What does it mean to tell the story of a place?

The lighthouse at Llandwyn Island

This week I’ve been pondering what it means to tell the story of a place. This is because I spent part of last week at one of my favourite places on Earth: Llandwyn Island on Anglesey.

I tend to think of a story as something that has a beginning, a middle and an end, but it’s difficult to apply that narrative to a location. To interpret this literally, I could take you on a journey from the car park to the tip of the island. And although this would capture the footsteps of my journey, it would be an impoverished description of what makes Llandwyn Island so special.

I could instead treat it like a historical narrative. However, I don’t know much about Llandwyn Island’s history and even if I did, it wouldn’t capture what makes this place special to me.

Llandwyn Island isn’t so much a place as a bunch of feelings. The feeling of calm as you walk along Newborough beach. The feeling that you are in a special spiritual place when you encounter the ruined church of St. Dwynwen and the Celtic cross. And when you reach the lighthouse: the feeling that you’ve not so much arrived somewhere but reached the end of something.

These images are my attempt to describe some of those feelings.

Trees on Newborough beach.

The walk towards Llandwyn Island.

Reflections on the Newborough beach.

A gull scoffs a crab.

Newborough beach is littered with seashells.

This glorious gate heralds your entrance to the island.

Many of the paths on the island are comprised entirely of broken seashells.

View towards the lighthouse.

The view towards the Celtic cross through the ruins of the church of St. Dwynwen.

Cottages were built on Llandwyn Island to house pilots who guided ships into the Menai Strait (Llandwyn is at the southern entrance to the Menai Strait). The cannon was used to summon the lifeboat crew.

The view up towards the lighthouse.

The lighthouse itself provides an opportunity to discover the corrosive effects of sea water.

There are many photogenic views towards the lighthouse that it’s no surprise it’s a photographer’s dream.

There are also stunning views looking back from the lighthouse towards the beach.

Although it has no obvious sense of place, something about this image captures for me the meditative peacefulness of Llandwyn Island.

This is photo story 10/52. More details about this project.

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