Holyhead mountain...…..20/01/2019.

Some would laugh, That's not a mountain!!...Standing at the 720ft mark, I would have had to agree...But, just when does a hill become a mountain?..Is it a certain height?...some folk say 2000ft...After climbing Holyhead mountain yesterday i have realised that its not all about height, for Holyhead mountain has, despite being only 720ft high all the attributes of a proper mountain..Its rough, its rugged, it dominates the surrounding landscape..and whats more it says it's a mountain on my map so that's good enough for me.
We parked up in the first RSPB car park [The one near the ancient hut circles]. Getting out of the car we were instantly hit by my favourite sound...Silence..Have you ever heard silence? Its lovely, I could listen to it all day..Silence was broken by the sound of grunting and heavy breathing as I bent over to tie my boot laces. We walked down to the cliff edge path stopping occasionally to enjoy the silence.At the cliff silence gave way to crashing waves on rock and the call of seabirds. There are some steep drops here, Unfenced. I peeped over the edge, I wondered how many dogs had fallen over the edge...or even children..it must have happened...We dawdled along enjoying the scenery, especially the views towards the South stack lighthouse.

We climbed steps passing Ellins tower, a place to watch the seabird colonies on the cliffs, before climbing more steps passing an old lookout building...from here we watched as a Sealink ferry was nearing the end of its journey from Ireland to Holyhead..The great views continued as we pressed on...I was really enjoying myself.

Soon our route veered away from the coast to pick up a broad path across moorland heading straight for the mountain...it all got a bit confusing as there are so many paths around here..i ditched the route I was supposed to be following to just do my own thing..it didn't matter.

We passed a small tarn below the summit..it was a spot to slow down and take a few photograph. We watched as several men from Air/sea rescue were doing some sort of training with ropes over the rocks..I thought about asking them about statistics of dogs falling off cliffs as it must happen. As I stood here I watched a man climb down the rockface at great speed...im going to stick to the paths.

Before long we were sat at the summit, looking down on the port at Holyhead..We drove through Holyhead earlier in the day and I can honestly say its a bit of a shithole...it looked much nicer from up here.

Its a grand little summit, apparently on a clear day you can see the Wicklow mountains over in Eire,i strained my eyes...not today. A man and a women turned up with 2 collies that didn't like Alfie so we went...I have noticed over the years that Border Collies and Springers never get on.Im guessing that collies are jealous of Springers smouldering good looks.We dropped down from the summit heading back to the coast.

Back at the cliffs we heard a right old commotion kicking off as two blokes were running around shouting a dogs name...That's another one I thought...some people have a thing about not putting their dogs on leads...I suppose they just don't care...Almost back to the car now..we sat on a bench to watch and listen to the sea, a lovely end to a lovely walk..