12.09.15 Ynys
Aberteifi (SN 158 514)
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| Ynys Aberteifi (SN 158 514) |
Situated within 200
metres of the mainland, Ynys Aberteifi is the only major island on the great
sweep of western coastline of Wales. It
rises to a map height of 52m and comprises 38 acres. The Island is owned and managed by the Wildlife
Trust of South and West Wales and is commonly referred to as Cardigan Island in
English.
Our trip to this island was
arranged by Adrian Rayner who had sought and been granted permission to visit
by the owners, Adrian arranged our trip with A Bay to Remember, who operate
boats out of Gwbert, which is a couple of miles north of Aberteifi
(Cardigan). The small family run
business was set up in 2007 and run two boats; we had the pleasure of being
shipped to the island in their 12 person RIB.
Departure time was set
at 5.30pm and I arrived with plenty of time to spare and relaxed in the
afternoon sunshine listening to the car radio.
One by one the others arrived with John Mackay, Marian Mackay, Alan
Holmes and George Morl appearing from the direction of the beach next to where
the Rib was moored in the estuary, Gordon Adshead soon arrived, followed by
Douglas Law and Alex Cameron with Mark Trengove and Adrian Rayner pulling into
the small lane leading down to the slipway and finally Rob Woodall and Smudge arrived. There was debate whether to leave cars on the
sands but due to high tide we were advised to park above the estuary.
Walking across the sands
with the late afternoon sun sinking behind dotted cloud we met up with the two
designated operators from A Bay to Remember, they patiently went through safely
procedure and gave us our life jackets and on we clambered. I sat at the back with Mark and within a few
minutes the RIB was being manoeuvred out of the narrow estuary and into the
open sea.
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| Heading over the sands towards the RIB |
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(L-R) Gordon, Mark, George, Alex, Alan, Smudge, Marian, Rob, Adrian, Doug and John
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We kept close to the
coastline as the RIB sped its way north and as we rounded the rocky jut of
Craig y Gwbert, Ynys Aberteifi came into view.
The island was bathed in late afternoon light with its lower southerly
coast gauged out into rocky crags and its upper grasslands pleasantly sloped up
toward its slightly rounded summit.
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| Following the coastline north toward Ynys Aberteifi |
Close to the eastern
coast of the island the Dinghy that had followed us pulled toward the side of
the RIB and Adrian, Rob, George, Mark, Gordon and me clambered aboard and were
whisked off toward the slanting lower rock of the island. As with most of these island trips the safest
place to deposit visitors is on a flattish lower rock that usually then slants
upward shelf-like until the safely of the grass above is reached. This landing was no different, however the
rock on previous island landings had always been wet and slippy, whilst today’s
was dry and a delight to stand on.
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| Adrian securely on the island with the Dinghy heading back to collect the remaining six people from the RIB |
As we made our way up
the rock the Dinghy quickly swept back to the RIB and Doug, John, Marian,
Smudge, Alex and Alan were aboard and whizzing toward the island. As Adrian and Rob headed up the grass toward
the top, a large flock of Geese rose from the summit area and wagh-onked their
way across the sky, slowly darting in quickly formed formation flying landward
and then circling back over the island.
Their continued call and flight was captivating and added to the serene
nature of our surroundings.
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| Safely on the Dinghy the last of the party prepare to head toward Ynys Aberteifi |
Standing on the summit
and looking out to the flatbed of sea with the sun casting silver sheen across
its limitless depths was a wonderful experience, these island trips are always
special with each having their own individual atmosphere, but they seem to be
over so quickly and as a number of summit photographs were taken, people
started to roam and investigate whilst I positioned the Trimble on the highest
point of land under helpful instruction from Alan.
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| Gordon on the lower grassed slopes |
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| Call of the wild as Geese fly over the island |
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| Smudge, Gordon and Doug with the shapely profile of Foel y Mwnt in the background |
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| Rob and Adrian heading for the summit |
As it gathered its five
minutes of data I stood and looked out to sea and watched a gull fly through
the silvered horizon where land meets the depths of ocean. When the Trimble had gathered its allotted
data I pressed ‘Done’ and took a photograph of Alex, Adrian, Alan and Mark at
the summit, with Adrian holding two fingers aloft signifying this to be his two
hundredth island that he had visited, a remarkable achievement.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Ynys Aberteifi |
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| Becalmed tranquility |
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| (L-R) Alex, Adrian, Alan and Mark at the summit of Ynys Aberteifi |
Leaving the summit we
headed over to the northern highpoint which according to the map is 9m lower
than the island’s summit. By now the sun
had sank behind cloud and the prospect of a magical and illuminated sunset was
tempting, but we couldn’t linger as many of the party were booked on the Ynysoedd
y Moelrhoniaid island trip for tomorrow and had hours of driving ahead of them
to get to their club huts, Youth Hostels and such like.
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| Looking toward the northerly highpoint |
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| Alex videoing the scene |
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| (L-R) Alex, Mark, Rob, Adrian and Alan on the northerly highpoint |
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| Leaving the northern part of the island |
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| Heading down toward the rock shelf |
We found the narrow rib of rock leading down to the rock shelf and waited to be picked up by the Dinghy
and transported back to the RIB. Once
the first set of six were safely dropped off on the RIB the Dinghy sped back to
gather up the remaining six.
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| Getting onto the Dinghy |
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| Approaching the RIB |
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The Dinghy picking up Smudge, Doug, John, Adrian, Alex and Rob
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Once all aboard the RIB we
were taken around the northern coast of the island, by now shower cloud had
formed out to sea and pushed westward past us, but as we sped around the rock
strewn island of Silian a rainbow flashed down from the sky illuminating the
small island followed by the western tip of Ynys Aberteifi.
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| Silian and rainbow |
The RIB ground to a halt
as we all stared and soaked in the view as Silian looked as if it was alight and
bellowing forth the rainbow, a quite magical site, as the RIB started its
engines and headed toward the estuary the rainbow circled around the main
island before disappearing from view.
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| Evening light on Ynys Aberteifi |
It had been another
magical island trip and all due to the logistical and patient expertise of
Adrian who had gained permission for us to visit the island and organised the
trip, thanks Adrian.
Survey Result:
Summit Height: 52.5m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 15812 51487
Bwlch Height: N/A (sea)
Bwlch Grid Reference: N/A (sea)
Drop: 52.5m
Dominance: 100.00%
For further details please
consult the Trimble survey spreadsheet click {here}
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