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Point of Ayr

0.62 miles (1 km)

Ordnance Survey Map Open Streetmap This beautiful coastal Nature Reserve on the Dee Estuary is a great place for a walk with splendid views and an abundance of wildlife. There are nice sandy paths through the dunes with thousands of feeding birds to look out for. These include Curlew, Peregrine and Oystercatcher. Also look out for natterjack toads.
You can also enjoy a walk along the lovely Talacre beach and visit the 18th century Point of Ayr lighthouse providing it is not high tide! Talacre beach has miles of golden sand with great views over the Irish Sea.
To extend the walk you could continue south along the Wales coast path to Holywell and the historic Flint Castle.

Postcode

CH8 9RQ - Please note: Postcode may be approximate for some rural locations

Point of Ayr OS Map Ordnance survey map - Mobile GPS OS Map with Location tracking

Point of Ayr Open Street Map Open Streetmap - Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking

Further Information and Other Local Ideas

The reserve is located just a few miles west of Prestatyn. Here you could pick up the circular Prestatyn Walk and follow the Offa's Dyke Path to Dyserth. Here you can try the Dyserth Waterfall Walk and visit the 70ft falls. There's also caves, woodland trails, a 16th century church and some nice tea rooms to see in this area. Just north of the village there's the climb to Graig Fawr where you can enjoy some wonderful views to the coast.

Photos

Point of Ayr Lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 613331

Point of Ayr Lighthouse. This was built in 1776 and deactivated in 1883. It was restored in 1996. The tower was originally painted in red and white stripes. The lighthouse guards the most northerly point just before the hard starboard (right) turn into Mostyn harbour.

Ripples in the sand - geograph.org.uk - 484175

Ripples in the sand Low tide at Point of Ayr, the northernmost tip of the Welsh mainland. Across the River Dee, the Wirral is in the distance.

Outer Dunes behind Talacre Beach - geograph.org.uk - 70608

Outer Dunes behind Talacre Beach. The complex of dunes at Talacre Beach and the Warren provide a complex mix of wildlife reserves and recreation.

Beach near Point of Ayr - geograph.org.uk - 674127

Beach near Point of Ayr. Looking west towards Prestatyn. There is a long stretch of dunes on the left which is a SSSI. The light effect on the beach is caused by strong winds blowing the sand.

Talacre Warren - geograph.org.uk - 1119515

Talacre Warren

Point of Ayr Nature Reserve - geograph.org.uk - 70637

The Point of Ayr Nature Reserve on the saltings beyond the sea wall. This photo is looking eastward towards Mostyn and taken from the sea wall about 16.30 on a dull October day. The evening roost of birds, spectacular on some days, was just beginning. The boat in the far distance is a dredger working on the dredging a deeper channel to Mostyn Docks in order to accommodate the barge to take the Airbus wings to Lyon, France. There is considerable concern that this dredging will disturb historical industrial pollution.

The site of Point of Ayr Colliery - geograph.org.uk - 70635

 The site of Point of Ayr Colliery. The colliery was the last colliery to close (in 1997) of the 250 or so pits recorded on The Flintshire & Denbighshire coalfields. At the time it was in the stewardship of RJB Mining.

A huge complex of old and new - geograph.org.uk - 70628

A huge complex of old and new. This railway is the North Wales Holyhead railway. The two sidings to the right led to the recently closed Point of Ayr Colliery. The concrete bridge in the foreground was built to accommodate the construction of the nearby Point of Ayr gas terminal.

Video

GPS Files

GPX File

Point of Ayr.gpx (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold>Download Linked File)

Memory Map Route

Point of Ayr.mmo (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold >Download Linked File)