Walking the Anglesey Coast Path Solo - Is It Really Magical?

(upbeat music) The sea was like pastel milky flat. I can't really explain it, it was like unreal. It's like it merged into the horizon, it was so flat. And as I sat there thinking, "Oh, my good fortune was in finding such a nice tucked away spot that felt really private." I had a couple dolphins just go across the bay right in front of me and I was like, "Oh, this was meant to be, this is wonderful." (laughs) (upbeat music) The Angosie Coast Path circles an entire island, 130 miles off cliffs and all long beaches. I'm Rob and welcome to note from big trails, the podcast from big trail adventures. Today we're heading to the Angosie Coast Path, a Welsh island trail that my guest today says has something a little magical about it. Nicola Whittbred walked at the trail solo, mostly sleeping under the stars with a tiny pack and a bigger bag. She split the walk into two long weekends and remembered it pretty much every mile of it. Stay with us to the end as well. I'll share a short trail and fact file distances, timing how to get there and how to climb the walk yourself. Here it is. Nicola, for someone who's never heard of it, what is the Angosie Coast Path? Oh, it is a 130 mile circular of the Isle of Angosie and Angosie is part of Wales, but it's an island and do you access it via a bridge? And then you're in this space that sort of, I don't know, like all in composite, and you just get to walk around the entire island and it's incredibly diverse and very wild at times and quite rugged and incredibly beautiful. Lots of history over on Angosie and it's just a really, really magical place to be. And I think there's an ultra as well. I think it's called the Ring of Fire. I think there's an ultra that they run all the way around it as well, which I found out about our towards Wales. Although I took a slightly slower adventure and I walked the whole thing over a couple of long weekends. I broke mine up into two sections. Yeah, it's lovely. Well, get into your walk in a moment. But I'm interested when you describe Angosie like that and there's so much variety in what you've just described. When you picture the island now, out of all that, what comes to mind first? Oh, that's a great question. It's the long kind of, I want to say, like, lonely beaches, but in a good way. So the amount of beaches that I would come across and there just wouldn't be anybody there. And I was there on Bangkok a day. So I would assumed it would be very busy and it just wasn't at all. And I could just picture it now, these sort of like long, quite wild, quite lonely beaches that just sort of go off into the distance and just not so long them. What made you choose Angosie in the first place? I've been piecing together all of the Wales Coast Path, but that wasn't my intention when I first started. I went and I walked to the Femreshire Coast Path initially by myself and I loved it. And as I thought, looking out for another section that's quite, you know, quite beautiful, quite wild. And Angosie came to mind. And then after that, it became a bit of a project then pieced together all of these sections with the Wales Coast Path and walked the whole lot over periods of annual leave or long weekend and just piece it all together. So Angosie was my second section of the Wales Coast Path, so to speak. And you mentioned doing Pembrokeshire solo. Did you do Angosie solo? Yeah, I've done it. Yeah, I did it solo. I've done all of the section solo. Angosie is an amazing place to do solo because it's very, you're very, you can get quite lost in your thoughts there. It's such a, when I was writing about it, I described it as quite like it's almost a wild silence there. It's a very peaceful place. And it's a great place just to really sink into the walk and just sink into your thoughts. And I really enjoyed doing that solo. It gave me a lot of time to be quite introspective. And I took my book and I took my journal and just have nice evenings where I can read and I can write and just be really just really soak into it. It was a very special place for that, yeah. And that's the ability to soak into the walk and be introspective. Is that why you choose to do these trips solo? Yeah, I think so. I mean, I'm probably the same as a lot of people. I work at nine to five. I have a pretty normal sort of corporate job. So it's, I look for any opportunity to get away from the screen and just focus on something else. And I say when I'm walking, when I'm out solo, it's like another form of problem solving. I don't know how to explain this. Like when you're at work, you're problem solving. And it's very sort of limited to this email and that team's meeting and I can end up getting quite anxious about my work. But then when I'm out walking, when I'm out specifically solo hiking, it's like I find a real clarity in my thoughts and I never doubt myself and I don't get anxious. And I think actually I'm working through practical problem solving when there are challenges. And I'm applying those thought processes in a way that feels a lot more natural to me. So it's when I'm away solo hiking, it's a chance to, I don't know, I think maybe flip my mindset a little bit. I get very sort of sucked into my work and