Log No 199. Sat 7th Dec 2013 - Conwy to Bangor, 19 miles (3074 miles walked)

The day was dry with a cold southwesterly wind as I set off from Conwy harbour.

Conwy has the smallest house in Great Britain, according to the sign on the door, and I walked by it on the harbour front.

With the Wales Coastal Path only having opened in 2012 it is not shown on my maps so I am just having to follow the signposts.

The path is a cycleway along the side of the River Conwy then joins the roads to get to the marina.

From the marina it is a footpath on a grassy bank and through sand dunes around the edge of the golf course.

The clouds were breaking up and the sun was coming up over the hills to light up Great Orme.

At the end of the golf course the path rejoins the cycleway and runs alongside the A55.

A few cyclists passed me but the last one to do so didn't get beyond Penmaenmawr and I met her on the way back, she told me the path was blocked from the weather of 2 days ago.

When I got there the path did have a lot of rocks strewn all over it but she could have picked a way through, the other cyclists must have.

The cycleway switched to the south side of the road and climbed up the side of the hill a bit to get to Llanfairfechan.

I left the cycleway here and got back to the shore.

The first part was a tarmac path with a small sea wall, in places this had suffered from wave damage.

The next 4 miles, as far as the car park near the grounds of Penrhyn Castle were on the grassy bank of the shore.

This too has been affected by sea erosion over the years, the path having gone completely in some sections and having to be re-routed inside the fields.

I left the coast at the car park, the Coast Path following the roads and other rights of way to get to the cycleway by the river Afon Cegin on the edge of Bangor.

I stopped by the river to finish off my lunch, sitting on a tree trunk which had been carved into a fish.

I got into Bangor for 14.00 and spent some time in the city centre. There was a carnival atmosphere with musicians and stall holders in the high street.

I got the bus back to Conwy and here I was greeted with knights in armour wandering the streets.

I'm sure half the people in the streets seemed to be taking part, dressed up as a character from that time.

It had been a varied and enjoyable 19 miles.