A rough and foamy Porthor

A bright autumnal day on the beach at Porthor.

Adventures Ahead!

This summer was the warmest since 2006, and many of us made the most of the long, sunny days by visiting some of the beautiful beaches on Llyn Peninsula. For children visiting the beach at Porthor (Whistling Sands), our new “adventure packs” were standing by to make a good day out even better.

These backpacks contain everything that young adventurers need to enjoy a fun, action-filled filled day on the beach (and give the grown-ups a bit of peace and quiet, if they fancy), and are available to loan free of charge from the information cabin in the car park during the spring and summer months.

One of the adventure packs, filled with activities for your intrepid little adventurers.

As well as being full of fun stuff, the packs are also specially designed to help children learn about the plants, animals, and cultural history of our beautiful shoreline. Two top-rated activities are the ‘Rock Pool Ramble’ (searching for sea creatures in the teeming rock pools), and the ‘Lost Treasure’ treasure hunt, in which young pirates use their compass and treasure map to give Captain Morgan a hand with finding his missing treasure chest.

 Two adventurers who were successful in finding the hidden treasure at Porthor!

 Our adventure packs have proved really popular so far. Here are just a few of the things that people have said:

·         “Great mix of activities. Education pitched at just the right level”.

·         “Great idea to get people more engaged with the beach environment”.

·         “Fantastic pack, we will be back to do more of the activities”.

We’ve been delighted to see so many people having fun and getting involved with the natural environment (and filling the information cabin with their lovely drawings at the end of the day – grown-ups and children alike!).

This summer may have drawn to a close, but here at the National Trust we’re already planning for the next. Given the success of the adventure packs at Whistling Sands, we’re excited to announce that in spring 2014 we’ll have a brand new adventure pack ready and waiting at Llanbedrog Beach. We’re putting the final finishing touches on the pack as we speak, and like the pack available at Porthor, it contains all sorts of activities for young beach-goers – including the ‘Iron Man Challenge’, a navigational quest centered around the Iron Man statue on the headland above the beach.

We’re really pleased to have had so many adventurers visit us this summer, and we’re looking forward to double the fun next year!

Fun in the sun!

The last few months have been hectic here on the Llŷn. As well as the tried and tested old favourites we’ve successfully introduced some new events and activities this summer many of which have been held as part of the Llŷn Coastal Festival. Our beach fun days have been a big success with the kayaking and surfing sessions proving very popular. We had a very competitive and closely fought football tournament at Porthor, with the Welsh Dragons winning the title and trophy. Our new mascot Caleb the Crab is also becoming some what of a local celebrity helping to judge the sandcastle competitions and pose for photographs- with adults as well as the children!

The Welsh Dragons with their trophy

Blas y Môr (Tase of the Sea) was held at Porthdinllaen in June attracting a lot of interest from people looking for ideas on how to cook with local seafood and sample some of the tasters prepared by local chefs- the seared sea bass was a personal favourite!

Learning about rockpool creatures at Porthdinllaen 

The Picnic with a Chough guided walks took place at Mynydd Mawr on the tip of the peninsula with Rhys Jones from Gwynedd Council’s biodiversity team and Dave Lamacraft from Plantlife & RSPB lending their expertise. The chough didn’t disappoint and made spectacular appearances on both occasions.

The 50 things to do before you’re 11 ¾ activities campaign has been a brilliant way to show children how much fun can be had outdoors with little or no equipment. The list of 50 things ranges from skimming stones or climbing trees, to catching a crab and making a grass trumpet. We were able to tick some of these activities off our list at Llanbedrog and Porthdinllaen where we led cooking on a campfire, den-building rock-pooling and creating wild art activities.

The marshmallows on the campfire went down a storm

So an activity packed few months are in full swing here- we love the summer!

Porth y Swnt, Aberdaron

Last Tuesday we had the exciting task of announcing the winner of the competition to name our new visitor centre at Aberdaron, due to open in the spring of 2014. The competition to find a special name for a special place was open to the pupils of Ysgol Crud y Werin the local primary school and we received loads of brilliant entries. After some deliberation Elliw Jones Evans, a year 6 pupil, was declared the winner with her name Porth y Swnt.

Elliw won a wildlife pack, family membership to the National Trust, the opportunity to leave her handprint in the new building and the all-important golden ticket that means that Elliw will be the first person to enter the completed centre when it opens in the spring of 2014.

 

Elliw receiving her prize from Elinor Gwynn a National Trust boad of trustees member, after coming up with Porth y Swnt as a name for the new centre at Aberdaron.

Porth y Swnt which translates as ‘Gateway to the sound’ perfectly describes the aim of the centre as a gateway to discovering and exploring the surrounding area, while the reference to the swnt or sound makes a strong connection to the local area and the infamous Bardsey Sound.

It has been great to be able to work so closely with the school on important aspects of the development of the centre and the relationship will be built on even further in the future. We’re already looking forward to welcoming Elliw back next year for her tour of Porth y Swnt and to hear her verdict on the new and exciting building at the heart of the village.

Porth y Swnt, Aberdaron which has been funded by Visit Wales and European Regional Development Fund. The steel frame is now in place and building work will be going full steam ahead over the next few months. Look out for some colourful art work on the hoardings over the summer.