Holyhead; Tuesday, 19 January, 2010

Despite Southern’s best efforts I made it to Euston with time to spare for my train north. The first part of the journey to Chester was uneventful, however after leaving Chester and crossing into Wales the line suddenly becomes stunning. With the backdrop of the mountains, by Bangor the Snowdonia national park, and the tracks skirting the shore, it made for a very pretty ride.

On time we pulled into Holyhead, and with the final thing I saw before we pulled into the station being the hotel it was a pretty quick transfer from the train to my room.

Having checked-in and dropped all my stuff off I went for a wander around the town. To be brutally honest there is not much in Holyhead, especially not in January, apart from the small church built in the remains of a Roman shore fort.

Having quickly exhausted the town centre I went for a little wander along the sea front down towards the breakwater and the country park, arriving at the same time as the setting sun was breaking through the clouds by the side of Holyhead Mountain.

According to the guide books their is a leisurely walk up from the country park to the ruins of a roman fort on the summit of the mountain, but even I a self-confessed city boy, know that you don’t start walking up the side of a mountain just as the sun is starting to set. However, it did give me an idea for things to do on Saturday morning before my 14:30 train.

I had a wander back towards the town, taking the new pedestrian bridge into the port/station complex and popping into a supermarket to pick up some things for breakfast (the hotel didn’t have a restaurant so breakfast was either an overpriced muesli bar and a bowl of cornflakes, or whatever I could get in Lidl at 6pm on a Tuesday night). Having stocked up on both dinner and breakfast I headed back to the hotel for an early night.