13.09.15 Ynysoedd y
Moelrhoniaid (SH 267 947) and Ynys Arw (SH 266 945)
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| Ynysoedd y Moelrhoniaid (SH 267 947) |
The islets of Ynysoedd y
Moelrhoniaid lie like a rough pearled necklace, wave battered 3 kilometres (1.9
miles) off the north-west coast of Ynys Môn. They form a compact archipelago oriented
north-east to south-west and stare back on their much larger island neighbour. Perched on their highest point is The
Skerries Lighthouse, with the word Skerry deriving from the Old Norse ‘sker,’
which means a small rocky reef or island, with the Welsh name for the islands
translating as ‘the islands of Bald-headed Grey Seals’.
Our visit to these islands
was organised by Adrian Rayner via Rib Ride, who are based in Holyhead and run
a variety of trips around the north-west coast of Ynys Môn. We met at Holyhead Marina and congregated in
the café and waited for Adrian’s arrival.
There were 12 booked for this trip; George Morl, Alan Holmes, Alex
Cameron, Douglas Law, Bob Kerr, Sarah Kerr, Tony Jenkins, Rob Woodall, Sheila
Glew, John Glew, Adrian Rayner and me, also with us was Gordon Adshead who had
come to see us off.
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| (L-R) Alex, Gordon, Adrian, John, Sheila, George, Tony, Alan, Sarah, Bob, Doug, Charles (skipper) and Rob |
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| Charles; our skipper for the day |
Once the formalities had
been conducted beside the RIB we climbed aboard for a rather luxuriant passage
out to sea. The RIB used for this trip was
once owned by Bear Grylls and his name and image is still used in Rib Ride’s
promotional material. The RIB was rather
plush with a central cabin which had fold out canopied sides to use when the
weather was rough, and an option for seated or standing position behind the
controls and which was protected by a Perspex screen. Behind this was a seat long enough for five
people and in front was seating for five or six people.
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| At the front of the RIB |
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| And at the back of the RIB. Photo: RibRide |
The forecast for the
afternoon was good, and we had been lucky as no more than two days prior to
today it was predicted that rain was going to envelop this part of the country
for the whole afternoon. As we pulled
out from Holyhead the sky cast out colour and the sea was becalmed. Beyond the harbour breakwater there was a
light swell as we proceeded across the straight between Ynys Môn
and Ynysoedd y Moelrhoniaid, but conditions proved relatively calm.
It’s a wonderful
experience nearing an island, watching as it forever gets larger on the
horizon, and today it was the islands Lighthouse that dominated the view as it
stood firmly in place attached on the highest part of the archipelago with its
white coloured exterior set against the backdrop of a sun drenched grey sky.
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| The Skerries Lighthouse |
The RIB slowly rounded
the western side of the islands and was manoeuvred into the small bay below the
Lighthouse. This entrance was magical as
we were suddenly transported in to a different world full of lazy seals
whooping their guttural calls and an assortment of small, delightful islets,
all ready for us to explore.
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| Seals relaxing in the afternoon sun |
Once the RIB had been
secured onto the iron barred ladder leading vertically up the sides of rock we
clambered up and started our exploration of the islands. It seems that there is a need to head toward
the high point of any hill or island and today was no exception. The path leading up to the Lighthouse led through
a beautiful array of white daisies, all looking up with their colour mixed in
their green rooted grass, set against the white of the Lighthouse they resembled
a mountain meadow in spring.
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| Bob, followed by Alan, climbing up the ladder onto the island |
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| Bob and Sarah with The Skerries Lighthouse in the background |
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| The carpet of flowers |
As I walked around the
Lighthhouse the ground dropped steeply away to the east and the coastline of
Ynys Môn gleamed back in its hazy afternoon light. There were two potential summit points, one
on the southern side of the Lighthouse and the other on the western side. There was consensus between myself, Alan and
one or two others that the highest point was on the southern side, this high
point consisted of a rock that was positioned just under the base of the
walkway which encircled much of the eastern and southern side of the
Lighthouse, however the highest rock was pinned in with buildings either side
of it, this had potential to disrupt satellite coverage, and as I set the
Trimble up with its internal antenna aligned to the high point of what remains
of the natural rock I thought it would take a long time for the 0.1m accuracy
level to be attained before logging should start. Remarkably this accuracy level was attained
within a couple of minutes and I quickly pressed ‘Log’ and hid behind a rock,
we’ll have to see what the processed data is like and whether the data set is
good or has been compromised by the position of the Trimble.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Ynysoedd y Moelrhoniaid |
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| Charles and Alan look on with the Trimble positioned on the highest natural rock that still exists on Ynysoedd y Moelrhoniaid |
Once summit data were
collected I headed to the western side of the Lighthouse wanting to gather
another five minute data set from the other potential summit position, this was
straight under the side of the Lighthouse and after waiting ten minutes the
accuracy level was only down to 0.19m, and whilst waiting I looked out on
everyone exploring the other islets, so I decided to switch the Trimble off and
start doing likewise.
