“Our discreditable secret is that we don’t know anything at all, and our horrid inner secret is that we don’t care that we don’t.”  ― Dylan Thomas

This post has so many mixed emotions for me, as many as visiting Pwllheli, as a child, I visited my grandmother here, well I think it was here, that is what the adults said. I don’t remember much of the details I would say I was five or six and I don’t remember how many times I saw my grandmother before but the holiday me, my sister, brother and mother took to visit her when I was five or six I remember every single detail. I had such an amazing time, the holiday was every to me. As an adult, it is now the holiday where I first met the man that would later go on to hurt me as a child, the man I told no one about. But that is a story for another time and part of healing is moving on from that. However, I have avoided the area my adult life something I wanted to get over because I love Wales and it is now only a memory.

From my house, Pwllheli is a three-hour car trip so not ideal for a day out! However, last weekend I was in Harlech and realised that I was less than an hour away so I hoped in my car and headed over! I have wonderful memories of my grandmother from the trip, I spent hours watching her what I didn’t notice was how beautiful the area was, how blue the sea was or how blue the sky gets. I was utterly blown away by the beauty of the area and couldn’t believe how much I didn’t take in!

Pwllheli is the principal town of the Llŷn Peninsula which lies on the north-west corner of Wales, dividing Cardigan Bay (to the south) and Caernarfon Bay (to the north). Being three sides surrounded by the sea, you are never short of a sheltered beach and the climate is relatively mild.  Located at the entrance to the peninsula, which is itself protected as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Pwllheli is the ideal location from which to explore this northwest corner of Wales, where Welsh is still widely spoken. The Llyn’s Coastal Path is 91 miles long, extending from nearby Porthmadog to Caernarfon on the north coast of the peninsula. This path forms part of the new Wales Coastal Path, 870 miles which runs round the entire Welsh coast.

I love this picture of me, mainly because I am holding my dress like I am a princess and from my facial expression I am deep in thought about it too!

Pwllheli harbour has a long history — wines from the continent were imported through here and the coast was a haven for smugglers and pirates. As recently as the last century it was one of the main fishing and shipbuilding centres in North Wales with nearly 30 ships in production at the same time. The arrival of the railways in Pwllheli allowed it to develop further as a centre of social and political life, business and tourism.

Pwllheli’s beaches are mainly south facing and have been awarded the prestigious European Blue Flag Award. Glan y Mor beach is sandy and sheltered near the marina. South beach is mainly shingle and pebble and stretches the length of the attractive promenade. This is the south beach, usually before I visit an area I research it to get the most out of my time there. With Pwllheli I didn’t and I really wish I had.

One of my favourite memories from my childhood trip here was playing on a small playground with my grandmother watching us, all of a sudden she got a look of adventure in her eye, wearing a long cotton summer dress with her hair tied back she left the playground crossed the road and climbed over a fence, she looked back at us with a massive grin (don’t worry kids this was the 80’s no one worried about leaving kids playing). I have no idea where she went or what happened next I just remember that long dress and smile as she climbed the fence.

During that trip I also remember being dressed in a pretty summer dress and walking around and around the rim of a large water fountain when a bee/wasp started chasing me, my response was to jump in the water and hide from it. It’s safe to say my mum was not happy at all to having a soaking wet child!! It is crazy the things we remember from our childhood, why certain things stay with us when other memories don’t.

Rainbow street of dreams, as always I want to live in the pink the house, I swear if I don’t own a pink house overlooking the sea by the time I retire that will be my biggest regret in life. I plan on one day owning a pink house and only wearing pink! Inside all my furniture will be bright colours with crazy patterns, it’s my dream one I am always working towards.

Or maybe I will opt for a purple house, hello lovely!!!

I can’t imagine ever feeling sad living on this street!

LEGEND has it that the pastel shades of West Wales’ harbours are a legacy of the fishermen forefathers of these small communities. Once, as the story has it, fishermen would paint their terrace homes around the dock in varying colours so they could recognise their own as they returned from the sea. Historian David James, secretary of the West Wales Maritime Heritage Society, said that the colours may well have dated back to time when the fishing industry was dominant – but it was tourism that had ensured they survived.

I can’t believe I have spent so much time away from such a beautiful part of Wales, I can’t wait to visit again and really explore the area and everything it has to offer. If you have visited before or have any suggestions please op them in the comments below!