drawn into my work and it's nice to have that freedom to actually step out of it a little bit. I feel like I feel a lot more confident when I'm outside alone. Yeah, and a lot more clarity in my thoughts and actions. It just feels like a natural thing to do. When you're in a job, which is a corporate job and you've got problems to solve and the nature of the walk is so different, I think it's really interesting when you think of the first day of that walk. There's like a transition, isn't there? You're going from the work that you've been doing and you're setting off into this adventure. Take me to day one, let's talk about the stars. How did those first few miles feel? Oh, that's a great question because I took public transport to get there. So I'd already had like a long day of getting on the train to Bangor and then I took a bus to Menai Bridge and it's just like a lot of go-go-go to get there. And then you walk through initially a small town at a small village and then it didn't take long at all for it to just start turning into the houses with them becoming like pastel colored. That's sort of those ice cream hues and then passing that and it just taking my first steps onto a beach where the coast path goes onto a little beach for a little way and just crunching on the pebbles and just it felt like a really, like stepping down onto that beach felt like a real metaphorical way of being like, okay, I'm leaving all the hustle and bustle behind and I'm literally just stepping into it now and it was, yeah, it's a lovely feeling. It doesn't take longer to all for the more urban parts just to sort of fall away behind you and just this kind of, yeah, expands just open up. It's wonderful feeling. And once you got into it, what does a typical day look like for you on the angle to the coast path when you did it? Well, well, I really like long days. I want as much time on the trail as I can. So I'm not really wanting to kind of hang around camp too much. So I really enjoy busy camping, which is when you don't have a tent and you just sleep in a sleeping bag and you have a busy bag, which is just a waterproof covering really for your sleeping bag. And that's my preferred method of camping 'cause it's very, very lightweight. So it means I can do much longer miles in my day and it's very stealthy as well. So there's a wild camp lot, but it's something you, we all know you have to be a little bit careful of. It's not technically legal. So when you're camping, you have to leave no trays and get there very late at night and leave very early in the morning. So you're not sort of seen. So that's always something that I'm quite aware of. I am alone. I do want to be stealthy. I don't want to be noticed. So a big, big camp thing really works for me. So a typical day on the trail would be quite long. I'd be getting up with the dawn and seeing that lovely first morning light creeping over the coast and packing away my stuff and yeah, just really sinking into it for the day. But I'm not harsh on myself during the day either. I won't set myself massive goals. I'll just walk for as far as I can walk and I'll stop often. It's really nice when you go through all these little villages and there's often lots of cafes and lots of opportunities to eat lots of great food, which is all a part of it. And yeah, and when people always ask, if you bump into other hikers on the trail and they say, "Oh, where you're heading today? How far you think you could go?" "Oh, as far as I can." As far as I can, I never really have a plan. I just go as far as I can. I'm always aware on the map of the more sort of like more urban areas. So I know that I want to pass a certain point or I'll make sure I stop before a certain point. But aside from that, I have no plan. Just a really nice long day on the trail and then find somewhere. And I said, "He didn't like it. I can like set my little busy bag to the night." And that's it. I just love it. So before you set off, you had a rough time of how long are you going to be out on the Angosy Coast Path but the actual specifics of where you were staying is quite flexible. Yeah, absolutely. There was only one part that I knew was a bit more built up that's a hollyhead. So I knew I needed to get past that before I could camp on the other side of it. But yes, it's nice having flexible plans because you don't know how your energy level's going to be in the day anyway. And I did find like, there are campsites, but some of them were a little bit off the trail and I'd have to, you can do it. You can do it all through planning and do it through campsites. But I like the flexibility of, yeah, I've not known where I'm going to be. And it also opens up a few more interesting campsites as well. I had a really wonderful day. I think it was only maybe my first day or two where my energy levels were quite low. So I hadn't quite done the mileage that I thought I was going to do. But I was kind of looking around at this sort of more farm landy bit or not too sure that I'm going to be able to camp here and I was looking over at the edge and I could just see the grass, the path sort disappeared and it went down into all these little ledges and I don't know if I should admit this, a bit of a barbed wire fence, I had a little shimmy