I had noticed this sign when we pulled into South Stacks Car Park
So while waiting for D and B to return and after buying E and I an icecream (from memory mine was Ginger Crunch!!) I went to explore.
Around 2500 years ago Iron Age farmers starting building their homes below the hill fort which was located at the top of Holyhead Mountain.
The low stone walls were built to support wooden roofed huts. Some of the houses have stone benches and storage pits and it is likely these huts were used by families to live in. Smaller rectangular buildings may have been workshops or sheds to keep livestock. The people who lived here grew wheat, oats and barley in the fields nearby, kept livestock and foraged on the seashore.
Often called the Ty Mawr Hut Group, around 20 structures remain today although originally there were many more and over 50 were recorded in the 1860's covering an area of 15 - 20 acres.
Excavations took place in the mid 19th century by William Owen Stanley who found items from Roman times here such as coins and pottery. Further excavations have discovered Mesolithic tools in the area.
The summit of Holyhead Mountain has an Iron Age Hillfort, a Roman Watch Tower and an old Telegraph Station.
Here you can see a reconstruction of the hut circles - apologies for the reflection.
I was fortunate enough to be able to explore the site on my own initially and it had such a wonderful timeless and tranquil atmosphere with a sense of peace - I could almost have been back in the Iron Ages the sense of history was that palpable.
The stone walls and grassy banks were full of wild flowers.
I am bit unsure about this one perhaps a Bedstraw species
Tormentil
English Stonecrop
I fell in love with this plant which was growing out of hut walls everywhere. Wall Pennywort.
Danish Scurvy Grass (thanks again to Dr Richard Bates via Twitter for id confirmation).
Please leave a comment if any of my flower id's are incorrect.
Lichen
After B and D eventually returned we had our sandwiches and then all explored the hut circles.
On the way back to Penmon instead of going through Holyhead we detoured back to the North Wales Expressway via Trearddur Bay.
Every time we drove through Menai Bridge we saw this dragon - which often had smoke coming out of his mouth! Hence we called it The Smoking Dragon.
D went a local walk in the evening and I have included his lovely photo of a nettle.
Day 4 will include a visit to Plas Cadnant Hidden Gardens, Llanfairpg and Horatio Nelson's statue on the shores of the Menai Straits plus a tale of a nearly lost Timothy!
Reference: Information Boards at Holyhead Mountain Hut Circle
"The Rocks of Anglesey's Coast" by Jack E Treagus and Susan H Streagus
*D Photos taken by my son with the CanonSX50HS bridge camera
Rest of photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera
