A Gentle Stroll

We have been blessed with glorious weather and lots of house guests since moving to Anglesey. Today, we decided to explore the foot paths close to my home.

Here is a picture looking down onto Dulus Estuary and one of its ship wrecks.

When I first moved to Anglesey I was excited to hear that William Morris and his brothers were born and raised in Dulus which is only two miles down the road from me. After a little research, i find that it is true that William Morris lived here, but not the same one that is famed for his tiles and textile designs. The Morris brothers of Dulus were cartographers, translated a bible into Welsh and have written books about the Celts. They lived in the 18th Century. I will have to research them some more.

The point where our footpath met the sea.

Revealing this secret bay,

which could only be accessed by climbing down these steps.

Which led to a beautiful private beach with views over to the Snowdonia Mountains and a little lighthouse on an island.

We really are having such a wonderful summer.

Winter Wonders & Winter Comforts

Parys Mountain - Copper Mines

Parys Mountain is probably my favourite mountain of all time. The colours are magnificently autumnal. Its strange that I should love this mountain so much, after all, it is a mountain that has been raped and pillaged by mankind, excavated like a hard boiled egg leaving only the outer shell. This mountain has been mined since the Bronze Age 3500 years ago.

Parys mountain once offered a wealth of copper, sulphates, welsh gold, silver and tin. There were acidic pools in her cavities that the miners would throw cast iron into to the pools and the chemical erosion would turn the metal into copper. The copper was used to line the bottom of the English fleets giving the fleets an advantage over the armada's.

New industry on the Island - Sustainable energy...

I was amazed by the nature surrounding this harsh environment, gorse, hawthorn, fern, heather, yarrow, herb bay willow. I loved that the natural growth here mimics the colours of the mountain. The literature on this mountain tells that :-

This extreme, harsh, acidic setting has resulted in a unique environment supporting unusual forms of life. Special bacteria derive their energy from the oxidation of sulphides, and rich flora of special lichens can be found coating rock surfaces, whilst heather survives over most of the mountain. Bats, including the rare lesser horse-shoe bat, have colonised the mine workings, and amongst the birds to be soaring with the jackdaws over the opencasts are the red-legged/billed choughs.

This picture doesn't pick it up, but from here i could see the Ilse of Mann. A friend once told me that the Isle of Mann was very similar to New Zealand. I have not been to either but would love to visit both.

The mountain is no longer mined. A new shaft was built in the late 1980's but the price of metals dropped so mining ceased. It is expected that when the price of metals are more favourable the mountain will be mined again. I'm hoping the rare wildlife flora and lichens will prevent that from happening.

The mountain range you see in the distance is Snowdonia.

Spectacular colours. I'd love to capture the beauty of this mountain by felt painting using only natural coloured wools or wool dyed with natural plant, bark and berry dyes.

The locals often dug their own mines off the beaten tracks and hid the entrances with foliage. Some of the shafts were 20ft deep or more so you wouldn't want to stumble into them!

Part of this mountain is owned by Australian companies. The rest of the mountain is owned by various investors and is sought after.

I am dedicating this post to Tammie Lee of Spirithelpers. I have always admired her mountain and lake photographs and the gentle sentiments that accompany them :)

I have taken almost 100 pictures of Parys Mountain. If you are interested in seeing more I am happy to email a few.

Aleph

Aleph has posted some wonderful photography recently about the moon and use of light.

I thought of Aleph earlier today at Beaumaris Castle ( Castell Biwmares).

You can see the Snowdonia mountain range in the background.

Swans for Caio

Swans make me think of Caio and his wonderful art.
You paint nature so well :)

Its just a shame the swans were not willing to pose for me!

Moelfre

To read about the heroes of Moelfre click HERE