underneath just to explore a little bit more, so I just had this feeling that there was going to be some space underneath me that I was going to be able to get to and yeah I opened up to this like series of little ledges so I kind of like down climbed onto each of them and there was this like space that was just absolutely perfect for a bivvy bag and planning enough away from the edge, well off the path like no one could see me from the path above but I knew I was there and it was almost like I was kind of like hiding from the path above me and it was a place I would like never have thought to find normally and it was the most amazing night and I had this this quite private beach all to myself and the sea was like like pastel milky flat, I can't really explain it was like unreal it's like it merged into the horizon and it was so flat and as I sat there thinking I'm what my good fortune was in finding such a nice tucked away spot that felt really really private and I had a couple of dolphins just go across the bay right in front of me and I was like oh this was meant to be this is wonderful and that was magical so yeah I think it opens up a lot more opportunities for that sort of thing when you're not planning it. It's really interesting you mentioned the dolphins there because as you were talking through that I spoke to someone recently who was talking about how when you're out on on a walk and you're out for a while you start to notice these things around you are kind of a lot more clearly and nature in particular you have to observe it it's only a jump out at you because it's it's specifically trying not to be seen and actually when you were describing that I was thinking actually here's Nicholas she's specifically trying not to be seen and I think sometimes it can be a bit of a cliche when people say you go out and you feel closer to nature if you're more connected to nature but actually I think in the actual practicality of what you're doing and what your behaviour is you are being closer to nature. That's it well we're all animals really aren't we are sort of a part of the part that means we stand all hippie apart the universe have as much right to be here as the animals do and it's it's a lovely being a part of that and always find long distance walking for me is traversing a landscape and becoming becoming almost at one with it because you you do notice these things and it was I think I probably found out had the most animal encounters on the anglacy coast path and I had on any any other section of the Wales coast path or any other like long distance hike that I've walked and I don't know if it was just because I was noticing it more because it's such a a peaceful quite quite slow paced path but yeah there was amazing times like the dolphins and then there was one one day when I was walking down this little country lane and a weasel came out of the hedge and like literally just bounded across the road in front of me and we both just stopped dead because we were just like wasn't expecting to see that I had to google it afterwards to go was that a weasel is going you know I'm not too sure if I could tell the difference between a weasel and mink and a stout and I sound to google it's like I'm pretty sure that's that's a weasel and it was and it it just it just like bounded out of which is steady each other and just stopped in the road and then it just went on its way again but well that was lovely but loads a little moment like that it was like as everywhere was it was just really beautiful we saw sort of seals like almost every day obviously seals it was lovely I'm good to pause here just for a moment because what Nicholas just described is exactly why we started big trail adventures when you spend days moving through a landscape under your own steam you notice things differently somewhere along the way whether it's dolphins crossing a bay or a weasel stopping in the road to look at you you get this amazing separation from life back home that feeling is different for everyone and that's really the point when we plan trips for people we build them around the person doing the walking your pace your experience what do you want to get out of it it's something we care about a lot and we love it right back to Nicola with Vivian you have to carry you know a fair amount of stuff what we are carrying with you every day and how much is you packed away oh I it's quite light because um Vivi's uh just just so much lighter than tents anyway oh you'll get me on the nerdy gram counting now I love gram counting I have this app and I weigh like all of my pieces of kit and then I put together put together all my gear lists on what I'm going to take so um my kit for that one was my base weight was 4.3 kilograms it's really sad that I know that it was really low but it was it was lovely so I didn't need to I think I only have like a 28 liter backpack I didn't have much I didn't need to carry a huge amount of food because there are quite good you only need to really pack a day or two's food because you do pass through little energies a little town so plenty of chances to restock but now I like going really light and then if I do want to you know shoot me down at legend and go and explore different things I'm not