To the city centre

After a good breakfast and a quick re-pack of the rucksack, it was back onto the Pembrokeshire Coast path from the village of Trefin where I had spent the night.

Actually, taking this slight detour into the village means that I have missed a bit of the path, so I can't quite claim to have walked it all the way, but I hope that's forgiveable.

The first place of any size (and here, "Size" has to be understood in Pembrokeshire coast path terms) was Porthgain. That's another nice harbour village which Pembrokeshire has a good number of. On starting the ascent away from the village, I felt a bit like Wordsworth, but my deliberately feeble effort, "Sir Penfro, thou dost grow daffs in gereen and yellow so" will never reach the same heights as those spotted in the Lake District when wandering lonely as a cloud. Anyway, here they are!

Rounding the next headland, St Davids head comes into view. This rocky crag is very nearly the westernmost point of Wales - I'm certainly further west now than I was when walking the Lleyn Peninsula.

The path on St Davids Head is a law unto itself. It's clearly marked thanks to an abundance of arrow markings pointing you in the right direction. That's useful, and I suppose it does keep you from difficult or even dangerous areas, but does it have to zig-zag in and out and up and down quite so much?

From there. it's not far to Whitesands Bay. My guidebook reliably tells me that there is a seasonal cafe here. As this is hardly the height of the summer tourist season I was expecting it to look like many other seasonal cafes I have passed along the coast of Wales - sometimes even in the height of summer - but I'm delighted to say I was wrong! The sign "Open" really did gladden the heart, and rarely has a chocolate and caramel square tasted so good!

But now, I had a question to ask myself. Journeys end for today, the nearby city, is just over a mile away. That will be the case no matter how much I follow the coast round between here and Porth Clais. When someone leaving the cafe joked to the proprietor that he was going into the big city, it was very easy to just look at the map and think "Yes, I'll follow suit"

Well, if you havn't already guessed, the city in question is Britain's smallest city, St Davids. I decided it was too early to cut in, so I continued round the coast to the lifeboat station at St Justinians and entered the city from there.

A visit to the Cathedral was not optional. Indeed, spiritually speaking, it was one of the highlights, possibly even the highlight of the entire Wales coast walk. For not only was I in St Davids Cathedral in the city of St Davids, but the day when this took place was St Davids Day. Today, the walk had a feel of pilgrimage about it, that I wasn't just walking the coast for the sake of it, but was walking for a purpose, a goal of reaching a particular place that has been visited by pilgrims for many centuries. After finding the B&B, returning to the Cathedral for choral eucharist did feel as if I was being given food for the journey, even though this particular stage of the journey ends here and tomorrow the long train journey home takes place.

Oh well, a Happy St Davids Day to you all, Gwyl Dewi Hapus i bawb!

Pembrokeshire coast - part 2

Having reached Fishguard last September, I left the coastal walk for the winter - largely due to not really having 4 clear days when there was a decent amount of light in which to continue with the walk.

The time to resume came at the end of February. Shotton to Fishguard on the train, 7 hours of a job, not something I wish to do on a regular basis. However, once in Fishguard and finding the B&B, it was a walk into the town centre for a bite to eat. Afterwards, I went back to the place where I had left off a few months ago. The walk from there back to the B&B was not far, but it did mean that I was on the right side of the town for the following morning when the walk was to recommence.

So, that morning, leaving the B&B, calling into a local supermarket to stock up on snacks, and heading out into Goodwick, it was hello again to the business of walking uphill to reach the cliff-top path and resume the walk around Penbrokeshire. I hadn't gone far when I encountered an unexpected problem - cows!

Now I have walked through fields of cows before, always with a note of caution, but generally taking the view that if I don't bother them, they won't bother me. This has up to now always proved to be the case. Not today. One was looking at me and started to walk towards me. I didn't hang around to find out if it was just a curious friendly hello or something more sinister. Happily, I was conveniently close to a style into the next field and found myself surprisingly athletic as I went over that in record time! With the safety of a wall between us, the cows came close, but then walked away again pretty soon.

The slight problem now though was that I was slightly off the path, and, a few fields later, had to find a place where some barbed wire had been cut through to get back on track.

Did you know that it was here that the last invasion of Britain took place? Well, perhaps invasion is a bit of a grand word for it, but all the same, the French landed here in 1797, and there is a stone to mark the occasion. The invasion didn't last long - by all accounts, the local women scared them off pretty rapidly !!

Further round the coast, Strumble Head lighthouse marks the end of another headland and the path now continues southwards for several miles to the end of the peninsula.

It's not too much further round the headland before Pwll Deri youth hostel is reached. Being mid-week and well out of season, it was closed, but all the same, a bench in the grounds served as a good place to take the rucksack off for a few minutes, have a sandwich and gather some strength for the afternoon ahead.

