Last weekend we headed to our old home town of Aberystwyth to revisit our favourite places, and to get some fresh sea air. As many of you know, for the last 9 months I’ve been undergoing treatment for breast cancer. This, combined with lockdown, meant that we’ve barely left our house in months. We’ve all been going a little stir crazy and in need of a change of scenery. I’m currently having a ‘month off’ treatment, getting ready for radiotherapy – so it was the perfect opportunity to book an overnight B&B and head to my favourite beach, among other places.
Stop 1: Ynyslas Dunes
Having left home at 5am, with children in the back and dogs in the boot, we made our first leg-stretch stop at Telford Services on the M54. This is just over the half-way point and is where we’ve always stopped as it marks the end of the motorway driving, and the start of the scenic roads through mid-Wales.
We drove straight to the beach. Ynyslas National Nature Reserve to be precise, where you park on the sand and make sure you know when high tide is (oh we’ve seen some good car rescues during the years we lived close by!) A new addition since we moved away is the Visitor Centre, which provides lots of information about the dune reserve, but also has clean ‘facilities’ (much needed after a 2-hour drive drinking lots of coffee!)
The dunes are fantastic. You can pinpoint the skylarks singing away high above you, explore the fossilised wood at high tide, and from a vantage point high up on the boardwalk I’ve watched dolphins playing in the sea as the sun sets over Cardigan Bay towards the west. Across the water is the popular resort of Aberdovey (Aberdyfi) that is full of people during the summer months, yet you can be on the dunes in splendid isolation!
You can easily spend a day here (tide permitting) – I recommend kite flying and a picnic!
Stop 2: Gogerddan Woods
As we left Yynslas, we drove through Borth to say hello to our old home … and stopped briefly to partake in a Mr Whippy ice cream!
Driving inland towards Bow Street, and then towards Penrhyncoch, we headed to Gogerddan woods. Huw used to work as a natural products chemist in the Institute located opposite the woodland carpark, so every morning I’d head out to walk the dogs in Gogerddan woodland. I wanted to visit here on our visit because it’s my favourite bluebell wood!
There is a fabulous circular walk through the woods of about 2.4km … it climbs up to some wonderful vantage points overlooking the countryside around. A great walk to spot birds of prey too. On this visit we didn’t do the full walk, as it was raining, and Toby had managed to take a tumble and was rather muddy – so we headed back to the car to clean him up.
Stop 3: Garden Centre
In a little village called Capel Dewi, mid-way between the woodland and Aberystwyth town, is one of my favourite garden centres. Whenever I visit the area I have to make a stop to buy something for the garden (salvias on this occasion). The small independent Newmans Garden Centre is where we bought our artificial Christmas tree 18 years ago, and it’s still going strong to this day! I used to love browsing all the plants – I rarely left empty-handed!
Stop 4: Aberystwyth
Since we moved away from the area, 14 years ago, Aberystwyth has changed … for the better in many ways. When we lived there we used to moan about the lack of certain ‘big’ stores, and fast food outlets. Don’t get me wrong, we loved the independent stores of course, but having to drive a good hour to go clothes shopping was a bit of a pain. But over the last 14 years we’ve noticed a lot of the big-name stores (M&S, Matalan, Tesco, Pets at Home, Family Bargains etc) now have stores there. The centre of the town has a vibrant café culture (we love the dog-friendly Sophie Bach’s) with a good mix of independent stores and restaurants.
On this visit we stopped off briefly outside Matalan so Toby could pick out new shorts and a t-shirt, and then we headed towards the castle and parked along South Beach. The sun was out, people were picnicking in the grounds of the castle, while others were sunning themselves on the beach. We sat and watched the surfers for a while, before heading off for our final stop of the day. It is a 45-minute drive down the coast … but I can’t visit the area without stopping off there.
Stop 5: New Quay
When we originally house-hunted in the area, I was set on moving to New Quay. Not only is it pretty and quaint, but the small harbour town is famous for it’s visiting bottlenose dolphins. For many years I wanted to be a marine biologist, and I volunteered for a whale and dolphin charity; I had hoped, had we moved here, that I could get more involved. But alas, houses rarely go on the market there, so we had to settle on a home elsewhere. But it didn’t stop me visiting – a lot! Once, when my parents visited, I drove them to New Quay. It was off-season and quiet. We walked to the end of the harbour wall, and just 3 metres or so from us three bottlenose dolphins jumped clear out the water and put on such a show for us. It was incredible; they were so close!
On this visit, it was very busy. New cafés and restaurants have opened since my last visit. We parked in the main carpark, overlooking the beach. We have often had this carpark to ourselves, as we sat in the car staring out to sea while eating a bag of chips as the rain pelted down outside! This time we sat on the harbour wall for our fish and chip supper. No dolphins showed up though ☹
What else could we have done?
We had just one day to cover some of our own favourite places in and around Aberystwyth, but there’s so many other things you can do.
You could take the Victorian Cliff Railway up Constitution Hill to the Camera Obsura (with amazing views over the town). You could take the Vale of Rheidol Steam Railway from the centre of Aberystwyth through beautiful countryside to the waterfalls of Devil’s Bridge.
It you take a drive inland on the A44 for around 9 miles you’ll reach Bwlch Nant Yr Arian Nature Reserve. This place is incredible, and a must-visit for everyone who likes birds of prey. Every day you can watch 100s (not an exaggeration) of red kites diving down to be fed – it’s the most amazing sight. There’s lots more to here besides watch the birds – but you mustn’t miss watching a feeding time!
If you carry on along the A44 a bit further, to Ponterwyd, you’ll reach The Silver Mountain Experience. Here Huw and Toby took a themed tour underground through the silver-lead mine.
There are so many more attractions that we’ve still to visit – and we will. It’s a fabulous part of the world … if you’ve not visited Aberystwyth and the beautiful Cardigan Bay, you really must x