sort of I'm not like encumbered under a massive backpack or whatever so I just have um yeah an insulated sleeping mat my pillow my sleeping bag um Vivi bag a little a little stove a little electrolyte stove and a little um titanium part and um yeah just like whatever clothes I was going to sleep in that night and an insulating layer and that's pretty much it um a waterproofs maybe but um yeah now I packed it very like I think I think going light as well it doesn't mean then you can have a couple luxury items um too so I did have a book and I did I did take a little notebook as well for writing it and so um yeah it's quite nice if I wanted to just rest um on a beach in the day I'd just lean on my backpack and I book out and it was it was very a delirke yeah it was lovely but no I do I do like doing the whole nerdy ground counting and a mic might have cut my teeth brushing half once so far the fun my kit has changed so much over the years and I've sort of managed to figure out what what works for me and what doesn't work for me and I look at my initial load that I took out before and I was like oh no wonder I wasn't able to do much mileage and my knees were absolutely in that kit like it was I was the amount of stuff that I would take um now now now I prefer going quite light and I've also learned the value of adding a couple of things as well like uh walking poles as well I didn't need the mon angler's eggs angler's eggs not huge like it's not a huge amount of innovation gain at last but I didn't notice this one of the parts of the wells coast pathways like uh you go down into each little coat and back up again and after a while my knees were shot and I had to get trekking poles and that one now I swear by trekking poles even though I'm only like young I'm like no you know what trekking poles are the way forward so learn like going up to like I think sometimes it helps actually realise what you do and don't need and the things that you can add back in if you if you do need to but um no I think it was a it was a pretty I was I was I was traveling at a good time the year I was I was hiking it in spring um when the weather was quite mild anyway and I was pretty lucky with the weather so um it didn't really need like loads of loads of stuff you mentioned there about how parts of the wells coast path has been that really up and down um and actually coast paths can be deceptively hard so angler's he's not as hard as that but what's it like it is still it's still um surprisingly hilly but not the extent that places like Pembrokeshire are where you're you're descending into yeah every single every single cove then back up again which is wonderful but after a while it's it's uh um yeah it does take it so the angler's he was really varied there were there were parts where it was um I'd say for the most part it stays really close to the coastline so it's it's very um you know you're following this lovely kind of like rugged gravel track or grassy track and you're staying very close to the sea um there's parts around hollyhead mountain which is on the north we say mountain disaster this quite small it's only 200 and something meters is very it's very small but even then you're you're sort of looking down on the cliffs down into the sea and there's all these these amazing lighthouses that look how you know the incredible lighthouse like on its own little island and uh yeah it's very diverse so it's um a mix of that and then there's a few sections which um you can walk across the beach yarn and to be honest I sometimes I would I would come off the the um path in the the true sense the path just so I can get a chance to walk across a beach or all the beaches just there and it's low tide I'm just gonna walk across the beach I just want to be as close to that um to the sea as possible um and then there's a few bits where it does go inland it was more towards the end where um there's a there's a access point that you're not allowed across the land for one of the estates which is a bit the shame because you feel after so long after so many miles like coming away from the the coast it felt almost a bit bereft of uh I was like oh my god become really close to the coastline now and the bereft of not not having that sort of you know sea salt in my hair and feeling the breeze and having to do a few miles of inland road walking um which are really boring and they really take their toll but then when you come back onto the coastline again it's like oh yeah you're back and it's lovely but yeah it's a good mix and then and then the um when you sort of start and you finish it you go along the Menai Strait which is um the the the kind of the straight like opposite the mainland of Wales and that's unusual because that's more that almost feels more like an estuary where you've got the river birds and that's that's the sort of feeling that you get from it and you can hear the towns from across the water as well on the mainland which is quite surreal so yeah it's really it's really diverse it's um you know grassy hills and and rugged cliffs and lots of beach walking a little bit of road walking but not much and um incredible part of around New Briforris as well, which if anyone's been to Anglici, we'll probably know New Briforris. It's