Rhyl to Colwyn Bay (11 miles)

We walked again today. Resuming from Rhyl, we crossed Afon Clwyd over Pont y Ddraig, a lifting bridge. At this point, we left Denbighshire - but had we been walking here before 1974, this would be where we  would have entered Denbighshire! Just after crossing, we stopped for an elevenses coffee and cake at the Harbour Hub Cafe. This was obviously popular and busy, but as a result, service was rather slow.


The walk started off along sea wall, much as we had walked from Prestatyn to Rhyl, although with static caravans not so hidden. It's more of a shingle beach, and with the tide fairly high and an easterly breeze, we had the sound of  waves crashing on the beach to our right. The need for sea defences around this low-lying land was constantly obvious as we walked, and  when we reached Towyn, there was  a very obvious stretch of hurriedly-repaired sea wall, dating to the breach of 1990. Stopping the floods, they just dumped rocks and poured concrete, giving perhaps half a mile of wall a very random appearance.

At Pensarn, there is a little cluster of  shops and attractions on the promenade, with no need for the Coast Path walker to divert. Most were closed, but we stopped at Pantri Bach for a light lunch, where you could tell that the chips had very recently been potatoes. 

The walk then crosses Pensarn Beach, no longer on the sea wall, but a grassed-over shingle bank with views inland towards Gwrych Castle and environs. Soon, the railway, road and path gather together as the coastal strip narrows around the quarried limestone cliffs. The path joins the cycle track and there are a few ups and downs. At the beach below Llanddulas, a surprisingly large river flows north then east eastwards before discharging in to the sea. An old lifeboat station is now a private house.


The path and cycleway continued upwards, reaching the level of the A55 road briefly as it crossed the conveyer for the quarry pier. The sea defences here are cleverly-shaped chunks of concrete, each individually numbered (so that erosion can be tracked?). I thought they must have a technical name, but a sign describes them as just "concrete units".

Coming into Colwyn Bay, we encountered a diversion. There is work going on along the West Promenade, and we were diverted under the railway and A55 along a road called Min-y-Don. There were some signs, but not always enough of them. We rejoined the promenade before finding the underpass for the Railway Station.

The nicest thing about today was that, despite the proximity of road an rail the main sound was the waves on th beach. It was also good to have some cafes actually on the path ope in February. In summer, there would be many more.  

    


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