Ynys Môn

Sitting on a train which I had to flag down on the platform Jenny Agutter style, sans knicker waving, standing on some steps. There’s always a brief panic when you think you might not be able to attract the train driver’s attention early enough for him to stop – but that hasn’t ever happened to me.

The second exciting thing is that the next station is Llanfair…..or for its full name see the photo.

Travelling up at the start of the weekend, I got off at Llandudno junction. On a sunny day, it’s a very fine seaside town with a front that could rival Trieste if you squint your eyes up a bit and ignore the smell of freshly made doughnuts. The photo doesn’t do it justice but if you scroll in you can see some lovely beachfront houses and hotels, and admittedly the sun didn’t shine the whole time. But I reckon it’s a great place to bring the grandchildren, as, when and if.

We found a great fish shop in the middle of a trading estate in Lladudno. Having been visiting Anglesey for a few years, it was hard to comprehend that there were no fresh fishmongers on the island. It seems like all the fish that are caught around the island are for mainland use only. Neil did find a guy a few years ago who sold a limited amount to punters who found out about him – but he was mainly wholesale. So finding a fishmonger with super fresh fish was great. We bought some plaice, oysters and samphire. I love oysters. And cooking the plaice by just lightly drenching in flour and frying in butter made me fall in love with plaice again. But it was so fresh it was hard not to.

We arrived at the chapel just in time to drive to Aberffraw and walk over the dunes and along the beach as the sun started to set. It is one of the best beaches in the world to watch the sunset.

We didn’t know that this would be the last time we would see the sun but that’s the way with Wales. Husbant is not a big fan of Wales – his first trip was memorable for the reason that he shouted in joy when we drove past the “Welcome to England” sign as we headed back home. Something that would be repeated on every trip to Wales although I think he is becoming more accepting as he advances in his years. Last year we came to Anglesey for a 10th birthday party, and it took us about 9 hours to drive from home, we stayed two nights and drove back early on the Sunday morning. I saw “we” but actually Husbant did all the driving and I mostly slept. With all Welsh towns now having a 20mph speed limit, it will take even longer to pass through on the way to Anglesey. My first ever speeding ticket was from Heddlu. They even sent a photo. How kind.

Sometimes it looks like a horrible rainy day as you look out the window, but when you actually get outside it feels less horrible. So Saturday was cloudy with a few spots of rain. We went to St Patrick’s church – that has a great story as it seems St Patrick was shipwrecked and ended up in a cave in the cliffs on the coast in Anglesey. He scrambled up the cliffs and decided to build a church there as he was on his mission to spread the Word. I might have missed some of the story, but it was a lovely little church with blue mosaic tiles and you can walk down and view the cave where St Patrick sheltered. Definitely worth a visit even if just the one time. On the way to the copper mountain, we stopped by a bus shelter-like structure which had a vending machine that sold fresh milk straight from the cow. It was busy with a few families getting fresh milk shakes. And I had to get some fresh milk even though I don’t drink full fat milk. but I just loved the novelty.

The copper mountain, even in the rain and despite the soil contamination, looked amazing. Apparently, Dr Who used to be filmed here as it does look like an alien planet. Didn’t see any daleks though.

Everything was going swimmingly on my journey until just now. In their infinite stupidity, Avanti have cancelled my connection from Crewe to Euston. So I am now just thinking about that lovely reserved seat I had on a 2+hour train ride which will now become a bun fight and a scramble to get on the first available train from Crewe – along with the other three trainloads of people who have had their trains cancelled. What the hell is happening to our infrastructure.

But everything in perspective, there is a woman trying to explain to someone at the end of her phone how to give her child an insulin injection and it all sounds quite fraught. So I should actually be very calm and thankful for what I have.

So I may or may not get back to London tonight in time to catch a train to Guildford and then get the bus replacement service to Milford. My guardian angel, aka Husbant, has offered to pick me up from anywhere I need to be picked up from. He is one in a trillion and I love him to bits.