Red Wharf Bay, also known as Traeth Coch (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

for "red beach"), is a village and a wide sandy bay in the Anglesey Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the east coast of the island of

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. The bay lies between the villages of

Pentraeth Pentraeth (; ) is a village and community on the island of Anglesey (''Ynys Môn''), North Wales, at . The Royal Mail postcode begins LL75. The community population taken at the 2011 census was 1,178. The village itself having a population of ...

and

Benllech Benllech (; ) is a large village on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales. It is in the community of Llanfair-Mathafarn-Eithaf, which has a population of 3,382, making it the fourth largest settlement on the island of Anglesey. The name of Benllech v ...

. It is also close to Castell Mawr Rock, thought to be the site of an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

fort. Red Wharf Bay beach itself has a large expanse of sand at low tide.

Village

The village of Red Wharf Bay is on the western shore of the bay. The village is linked to

and

via the Anglesey Coastal Path. Red Wharf Bay has three restaurants—The Tavern on the Bay, The Ship Inn, and The Boathouse—all with views of the bay.

Wildlife

The bay attracts an abundance or wildlife, including a large number of waterfowl and wading birds, such as

oystercatcher The oystercatchers are a group of waders forming the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, ''Haematopus''. They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and South East Asia. The e ...

shelduck The shelducks, most species of which are found in the genus ''Tadorna'' (except for the Radjah shelduck, which is now found in its own monotypic genus ''Radjah''), are a group of large birds in the Tadorninae subfamily of the Anatidae, the biologi ...

purple sandpiper The purple sandpiper (''Calidris maritima'') is a small shorebird in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae. This is a hardy sandpiper that breeds in the arctic and subarctic regions of Eurasia and North America and winters further south on the Atlant ...

curlew The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been in ...

and

dunlin The dunlin (''Calidris alpina'') is a small wader, formerly sometimes separated with the other "stints" in the genus ''Erolia''. The English name is a dialect form of "dunling", first recorded in 1531–1532. It derives from ''dun'', "dull brown ...

. The bay is bordered by salt marshes and sand dunes. Some of these dunes are rich in shell fragments that support the flora common to lime-rich areas, including the

pyramidal orchid ''Anacamptis pyramidalis'', the pyramidal orchid, is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the genus ''Anacamptis'' of the family Orchidaceae. The scientific name ''Anacamptis'' derives from Greek ανακάμτειν 'anakamptein' meaning 'b ...

Events

Each year the Red Wharf Bay Sailing Club Anglesey Offshore Dinghy Race takes place from Beaumaris to

Traeth Bychan Traeth Bychan (''Traeth'' = 'beach', ''Bychan'' = 'small') is a beach on the isle of Anglesey, Wales. The beach is between the villages of Benllech and Moelfre. It faces eastwards and so offers shelter from the prevailing southwesterly winds. ...

. The race runs up the

Menai Strait The Menai Strait ( cy, Afon Menai, the "river Menai") is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about long, which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland of Wales. It varies in width from from Fort Belan to Abermenai Point to from ...

and down the Anglesey coast.

History

There was once a railway line which terminated at the bay, the

Red Wharf Bay branch line The Red Wharf Bay branch line was a standard gauge railway line in Anglesey, Wales, a branch off the Anglesey Central Railway. It opened fully in 1909, but closed to passengers in September 1930.Richards, Melville: An Atlas of Anglesey, page 99 ...

, which left the

Anglesey Central Railway The Anglesey Central Railway (Welsh: ''Lein Amlwch'', ''Amlwch Line'') was a standard-gauge railway in Anglesey, Wales, connecting the port of Amlwch and the county town of Llangefni with the North Wales Coast Line at Gaerwen. Built as an i ...

Pentre Berw Pentre Berw () is a small village located on the island of Anglesey in north Wales. It lies about south of the county town of Llangefni, and next to Gaerwen. Description The A5 and the A55 runs through the village as does the disused Anglese ...

. Stone for the

Admiralty Arch, Holyhead Admiralty Arch, in Holyhead, Anglesey, was built in 1824 to mark the end of Thomas Telford's Holyhead road. The arch was designed by Thomas Harrison and its main purpose was to commemorate the visit of King George IV of the United Kingdom in ...

was quarried near the bay.

References

External links

*
360 Panoramic view of Red Wharf Bay (North side)- uses QuickTime
Llanfair-Mathafarn-Eithaf Pentraeth Bays of Anglesey {{Anglesey-geo-stub