All in all, it was an epic end to our Welsh Camino. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. We have learnt so much about ourselves (and my new phobia of cows) during this walk. The last part of the Camino is a boat trip to Bardsey Island, which Mommy had booked the following month, but I could not take part. So I would be on my own little vacation and I would let Mommy write up her trip report to Bardsey next 😀