There are 2 beaches as part of the afternoon's walk - Aber Bach and Aber Mawr. I had to laugh, "Aber Mawr" means "Big Mouth" - but it's not rude, it refers to a river mouth! The problem was getting onto Aber Bach. At the end of the path, a small stream was emptying onto the beach. It wasn't deep, but it was wide enough to present a challenge. After pondering what to do for a minute or so, and having even looked at some small boats nearby and wondered if anyone would mind.... I eventually walked onto the beach a bit more, still had to trust that my shoes were waterproof and use some protuding stones as stepping stones. I was splashed but not soaked!

Aber Bach and Aber Mawr proved to be very nice beaches, but stony, so no good for sunbathing in the summer, then it was round the coast a bit more to Abercastle. That is a very pretty harbour village - I had originally hoped to spend the night here, but had no joy with on-line searches. Not that I was worried - I did have somewhere to stay.

The place in question was in Trevin - a village about another 5 miles or so round the coast. It was easy to reach and, in a village that size, the B&B was easy to find. There was no mobile signal at all in the village - so I simply switched my mobile to flight mode to save the battery and relaxed with a meal in the village pub followed by a bit of reading and telly watching! Bliss!

Pembrokeshire coast - the beginning

Regular followers of this blog (both of you!) may well be forgiven for thinking that I am still in Cardigan on the Wales coastal walk. Not true, I have now made a start and a fair impression on the Pembrokeshire coast path, so over the next few days I'll be trying to bring you up to speed with where I'm at now.

It was last September when I went back to Cardigan in order to start the next stage of the walk. Day 1 was very gently, just a short walk of 4 or 5 miles, only taking about an hour and a half, the real work being done the next day.

Leaving Cardigan and crossing the river Teifi it is also farewell to Ceredigion and hello Pembrokeshire. Logistically, this is going to present some interesting challenges - it is the part of Wales that is furthest from home, and, being rather remote, is not all that easy to get to.

The first town in Pembrokeshire, St Dogmaels, is also the official start of the Pembrokeshire coast path. It was encouraging seeing the waymark at the side of the road, a great encouragement of how far I have come, but also rather sobering to realise that this bit of the Wales coast path alone is over 180 miles, and there is a long way to go yet. Still, covering the distance won't be done by admiring the scenery, so on we go.

Actually, that day I didn't go much further, just to the next village, Poppit Sands, and the youth hostel there which was my home for the night.

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I was very glad of that start the next day. Had I needed to start from Cardigan I don't think I would have reached Fishguard that day, and looking back, I still don't think I fully realise how close I came to admitting that I had bitten off more than I could chew.

The distance today was approaching 25 miles. I have done that sort of distance before, even on some earlier stages of the walk, but I hadn't allowed for the various ascents and descents of the cliffs which also need to be taken into account. And when I say cliffs, I mean cliffs, some are 500 feet above sea level - in some cases with a vertical drop straight down to the sea from the cliff edge which is sometimes very near the path! Some of the warning signs are pretty graphic in their description of what can happen!

Still, I have already covered the highest part of the Wales coast path when I was on the Lleyn Peninsula and my phone thought I was in Ireland (!), so it can't be that bad, can it?

Yes, it can! This might not be the highest point of the Wales coast path but it is the highest point of the Pembrokeshire coast path and it must come a good second! The climbs are worth it, for the views are spectacular, but don't underestimate them.

I was led to believe from my guidebook that once I had made the initial ascent, it would be pretty much a level playing-field with chance to get the breath back over the coming miles. Don't you believe it! the ups and downs come thick and fast!

I did, however, get to Newport (yes, another Newport!) at lunchtime, and it was a pleasant place to stop for a sandwich and some water. Leaving Newport, the path goes along the beach, which was fine as it was low tide - but there is a diversion inland marked should the path be covered by the sea!

Approaching Dinas head, I was getting very tired, and wondered if I might be allowed to take a short-cut. Well, that was answered when it turned out that I had missed the turning for the short cut, so onwards and upwards, and with more climbing, it was upwards alright! (By climbing, I mean walking uphill, not actual climbing with ropes etc!). But was with other ascents, there were great views to reward the effort of getting uphill, and it also offered me my first glimpse of Fishguard - but that was still a good 6 miles or so away! After leaving Dinas Head, there was at least a chance of a sit-down and glass of lemonade in Pwllgwaelod before the final apporach!

The final approach itself is on road, which is quite a welcome relief after all the hills. Not that Fishguard is flat. The road drops down to the harbour, which is pleasant enough, but then there's one final uphill into the town. It was almost too much. When I got there, it was all I could do to get to the bus stop and wait for the bus back to Cardigan where I'd left my car. It had been a very good day's walking, but a very tough one as well.