I had a short but very enjoyable walk with my friend Pete on Saturday. It was a circular walk to the Watch Tower in Abergele and from the Pen Y Bont pub we followed the path and the River Gele until we came to a bridge and crossed over it to follow a public footpath. The river was merely a trickle of water by the bridge but we could still see loads of Sticklebacks darting through the water. As we approached the old pumping station now converted into a splendid looking house we saw a Rabbit running through the field and could hear the call of a Buzzard high above. At the end of the path we turned left onto a lane, passing by the old pump house and then taking a right turn up a steep lane, Before the brow of the hill we took another path into the woods and before long came to Tower Hill and saw this impressive looking Watch Tower. It was built in the 1600's and partially restored in 1930. It was there to warn of attacks on the coastline and was connected to a chain of other Watch Towers such as the ones in Llandrillo Yn Rhos and Whitford. There were clear views all around as you would expect from this elevated site and in the field we saw a Buzzard flying low as it was carrying it's prey in its talons. We crossed the field and descended through the trees until we came to the ruins of an old building and sat down to have our lunch. It was a perfect spot to stop at with views across Llanfair Road to the Snowdonia Mountains and to the sea. As a bonus we were rewarded by seeing thirteen wild deer feeding in the field below and five Buzzards flying just above our heads. When the Deer went back into the woods we carried on downwards and took the path by the Pump House but on the other bank of the river and followed that back to the main road. We saw several Badger setts along the way and Pete had explained to me earlier that Badgers are very clean animals and they actually build a latrine when they do their business. This was well and truly confirmed further down the path when we saw dozens of latrines and judging by the deposits they had left these Badgers were very well fed! There were hundreds and hundreds of crab apples on the ground and in the adjoining field Pete spotted some mushrooms so he quickly climbed over the fence and came back with a bag full of mushrooms. A nice coffee in the Threeways Garage finished another enjoyable walk.
