Porth Cwyfan, Church on the sea, Aberffraw Anglesey.

Porth Cwyfan is nestled on the West coast of Anglesey just near the town of Aberffraw. Its known as Church on the sea (Eglwys bach y mor- in Welsh) to many visitors. It has a long history that spans back to the 12 century. Most of the architecture has now changed and only a little of the 12c structure is still intact. Rebuilt in the 14c, the Island that it sits on then was still connected to the mainland by way of a peninsular, according to John Speeds map of Anglesey from 1636. Subsequently the peninsular was eroded away by the storms and seas of time.
It has a special feel to it especially when moody skies are abound. The Reefs that surround the Island have wrecked many a sailing boat and its crew. The few gravestones atop the Island are a testament to this.
The long winding shores, are littered with Boulders called Erratic’s which were strewn across the bay after the last ice age that covered the entire Snowdonian range and North Wales. You can often see these large boulders as they completely stand out from the rest of the marine rock and look a bit out of place. Sandy runnels intersperse the rocky reefs and you can see there is a strong tidal out wash from all the fresh water that drains from the land. There is bountiful supply and choice of sea weeds if you fancy a forage also, we had a look and found about ten varieties. All of which were edible.

The bay is clearly a hot spot of marine life also, plenty of shells washed up, whelks, crabs and very health limpets.All good signs of  a healthy echo system.Sunsets here can be epic so it can make great photo opportunities. I’ve certainly got my eyes on this place for some spearfishing in the future I think it would hold a lot of fish at high water, too cold right now though with the water temperature at 8c. Some of the seaweeds we took pictures of are show below. Most seemed to have a fair amount of silt on, so we didn’t forage any today, besides it was 2c and hands where borderline frozen with the windchill. Take a visit down here if you get a chance, its Anglesey’s hidden Gem.

 
 

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