probably the most popular part on the island. And it's just absolutely amazing section of sand dunes and pines. And it's so peaceful. It's just absolutely gorgeous, really magical island there. And there's lots of history that you pass as well, for the whole part. There's old churches, they were like sea-stranded churches. And there's a church on a little island that you pass. You can only get to that on low tide. There was a neolithic burial chamber, which I didn't know anything about. And I went up to that and had a little look at that. And there's all these remnants of industry as well, of old mining and history. It's so mixed. It's like every day was a surprise. And all along the coast, there's these little caves as well. And I'd go and poke my head in some of the caves and have a little explore in there. It's just a really great place to be really curious and just look at everything, because there's just so much to see. You mentioned about how, with your packing, you didn't have to take much food, because you were passing through towns and villages fairly often. Is there a town that you particularly remember? There's this-- you know what? There's this-- I'm not going to be able to pronounce it right. So I'm too apologise. There was this lovely little village, I think, it was called-- I want to say Sames, S-E-E-M-A-- Nice, I think. That's it. That was lovely. I mean, it was so many small, but it was so-- it was like a lovely little fishing village. And I just remember coming around the corner and just saw these little tiny boats just like bobbing in the little harbour there. And it was really peaceful, really. Yeah, really. It's the kind of place that I thought I could live here. This is lovely. It was very sort of sleeping, really small village, a wonderful place. Tell me about the memory from this trip that really is vivid now. Oh, there was-- I had this. You know what? There's one that was a really fun-- there was a really fun interaction. I'm really glad you passed this, because I just forgot on it until you remembered again. I was up quite early one day, and I was walking across this big open beach. This is one of the things I loved about Anglesy that you could just be literally the only person on these massive wide beaches. And then in the distance, I can see what I think is the army, doing drills, doing some sort of exercise out there. They've seen me coming for quite a while off, because I'm just this one lonely little dot on the landscape. So I go chat to them as I'm passing. It would be rude not to be by them. And they're doing this awesome exercise. And whoever it is into our team is lovely. He was chatting to me about it and saying, oh, you know, you obviously like your adventure. You should come join us. We've got the parisheets going out today. We've got all sorts going on. This big exercise we were having a right good laugh, funny. He was absolutely lovely, a full of praise for what I was doing, which I thought was really awesome, what they're doing is more than what I was doing. But it just made me laugh, because I had just in my laundry that day. And I had a way of underwear strapped to my back pat, dry, and I like talking to this army guy. And he's going, I can see you done your laundry. I'm trying to like hide my arm. So there's more of a funny experience than anything. It just made me really laugh as I walked off. You just never know who you're going to meet on these trails and the conversations you're going to have. But so that was that's more of like an interaction that I remember. It just still makes me laugh now. But like a really nice moment. I also remember on the trail was having to do a biffy camp on an estuary one night. And I was a little bit anxious about the-- it was a tidal estuary. So it was the anxious about the tide times. They'd already checked tide times before. And then they were going to-- it was going to be high tide about 11 p.m. that night or something like that. So I made sure to stay awake for it. And it was a super clear, very calm night. And the sea, the tide was rising. And it was like creeping. And you couldn't hear anything. There was not a ripple at all. And it was creeping closer and closer to me. And it stopped only about four foot from the end of my feet. And I've been watching it the whole time. Just sat there with a couple of hot chocolate just watching the tide. And then worried it was going to come up a little bit further. And it stopped an after half an hour. I could see it. See it. So that's that to receive again. And it was just reflected in the moonlight. It was like a really big moon that night. And I just remember that. Just it getting closer and closer. Then it started to go in on my peck ass, fine, obviously, now. But it was lovely just watching that actually inch closer. Just couldn't hear a thing. Just not even a ripple. It was wonderful. On the flip side of all this, I think one of the things, actually, there's almost a perverse joy in it, is if you're when you're out on an adventure, particularly a solo adventure, sometimes there's difficulties that you have to overcome and solve problems. A bit like you were saying earlier on with work, you solve problems when you're on a solo adventure, you're solving different problems. Was