AN ANGLESEA AMAZON

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1016, 5 July 1930, Page 10

AN ANGLESEA AMAZON

WELSH ISLAND WITH WOMAN RULER “QUEEN” ELIZABETH The spirit of Boadicea, strong and unflinching, moves even to this day. ; A strong arm like hers rules the tiny , community settled on Llanddwvn 1 Island, which lies off a practically impenetrable corner of the south-east-ern coast of Anglesea. The wielder of the arm in these days is Mrs. Elizabeth Jones (an : Amazon if ever there was one). She is known only as Elizabeth, and if Bardsey Island can boast of its King Pritchard, Llanddwyn must have its Queen Elizabeth. The island is her home and nattre heath. Elizabeth was born 53 years ago of a family of coast watchers and pilots, and rose, a giant among women, to wor like the men and share with them L 3 hazards of their daily occupations. Today’, erect and as agile as ever, she is the sole representative of the original island dwellers. About her are the Caernarvon Harbour Trust pilots and t eir families, living in a row of cottages underneath the lightr >use rock. Lonely Night Vigils Elizabeth shares with the men the responsibility of maintaining the lighthouse watch. Officially ehe is a relief lighthouse-keeper in the employ of the Harbour Trust. Her duties take her into the lighthouse at. nights and include keeping a lonely vigil until dawn, coast watching during bad weather, and pulling an oar in the heavy longboat used for conveying pilots to ships bound across the Caernarvon Bar. In the days of her husband and her father and brothers —the days of a steady demand for pilots —Elizabeth would sometimes live all day in an open boat and return at night to take her watch in the lighthouse. In those days Llanddwyn maintained a lifeboat and Elizabeth assisted at every launch. Nowadays the calls of pilots are few and far between, and trips to sea are only occasional, so Elizabeth divides her spare time in protecting the bird sanctuaries which abound on the rocky and precipitous islets off Llanddwyn, aDd catering for visitors. Next month she will row* to the islet and climb rocks to prepare the ground for the approaching nesting season, aud in the summer she will take on her duties as steward to the island landlord, the Hon. F. G. Wynn, aud woe betide any inquisitive visitor who delves too deeply into the mysteries of Llanddwyn’s ruined abbey or the graves of the departed saints. Deserted Beaches Elizabeth has a practical turn of mind. When interviewed by a reporter, she spoke with worldly wisdom of the immense possibilities of the Llanddwyn neighbourhood as a holiday resort. East and west of the secluded island are two of the finest deserted beaches in North Wales. Malltraeth sands sweep to the northwest as far as the eye can see. and eastward is another sandy curve stretching right to the shores of Menai Straits. But between these beaches and LxU. nearest roads are almost a hundred square miles of sand dunes. “If we could get a road from Newborough, the nearest town in Anglesea, across this warren to Llanddwyn there would arise on this shore a holiday resort which for magnificence of situation would be without comparison in North Wales,” said Elizabeth. “As it is now, we in Llanddwyn, and the people who come here, have to cross the desert of sand on foot, and all our stores must be carried iu from Xewborough on donkeys. Strangers often go miles out of their way because the track is known only to very few'.” Others on the island were agreed that the authorities would be wise in ! paying attention to the possibilities lof developing the beaches and con- | quering the immense obstacle -which now' hides Anglesea’s most beautiful ! seascape from the world.