Anglesey
Welcome to Anglesey !
Let your next paddling adventure start here…
Whether you are brand new into the sport, looking for a day exploring the cliffs and caves, learning some foundation skills or looking to develop your skills in our Anglesey tidal races with our personal performance coaching.
You may be looking for some specialised British Canoeing Leadership training, through to assessment and beyond. Top qualified and experienced British Canoeing and expeditionary coaches will ensure you have a paddling experience to remember.
Eila Wilkinson Sea Kayaking and Epic Wales on the water’s edge of the beautiful and historic harbour front of Amlwch. From here we offer a unique mix of paddling opportunities for all level of paddlers, utlizing the stunning waters within the immediate vicinity and also taking in the opportunities that the unique and dynamic coastal waters of Anglesey offer.
The largest island in North Wales is the Isle of Anglesey. Anglesey boasts 125 miles of beautiful coastline and offers a playground for outdoor adventure and spectacular paddling for all levels, brand new beginner to advanced professionals.
Our kayak and surfski base, alongside the ‘Copper Kingdom’ is on the waters edge in Amlwch harbour. As we paddle out of the harbour you can let your imagination drift to mining life 4,000 years ago, to the Bronze Age. Into more modern history, it was during the 1760s when this small corner of North Wales became the smouldering cauldron of the Industrial Revolution. In its time Parys Mountain was the mining the largest amount of copper than any other mine in the world. It was taken down to Amlwch Port where it was further processed and then shipped around the world. The copper from this mine coated the warships of the Royal Navy at Trafalgar in 1805.
Our base is tucked away in large compounds known as copper bins. These were built in the 18th century to store copper ore awaiting shipment.
The arched doorway into the Copper Kingdom centre originally gave access to the ore. Horse-drawn carts carried the ore from the copper mines to Pen Cei, the road on top of the cliff behind the Copper Kingdom. From there the ore was tipped into the bins.
To the south and south-east, the island is divided from the Welsh mainland by the Menai Strait, which at its narrowest point is about 250 metres wide. In all other directions the island is surrounded by the Irish Sea. Accessed via the Menai Bridge, built by Thomas Telford and opened in 1826, it’s the first modern suspension bridge in the world. The bridge over
the Menai Strait offers some exciting moving water experiences and training opportunities.
The coastline is a wealth of blue flag beaches, rolling dunes, hidden coves, rocky outcrops, tidal races and cliffs that tower overhead and an abundance of wildlife. With its two grand Victorian bridges, history really comes to life on Anglesey
Tides and waves all go towards an experience on the surface of the sea, hidden beneath, a rich underwater world full of reefs and shipwrecks. Anglesey was known as the ‘breadbasket of Wales’ or ‘Môn Mam Cymru’ (Mother of Wales) in the Middle Ages due to its abundance of fertile land that literally filled the breadbaskets of the inhabitants of North Wales.
According to Celtic folklore, the Roman invaders of 60 AD were scared witless by Anglesey’s fearless Celtic druids
The island was considered holy by the Celts; it was a stronghold of their priests, the Druids, who planted it with groves of sacred oaks. This was the last pocket of Wales to resist the Roman invasion in the first century AD. For the advancing army, the island’s rich copper reserves were well worth the fight. Before that, Anglesey had been home to Neolithic and Bronze Age communities, burial mounds remain present.