If you’re from the UK, you’ll no doubt know that we’ve been having a heatwave lately. It’s been a scorcher! We’re not used to 30-degree weather over here with no air conditioning. I’ve got the hottest room in the house – south east facing window and right next to the boiler too – and I work in fast food, so I’ve not really escaped from the heat. Even my fan tends to just blow warm air around most of the time. Although, I’m not complaining! Not at all, not after the winter we’ve just had and the snow in April! I’m loving being able to be outside so much.
Last week me and my boyfriend decided to take advantage of the fact that neither of us were in work for a few days and take a day trip to Barmouth, Wales. Being from the very middle of the country, basically slap bang in between Birmingham and Stoke, we don’t have any local beaches. Fortunately for us, Britain is a small island, so the nearest beaches are only roughly 2 and a bit hours drive away, even living in the midlands.
So, we set off in the morning for what turned into a sweaty 3-hour drive to Barmouth. We had a pre-drive McDonalds to keep us going and each had a bottle of water to drink until we got there, though neither of us finished them by the time we got there because they got so warm. I love driving through the welsh valleys in such perfect weather. It is SO beautiful. Green hills and blue sky, sheep and horses in fields and up close to their fences by the roads. It's very serene and peaceful.
Barmouth has been a place I’ve visited a lot in my life. I don’t think I’ve been to another welsh town more than or even as much as I have Barmouth. My grandparents used to take me and my older cousin when we were very small, and it’s always been the go-to beach for day trips with my parents too. It was even the location of my first stay-cation camping holiday with friends (we stayed at Shell Island which is only 9 miles away) so I know the little beach town quite well now.
It’s one of the best UK beaches in my opinion. The beach itself is huge when the tide is all the way out, and it doesn’t come back in till vey late (it was just starting to come in when we were leaving at around 7pm). The sand is the perfect golden yellow sand that you want - I’m not really a fan of pebble beaches. They’re uncomfortable to sit on and the winds on the UK shore line are usually quite cold. This creates a windy, cold beach with no sand and a sea too cold to go in. Not my type of relaxation. Barmouth however definitely is. The sea is also a good depth to paddle in, you can go quite far out without having to actually swim. Because its shallow, it heats up quickly so it’s comfortable to be in.
We enjoyed sitting on the beach with a frozen slushie while people watching for a while, listening to children moan as they have to go get food and leave the beach, parents shouting at them to be quiet and do as they’re told, a few parents were even trying to bribe them off the beach with the prospect of ice cream. Nout as funny as folk as my Mum always says. When we finally got too hot to sit in one place any longer we went for a paddle, dodging a few dead crabs floating in the shallows being collected by the kids nearby.
After a nice paddle we took the hike back up the boiling sand and off the beach to find some food. Of course, fish and chips were what we had! When at the beach, it is known that you must get a chippy. A British rule if there ever was one. We sat and ate that, weary of the seagulls eyeing up our food, then went back to the beach front for an ice cream, which we ate while looking out at the sea.
After taking some more photos, it was time to go back home. We aired the car out before we hopped in (because we didn’t want to boil alive) and then drove back through the valleys and back into England as the sun set behind us. All in all, a lovely, warm, relaxing day with my best friend.
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