This is a lovely stretch of beach on the North Wales coast near to Porthmadog. In the summer months it is a very popular spot for picnics, sand yachting and other water sports but in the winter it is much quieter as you can see from the pictures above.
Although the sun was out and the sky was blue out to the horizon it was actually bitterly cold, with the wind chill it was around -11 degrees and the wind blew a snow storm from Snowdonia making this a really bracing walk. It was great.
I have lots of memories of visits to this beach where all of my kids have practiced driving at one time or another. I can also remember along with a group of friends being asked to leave by the police after we were reported for racing. Happy days!
These two shots were taken yesterday but they look as if one was taken in winter and the other in summer.
I had just emerged from the darkness of the copper mine high up on the side of the hill. Underground it had been relatively warm but coming outside I was hit with the icy blast of the wind blowing up the valley. There was snow blowing around and with the wind chill it felt like it was -14 C. From the first image you can see the snow storm approaching and even though it only left a light dusting it was enough to let me know that winter isn't ready to end just yet.
Turn 180 degrees and the scene is completely different, apart from the absence of leaves on the trees you could imagine it is a summer's day. Next stop from here was going to be Black Rock Sands near Porthmadog. It is a lovely expanse of sand with impressive cliffs and a great spot to visit so the clear blue sky was drawing me there however I wasn't sure whether I would get there before the snow...
