Great Orme/ Y Gogarth

The walk begins near the Summit Complex, some 679 feet (207 metres) above sea level, with extensive views along the coast. Just below are the mines where copper was extracted from about 1700 to the 1860s.

The Georgian miners discovered earlier workings, which were attributed to the Romans. Recently, however, stone hammers and bone scraping tools have been unearthed; carbon dating suggests that the mines were in use between 600 and 1800 BC. Until the discovery, it had been supposed that British Bronze Age copper had all been imported.

About 50,000 tonnes of mining waste have been removed, and the old tunnels have been excavated. One large chamber contained a great number of stone and bone tools, and little evidence was found of modern drilling and blasting. These Bronze Age mines are currently thought to be the largest of their kind in the world. There is every indication that what has been discovered is only a faction of what remains, and this newly opened attraction is still very much a working archaeological site.

The route continues past the Halfway Station of the Great Orme Tramway. When the Victorians were developing Llandudno as a seaside resort, they realised that a ride to the summit of Great Orme would be a great attraction. Work began in 1898 and the tramway was opened in 1902.

The line has two sections, each with a winding house. The trams, one ascending and one descending, are pulled by cables. The tramway is single track, except at the passing places at the halfway point. A more modern ride to the summit is provided by the cable car, whose ride of one mile (1.6 kilometres) each way is the longest in Britain.

A straight path leads down the seaward side of the head to the Church of St Tudno, a Welsh Christian missionary who came to the Orme in the 6th century. His original wooden church was replaced by a stone one in the 12th century. This fell into disrepair, but was fully restored in 1855.

The route follows Marine Drive around the headland, with magnificent views of the cliff and coastal scenery. Guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmars nest on these cliffs. As the walk passes the old lighthouse, there are fine views of Anglesey. Further around, the Carneddau Mountains of Snowdonia can be seen.

The route climbs back up towards the start on Monk's Path, which remains green even in periods of drought. Local legend has it that this is due to the number of holy feet that once climbed up the path from Gogarth Abbey on the coast below.

The path ascends through heath and grassland, and as it nears the summit passes an area of heath preservation. Wild thyme, salad burnet and common rockrose can be found, as well as the rarer limestone loving hoary rockrose and dropwort.

The abundance of wildflowers attracts butterflies such as peacocks, meadow browns, commas and red admirals. If you are fortunate, you may see the silver studded blue and also an unusual small race of the grayling, which is found here, and nowhere else in Britain.