More Pictures than Words – 1: Holyhead and Penmaenmawr.

I thought that when there is not enough to write a long blog, that a short one with plenty of pictures would be in order.

A two day trip to North Wales to see Holyhead Hotspur and Penmaenmawr Phoenix, in the Welsh Alliance.

I started by heading up to Holyhead via the A5 – in Wales, even on a Friday evening, this is miles away from the traffic that fills the reports on the airwaves. In the late afternoon sunshine, it is possible to stop and enjoy some of the views.

After checking into the hotel, it is of course dark by the time one arrives at the first ground. Still the welcome is bright.

When the FAW forced the leagues to reduce numbers at the end of last season, Holyhead were somewhat unfortunate. Having finished in the top half of the Cymru Alliance last season, they were still “relegated” to the Welsh Alliance. This season they are making a serious effort to regain their place, and currently lie in second place behind Conwy United. A straight forward win over Pwllheli leaves them one point behind Conwy but the leaders have a game in hand. Less than half of the games have been played, so it’s still “all the play for”.

A crowd of 225 for this match, the best of the season at Holyhead, and better than the averages at two of the clubs in the Welsh Premier League.

I stayed in Beaumaris, the other side of Anglesey to Holyhead. The advantage of going to places like this in January is that one can stay at off season rates. Oddly, while more expensive hotels cut their prices, some of the cheaper places do not – meaning the prices are the same at both. I stayed at the Bulkeley Hotel, a grade one listed building, and I only made the booking on the day of the trip.

The Bulkeley Hotel. The “stone circle” in the foreground is not genuine, but installed quite recently when an Eisteddfod was held in the town.

The town boasts a fine castle and views over the Menai straights, and became a resort in Victorian times. Nowadays, it provides a pleasant spot on a touring holiday, or even a base for further travel.

Penmaenmawr is a short distance down coast road, the A55. It too enjoyed some popularity as a resort town, and notes than Benjamin Disraeli used to be a regular guest. The hills slope steeply above the village, and the main business of the area is as a quarry, leading to rows of small cottages on the hillside. It was enough to persuade me to climb slightly.

The ground itself is not a lot to write about. There is a car park off the old Conwy Road, (the new dual carriageway runs parallel and just towards the coast). Dressing rooms are one side of this, with the pitch at the top of the car park and on the other side. It is a railed off pitch, with a concrete path up to the halfway line on one side. Behind the goal there is a small amount of shelter, with the club name written on the back wall. Built into one end of this is a tea hut, ably run by club secretary Cathy Williams.

One could not help noticing that in three of the four corners, there were mobile phone masks – each equipped with some lighting partway up, providing the club with training lights and some income. The pylons were labelled as O2, Vodaphone and T-Mobile. Orange and 3 seem to be missing out. I suggested that when renewing contracts, they should try and get taller masts. Mobile phone masts are easier to get planning permission for then floodlights!! My mobile reception was good!!

As for the game, Penmaenmawr were outclassed, and Bodedern should have scored more than four they ended up with. Bodedern are in second place and have every chance of promotion. For Phoenix the good news is that there should be no relegation from the division, (which currently has only 11 teams) at the end of the season. There are applicants to join the league from both the Gwynedd and Clwyd Leagues.