Breakwater Country Park, Holyhead
Give nature a helping hand
You don’t have to take our word for it that Anglesey is a lovely island. Back in 1966 the powers that be took one look at our sheer limestone cliffs and long sandy beaches and labelled them an
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
The biggest in Wales, as it happens. More than 220 square miles stretching virtually the entire length of the coastline and covering a third of the island.
Well, you’ve got to stop somewhere, haven’t you? The Isle of Anglesey AONB with its 230 miles of public rights of way is quite enough to be getting on with.
Because while it’s certainly outstanding and beautiful, it’s not entirely natural and sometimes nature needs us to lend a helping hand.
Fortunately we have an army of volunteers ready to roll up their sleeves and do just that. Picking litter, dry stone walling, clearing scrub, laying boardwalks.
Not just locals but holidaymakers, too. So if lying on a beach all day doesn’t appeal, visit the AONB website or pick up a copy of our Sŵn y Môr newsletter.
You might even find yourself working alongside some four-legged eco warriors. At
Holyhead Breakwater Country Park a group of semi-wild Carneddau mountain ponies graze the clifftops overlooking the rocky coast.
By munching on the grass and trampling the bracken, they are encouraging heather and wild flowers to return. Making this tranquil green space still more beautiful and helping to attract more than 120,000 visitors every year.
Not bad for a former quarry where seven million tons of rock were torn from the mountainside to create the longest breakwater in Europe. Nature, with a little help from its friends, has long since reclaimed it.