Gwenllian’s Walks

This weeks #WednesdayWalk comes from Bangor Programme Manager Gwenllian Owen who shares her adventures exploring North Wales.

I’ve been a keen walker for a few years all because my knees decided that running really wasn’t great for them and that they’d had enough over the years!

I took to walking instead of running a couple of years ago and it’s a great form of exercise that still gets me outdoors, enjoying the sunshine and enjoying the fabulous area where I live. And to what extent do I walk, well a team of us from the office took part in the MoonWalk last year and walked 26.2 miles in our decorated bras in aid of Breast Cancer and of course we started walking at 11.45pm!! A great walk and a great accomplishment and thoroughly enjoyed by all!

There’s nothing I enjoy more than taking a walk around somewhere new, just like I did over the weekend. In my running days I took part in the Abersoch 10k on a couple of occasions and although parts of it were gruelling it was always an enjoyable way of seeing the area. So, last weekend we headed up towards the Llyn Peninsula and took a walk around Abersoch and the environs. Wow! It was busy, and because we’ve been used to quieter times and quieter places over the last 4 months, it was quite a shock to be among so many people. But there was something good about it and you could feel life seeping back into North Wales with shops and other establishments opening up and benefitting from the visitors to the area.

Our walk took us from the centre of Abersoch onto the beach where hundreds of people were making the most of the sunshine. The views from the beach are pretty spectacular as when you look out over the bay you can see the mountains of Snowdonia in all their glory. The blue sea and the blue sky is all medicine for the soul, an opportunity to breathe deeply and appreciate what we have on our doorstep. I always enjoy the freedom that walking on a beach gives me, even though I was surrounded by people, I had space to think, space to reflect and an opportunity to think away from home which has also become my workplace.

We walked for around a mile on the beach and crossed the golf course which was also open and it was good to see a few keen golfers taking a few shots! There are some lovely lanes, beautiful houses and lots to see in the area and we ended up in Sarn Bach, a small village on the outskirts of Abersoch, where we would normally stay with our motorhome (maybe next time!). Then our walk took us along the main road from Sarn Bach back to Abersoch and to a small coffee shop for refreshments – with a big slice of cake of course!