Welsh Winter – Rhyl is Cold But I Like Where I’m Living

Thanks Leonard.

Well I could have chosen a better time to start a section of the Welsh Coast Path. The only way it could be less appropriate is if I was aiming to climb the highest mountains in Wales. Well I am! HaHa!

At home in Yorkshire the land was layered with snow, with road, rail and air travel being badly affected.

I knew I would have to be an early riser to grab a cab, or walk the five miles to the train station. I had a ticket to Prestatyn in North Wales, setting off from Leeds at 10.30.

A few years ago I had covered the first few miles of this Coast Path, leaving the coast at Prestatyn and following Offa’s Dyke trail southwards. My aim was to restart from where I left off and maybe cover the entire coast path in sections over the course of a year or so. At over 800 miles it’s currently the longest national trail in the UK. It’s also stunningly beautiful for much of its length, apparently.

But to start you have to get there first. My train ticket would take me to Newton Le Willows and a second train from there to Prestatyn. As soon as I woke I checked my emails. Sod it! The second train was cancelled and I would have to catch an earlier or later train. Earlier!

Luckily I was fully packed and ready to go. Maggie booked me an Uber taxi, and within two minutes the app indicated that it was outside the door. It wasn’t. Then it cancelled the booking because I hadn’t turned up. Wtf? I looked up and down the road nonplussed. OK, it was a bit snowy and he hadn’t ventured down from the main road, and then he gave up.

Our neighbour Martin was digging his car out of the snow, and made it out of his drive. I flagged him down and he was going to work in the city centre near the train station. And yes, he would give me a lift. Get in!

There were no buses running and the traffic was non-existent. In no time we were there and I managed to get a delayed 9.30 train to Newton Le Willows.

Arriving in Newton at 11.00 all of the trains to Prestatyn were cancelled due to the snow, but I could get a train to Chester and a connection from there to North Wales. Happy days.

Then all the Chester trains were cancelled.

Northern Rail was organising taxis for their customers from Newton to Chester. My booking was with Travel for Wales. If they didn’t check my ticket I thought I could get away with joining their group. And bingo!

The mini bus taxi only took us to nearby Warrington, where the station staff ushered us to platform 1 for the train to Chester. Then the Chester train was cancelled.

I’m usually not right good in adversity, but on this occasion I found it an amusing challenge. A bit like trying to find a way back from Lukla to Kathmandu last October with Daniel. Although that dragged on for five days.

There was a train to Llandudno in North Wales which wasn’t cancelled. It stayed on the departures board as the minutes ticked away for almost an hour, and remained there whilst all around it fell victim to cancellation. Come on my son! Don’t cancel! The train itself was lifeless on a lonely platform, all forlorn. And then it sprang into life. Hooray! I’m on my way, from misery to happiness today. Thanks Craig and Charlie. It was ready to go.

Somebody dyslexic was working the announcement board. Either that or it was a sophisticated code like they decipher on Only Connect on BBC2. Or they were pissed up. Or the keyboard wasn’t working right. That’s it! Keyboard error. When they type d it gets stuck and does two ds. The rest is jumbled nonsense. You can’t even pronounce it. Fix the keyboard, idiots!

At Prestatyn I alighted and headed out of the station towards my Travelodge along the north coast at Rhyl. Walking out of the station entrance they must have been very brassed off with their football manager. Allan out! Jesus. Harsh.

There was no snow here. Nothing, just a chilly wind and occasional sleet and hail. The hail hurt. What must it be like in Australia and other extreme locations where they get hail as big as golf balls? Chuffing hell!

The coast was wild, the tide was high and the wind was strong.

The walk was bracing. And the light of the sky was reminiscent of Van Gogh. And I should know, because I’ve seen him, but not very often. Thanks Morrissey.

There was the occasional bloke doing what he normally would.

I like the waves and their impact on the sea wall. I like the sky like this. They make you feel insignificant, but not to the extent that looking at the stars and infinity makes you feel insignificant. That can worry you. It used to worry me.

It feels a bit abandoned and industrial on this stretch of coast, just before Rhyl. My hotel is here on the left. The sky however, looks mesmerisingly great. It’s reality copying art!

I’m having a £10 roast meal at the pub opposite the hotel and thinking that, although it’s going to be difficult when I get into the mountains, it’s going to be great round the coast. In the distance is the headland beyond tomorrow’s target, Llandudno. Seventeen miles tomorrow. I’m enjoying this.

Night night.