This walk is near Newborough village, south west Anglesey. Newborough Warren and Ynys Llanddwyn are national nature reserves with a diversity of habitat and their own history and mythology.

Level: The distance of this walk is about five miles. It is a moderate walk with some more challenging stretches through sand dunes.
Start: The route begins at the ruins of the Royal Court which was the last royal court in Wales.
Access: There is car parking in the village of Newborough at map reference SH425656 - 200 metres from the start of the walk at SH420653. There is a bus service from Bangor to Newborough.

The Royal Court is an excellent vantage point with views across the whole of the reserve, taking in Abermenai Point which is where Llywelyn kept his navy so he could see them from here. You can also see across to Snowdonia.

The sand dunes around this area are also known as being the largest in Wales and arguably one of the finest in Europe. From here the route takes you through the forest which is now managed by Forest Enterprise Wales. The forest was planted after World War II as part of a Government move to provide the country with as much timber as possible in case the country went into war again.

At the same time, the new forest provided employment for the troops returning to Anglesey and helped to prevent the movement of sand and sand dunes onto the road and village of Newborough. Today, the forest covers acres, and is home to squirrels, bats and a successful raven roost.

From here the walk moves on to Llanddwyn Island. The Church on Llanddwyn Island was built in the 5th century by St Dwynwen after an unhappy love affair. She became the patron saint of lovers who made a pilgrimage to her well on Llanddwyn Island to find out if their lover was faithful.

It was later ruined, but in the 16th century a new church was built whose ruins remain. Dwynwen was one of the 24 beautiful daughters of Brychan, a saint and prince of 5th century Wales. She died in AD 465 and today is remembered on January 25 every year.

There is also a maritime history to the island. During the 17th, 18th and early 19th century, when slate was exported from the ports of Caernarfon, Bangor and Felinheli, pilots were used to steer the ships over the dangerous sand bars into the Menai Straits. From 1826, the Caernarfon Harbour Trustees based there provided the pilots with cottages on Llanddwyn.

The pilots also manned the lifeboat station which was later run by the RNLI. A small light was established in 1823 by the Caernarfon Harbour Trustees as a navigational aid for entering the Menai Straits and Caernarfon harbour.

There are now two towers on the island, the larger original lighthouse and the smaller which is a day-mark, marking the entrance to Pilot's Cove and which now displays the light.