‘The path has transformed this section of coast’
From Victorian resorts to giant steelworks, Wales’ north coast boasts a fascinating heritage, much of which, Gruff Owen says, has only become accessible with the Wales Coast Path.
IGREW UP IN Flintshire, and back then the coast was industrialised and not really somewhere you’d call accessible. I don’t think it’s exaggerating to say the path has transformed it. Wales can often be romanticised, but it was nice to discover some of the elements I didn’t appreciate when I was growing up; the steelworks at Shotton, for instance, and what it meant for the community when it closed. The path passes the steelworks, which is actually a strikingly big and beautiful building.
The path is on the fringe between industrial areas and a wonderful estuary. There’s a small hill with a beacon nearby along the Bagillt Foreshore and when I first went up I couldn’t believe the views of where you’ve come from and where you’re going.
Elsewhere, you can’t go wrong with the Great Orme at Llandudno. Heading around Marine Drive you can have it to yourself and you get remarkable views. For remote walking you could also explore the Little Orme, at the other end of Llandudno Bay.
A great route I’d recommend is the alternative inland route from Conwy to Llanfairfechan (10 miles). It takes you along the northern slopes of the Carneddau mountains with big skies and fantastic views. It’s quite rare to have that perspective of the coast – for most of the Wales Coast Path you’re right among it, but to look down and see where the towns sit within the landscape is fantastic.
‘You can’t go wrong with the Great Orme… heading around Marine Drive you can have it to yourself and get remarkable views.’