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| The Trimble positioned on the high point on the western side of the Lighthouse |
The highest islet where
the Lighthouse is situated has another islet to its south-west named Ynys Arw; this has two
main high points, with the southerly of these being the highest. There were already a number of people scampering
all over these high points and I headed over to join them. This south-westerly islet is cut off from the
others at high tide but the pebbles and seaweed of relatively dry land had been
exposed as low tide enabled us to visit farther afield from the main islet.
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| Sarah, Alex and Rob (on left of photo) on the adjacent high point to the Lighthouse with the summit of Ynys Arw on the right of photo |
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| Alex and Rob heading over to Ynys Arw |
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| Sarah below the Lighthouse, with its lower rocks on the right of this photo |
John helped me find the
scramble down a rock shelf onto the connecting land between the islets and I
soon joined Adrian, Rob and Alex on the high point. Adrian and Alex soon headed off and I
remained with Rob for a few minutes talking about the Welsh Remotest list and
Alan’s Sibs list, with the furthest northerly island which is named Ynys Berchen, being listed within each
as a Pellennig and a Sub-Sib, Rob asked the criteria for the Pellennig list and
wondered whether the small islet we were on would meet the minimum drop of
15m. As he headed off toward the
northerly Pellennig / Sub-Sib I set the Trimble up and gathered another five
minutes of data from the high point of the southerly islet.
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| Alex scrambling back up the rock on his way past the Lighthouse toward Ynys Berchen |
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| The Skerries Lighthouse from the summit of Ynys Arw |
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| Ynysoedd y Moelrhoniaid bathed in sunshine |
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| The northerly island of Ynys Berchen which is listed as a Pellennig and Sub-Sib |
As the Trimble did its
stuff I happily stared out on this stunningly beautiful place, content to be on
my own soaking up its ambience. By this
time a few people were gathering, waiting to descend toward the RIB, and once
the five minutes of allotted data were collected, I took a few photos with the
Lighthouse shining white as a slight breeze blew in from the sea.
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| Gathering data from the summit of Ynys Arw |
As I slowly made my way
down the wet rock back onto the connecting pebbled and sea weeded land I
wondered if I could make it to Ynys Berchen, but after scrambling back
up the small rock shelf toward the Lighthouse I peered out and saw four small
figures just turning their backs on the summit of the northerly island and
heading back towards the Lighthouse. My
chance had gone as it would be unfair to keep everyone waiting another half an
hour or so as I went over, gathered data and came back. On occasions such as this I often reflect and
store the memory of want, by doing so it encourages further visits, and these
islands deserve that. All too soon it
was time to depart, we headed down to the metalled ladder and got back on the
RIB and pulled out of the small, sheltered bay.
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| Rob on his way down the ladder to the RIB |
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| Getting ready to leave Ynysoedd y Moelrhoniaid. Photo: RibRide |
On our way back to Ynys
Môn
the islets of Ynysoedd y Moelrhoniaid were being enveloped by late afternoon
high grey cloud as showers pushed in from the Irish Sea. The RIB swept around their northern extremity
before plunging back toward the Marina.
I looked back and the elongated profile of these wonderful rock strewn
islets were now dark and silhouetted against the late afternoon sky, their
illuminated colour now gone, replaced with a heartening profile of mystery and
beckoning.
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| The last view of Ynysoedd y Moelrhoniaid, now no more than a silhouette |
Survey Result:
Ynysoedd y Moelrhoniaid
Summit Grid Reference: SH 26777 94759
Bwlch Height: not applicable
Bwlch Grid Reference: not applicable
Drop: 21.7m
Dominance: 100.00%
Ynys Arw
Summit Grid Reference: SH 26647 94598 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 0.0m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 26690 94671 (LIDAR)
For further details please
consult the Trimble survey spreadsheet click {here}
©
Crown: CHERISH PROJECT 2019. Produced with EU funds through the Ireland Wales
Co-operation Programme 2014-2020. All material made freely available through
the Open Government Licence.
