Over the coming weeks I’ll be sharing a few pictures from a recent trip to North Wales. This is a stunning part of the United Kingdom with rugged coastline, high mountains, waterfalls, light houses, ancient monuments, castles — all of which makes for some great photography. The only difficulty is getting up at 3 am at this time of year for that lovely early morning light …
This is the first picture: Holyhead Montain, Anglesey.
Holyhead Mountain, Anglesey
The picture below is of Standing Stones, Holyhead, Anglesey. I initially had difficulty finding the Stones as they are set back from the road in a farmer’s field, and when we asked some of the locals they directed us to a pub near Tesco called The Standing Stones! However, I finally managed to find the real Stones early one morning. Getting a clean shot of them proved challenging as the surrounding area is quite built up.
According to one official website, the site of the Stones dates from the early Bronze age (2,000-1,500 BC). The pair of Standing Stones are quite enigmatic. They face Holyhead mountain but also Snowdonia, which is probably their true focus. They stand about 11 foot tall, and the same distance apart. It is said that evidence of a cist burial containing arrow and spear heads were found between the stones, which may once have been the centre of a circle of stones, but in truth the site remains a mystery.
Standing Stones, Anglesey
This Church near Aberffraw is almost submerged at high tide:
Church, Aberffraw, Anglesey
The picture of South Stack Lighthouse below was taken at sunset. We were staying quite close to the lighthouse and it was really exciting to photograph it at different times of day, from different vantage points and in different weather conditions.
Sunset, South Stack Lighthouse, Anglesey
Stone Bridge, Aberffraw:
Stone Bridge, Aberffraw, Anglesey
Wales has some of the best beaches in the world (and I say this as someone who grew up in South Africa!). Here’s another fine example: Aberffraw Bay.
Aberffraw Bay, Anglesey
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