Abersoch: Life in a tourist town when the visitors have left

It's one of Wales' most famous seaside villages, but what is life like in Abersoch when the visitors leave?

The first thing you notice are the parking spaces.

It took half an hour to find one anywhere near the High Street when I visited four months ago in the height of summer. No such problem on a damp Tuesday in November.

That High Street looks different too. The packed pavements of summer, which made social distancing almost impossible, hardly have a soul on them.

There is another thing you don't see in summer - Terry's Family Butchers is empty.

When Dawn Jones, Terry's daughter, emerges from the back of the shop, she agrees to chat to me about life in Abersoch when the summer season ends.

"As long as you don't mind me keeping an eye on this council meeting," she says, raising her phone.

"They're meeting now to discuss the closure of the school."

Dawn is a parent governor at the seven-pupil Ysgol Abersoch. Gwynedd councillors voted earlier this year to close it, before agreeing to review the decision.

"I'll be gutted if they close it, gutted. I know the figures are low, but with this big cloud over the school, you can't blame a parent for not signing their child up.

"And they want to close it, if they do close it in the middle of school term, it isn't fair on the children or the parents.

"It's the heart of the village. The children come around the village. They pop into the shops, they have a word with everyone. They chat with people here on holidays.

"In the summer holidays they have their sports lessons on the beach… you don't get that everywhere. It's special."

Later that evening, just hours after my visit, the school's fate is sealed and the decision to close it is confirmed - its seven pupils will move to Ysgol Sarn Bach from January.

A couple of doors down at Blades Deli and Bakery, owner Kay Brennan is equally incensed about the impending closure of the school, which she calls "an absolute disaster".

"If the school hadn't been under the threat of closure for the last - well, I've been here 11 years and it's been going on that long - then people would feel more able to send their child to that beautiful school. People need the continuity and stability for their precious youngsters.

"It just rips the heart out of the village. Fundamentally the village school was bequeathed to the village by a family. To lose it is terrible. Everybody that you speak to around this village feels the same."

Kay doesn't think Abersoch hibernates in the autumn and winter, but admits the school's closure would be "another stab".

So what is it like in winter?

"In terms of people who live here continuously, I think it's between 600 and 700. But obviously in the summer months we swell to about 30,000, so it's massive.

"There's quite a lot of people who live here all year round that we don't see in the summer, for obvious reasons. Now that most of the caravan parks are closed, you see more of the local people.

"The village community kind of restarts, if you like. It's lovely.

"It's not a ghost town. It's quiet, but there are upwards of 600 people who live here, who support the village during the winter. Or else we would just all close down wouldn't we?

"It's important that those people are recognised and made to feel that they can and should be able to support the village."

The school's closure will be felt in a village which has seen a decline in the number of young children in recent years, according to some.

High property prices, driven by the demand for second homes, means many young families say they cannot afford to buy in Abersoch and have to move to surrounding areas.

Rebecca Hinde, editor of Abersoch Life magazine, said: "It was very noticeable on Halloween because there were no children in the village going trick or treating. It was awful weather though, so maybe that had something to do with it, but even so, I'd expected to see some.

"There seems to be a depletion of children because people with young families have moved outside.

"It's a big difference from when I was young here, when there was a huge population of young children."

Others I speak to did see a few trick-or-treaters, but all agree there seems to be fewer children compared with years gone by.

Rebecca spent years visiting Abersoch before moving from London to nearby Llanbedrog in 2019.

On life after the summer season, she says: "Obviously because people still aren't travelling abroad as much, the season is running longer, but everything does noticeably drop off."

It's early afternoon and The Creel chippie, which had queues on its steps during my last visit, is closed. It's winter opening times are in the window.

The Vaynol pub, too, is closed, as are several cafes, restaurants, clothes shops and a small gift shop.

It's a different Abersoch to the one I last saw in summer - quiet, very quiet. But not a ghost town.

Kin and Co coffee house has about half a dozen customers inside. St Tudwal's pub has diners in the window. Abersoch Watersports is open, although nobody seems to be on the water.

One shop owner who didn't want to be named, tells me: "Of course its quiet. But it's a holiday resort. You can't compare summer with winter.

"They stay away in the summer, but in the autumn and winter they come here from all over the Llyn (Peninsula) to go shopping... it keeps us ticking over."

Sion Edwards opened his farm shop, Siop Fferm Abersoch, in August, as well as an adjoining café earlier this month.

"It was manic for a good few weeks," he said, "then it died down in September.

"But then again, we've still got good footfall through the shop and we're extremely lucky with the locals. It's amazing how they support us."

He says it's "nice to see" people from the village, many of whom stay away because "you can't move in Abersoch" during the summer.

He is on "neutral ground" when it comes to the issue of second homes - a controversial topic for many living in desirable seaside areas of Wales.

About 40% of properties in the village are second homes.

"When they come to their holiday homes, fair play to them, they support us here. It's a difficult one.

"You can't blame them for buying a house here, if they've got the money to buy it. And you can't blame the local person for selling it for that amount of money. It's a circle that can't be fixed.

"But there's no sense in the prices, no sense. There's no way a young family can buy a property anywhere here now."

Clive Williams co-owns the family-run Llyn Cleaning Services. Much of his work involves cleaning holiday lets during the summer.

"There is a big difference between summer and winter, obviously. But I wouldn't say it becomes a ghost town. It's still a busy little village.

"In the summer, we usually can't get enough staff on a Friday, which is changeover day. We can do 20 to 30 changeovers.

"Right now it's just one or two, but it's right up until Christmas. And then Christmas just takes off again."

Nigel Jones, owner of Talafon Stores, a convenience shop in the centre of the village, said: "Compared to the summer, it goes very quiet. The village is 80% holiday homes, and it's just getting worse.

"But there is a local community here which supports us.

"Everyone says they can park outside the shop, whereas in the summer they can't. So in that sense, yes, it benefits the locals because it's so quiet - and they've been good to us, really supported us."

There's little doubt Abersoch, like all seaside communities, is quieter after the summer months, but there is evidence it is staying busier for longer.

County councillor Dewi Wyn Roberts, who lives in Abersoch, said: "In normal years it gets much quieter after the October half-term, but they might not this year because of the growth in demand.

"There's more people here than there normally would be."

Fellow councillor Wyn Roberts believes Covid has probably contributed to the rise in visitor numbers.

"It's just gone whoosh because people aren't going away abroad. A lot of people are saying 'we'll go to Abersoch instead'.

"There's also been a change because people have found they can work from home.

"Rather than working from Manchester or Liverpool, or wherever they might live, people who own properties here have realised they can work here too, perhaps have a walk on the beach and then go back to work."