there a low point on this trip or a particular problem that you came across where you thought, gosh, I'm going to have to think about how I deal with this? One of them was more funny than anything. And it was linked to Tide Times, where I'd set myself up the nice little bitty for the night in this little cove. And I was pretty sure I knew where the high tide line was. You can sort of see that line of seaweed there. And it came up a bit closer than I was expecting. And in the night, I went having to do a bit of the go-no-go decision sort of looking around me going, if I get cut off here, I'm not going to be able to get out of this cove. So sort of then deflate in my pad. And this is another good thing about bitty camping, that you can scratch a camperick quickly if you need to. And I flung the whole thing over my shoulders, like this massive, just nylon scarf. And I grabbed my bag and I waded back through to the main beach. It was only, it wasn't deep. It was only the ankle deep at that point, but I was sort of like, oh, I don't think I should stay here any longer. I've got a feeling I'm going to get cut off, and it's not going to go well. So that was more of an amusing one than anything to say. Yeah, OK, I made a decision on this. I'm going to go back to the main beach where I'm not going to get cut off. And that was, so that was quite funny. If someone says something to this conversation, and they're on the fence about whether to do the Anglesy Coast path, what would you say to them? Oh, do it. Honestly, it's my favorite part of the entire Wales Coast path that I've done the so far. It's the section that stands out the most for its wildness, for its quiet, its peace. It's just magical. There's something-- there's, I don't mean this to sound like-- this is going to sound like a bit wishy-washy, but I think there's genuinely magic in the air and Anglesy. And I can't-- my finger on what it is. I mean, it's got a big history in sort of paganism. Anyway, it was like the long, the last stronghold of the druids. So maybe that's it. Or maybe that's a placebo effect for me saying there's magic on the island. But I genuinely felt it as soon as I stepped for on it. There's something in the air there that is different anywhere else I've hiked. Yeah, it was a bit of a-- yes, one of those walks that you do feel like it's a bit spiritual. It's very special place. And yeah, I think that I can't describe why it is just really shows that there's something there that's magical. And you've got to go and experience it. If I could drop you back into one single moment from the walk right now, where would you go? Oh, I think-- there was a lovely brickworks and abandoned brickworks that I'd passed very early one morning. And I stopped there for a cup of tea. And I watched the sunrise. And it lit up the brickworks. This lovely sort of red pink color. Like, it was-- the brickworks themselves were also this traditional red brick. And I just sat on the beach just with my cup of tea, just watching everything just turn golden. And it was a lovely moment. And there was a kayak Torah, I think, a chap that was going round the coast on his kayak. And he just hauled his kayak up and loaded me his gear. And we were both obviously just there doing the same thing, just appreciating the beauty of it and had a nice chat. And just took in this lovely moment. Just-- yeah, it was just really special just seeing everything all just that light up in that orange glow. That was Nicola Witbread on the Anglesi Coast Path. Nicola, thank you so much for that. Some really beautiful moments in there. And I'm so glad you remembered the army and your laundry. If you enjoyed this episode, follow the show wherever you listen. And if you're feeling extra generous, a quick five-star rating really does help more people find it. Before we finish, here's the trail, Fact Foul, for today's trail. The Anglesi Coast Path. So with the trail, it's 130 miles circular around the entire Isle of Anglesi and North Wales. It's well way marked and can be walked in either direction. How long does it take? Well, most people walk it in line to 11 days. If you're trail running, you can do it in four. Nicola broke hers into two long weekends, completely doable. If you prefer that approach, when to go spring is wonderful. Quieter, wild flowers, and good light. Summer, it's busier, but the long days are hard to argue with. Getting there, the easiest option is the train to Bangor on the mainland, then a short bus or taxi across the Melai Bridge to start at Melai Bridge Village. Because it's a circular route, obviously, you finish where you begin. Now where to stay? There are B&Bs and guest houses in most of the coastal towns, along with a handful of campsites along the route. But a accommodation on Anglesi can book up really quickly during the walking season. So it's worth planning ahead if you want to walk the whole route in one go. So if listening to Nicola has got you thinking about walking on the Anglesi Coast Path, or one of the great long trails across the UK or Europe, we can help you plan it. will build your itinerary, sort your accommodation and make sure everything fits the way you like to walk. Head to bigtrailadventures.com to find out more. See you on the trail!