Day 3 Aberystwyth to Llanrhystud

Day 3

Saturday 11th October 2014
Aberystwyth to Llanrhystud

Walk distance 17km
Height 465m
5 hours
Bus back to Aberystwth

Total coastal distance walked  17
Running coastal total distance  38km
Running coastal total height 859m

Walked around Aberystwyth harbour and crossed the two rivers whose confluence meet in the harbour. In the past the harbour was used for exporting lead ore,ship building and fishing. Above the rivers is an iron age hill fort, Pendinas.

Tan y bwlch pebble beach was interesting and there were still plants in flower. These included the white flowers of sea campion and English stonecrop. Next came a very steep climb up Allt Wen. A red kite appeared and throughout the walk I could often see a kite or buzzard.

The tilted layered rocks is dramatic and you can see that some of these have slid towards the sea. In many places the cliffs are slumping and fences have had to be moved. The landward side is much more managed than north of Aberystwyth. The soft boulder clay is very fertile and many fields are cattle grazed. There is also lots of sheep.

The ruined Farm at Ffos-lasis rather sad I would love to live in such a beautiful place . Whilst eating lunch there I wondered if Ebola could have the same impact on the landscape that the plague had. If it took hold or became more contagious probably only people living in such remote places would be safe. Further on I reached Penderi cliffs nature reserve. An impressive steep sessile oak wood.

The trees gnarled and shortened by the wind. The path on the cliff was very steep. Without the trees to hold onto or the illusion of a barrier below I might not have ventured down. At the end of a dead end overlooking steep cliffs I was delighted that a chough flew by. It's curved red bill visible.  These members of the crow family are rare.  They feed on insects and probably declined due to changing farming practices and increased use of insecticides and wormers. A large sea cave was also visible from the reserve. Cormorants could be seen perched on the rocks. Out of place, I also saw one sat on a beech. The beeches on this leg of the walk are all stony and inaccessible. All along this walk I had watched two fishing boats at work. Occasionally a seals head would be visible too. Once in a while there was a flurry of bird activity and I saw stonechats, linnets and rock pipits. The end of the walk finished at a very large caravan park at Llanrhystud. To be honest this was very ugly, dominating what would have been a nice pebble beach. It took ages to walk past it, row upon row of stark white metal boxes. The village was no better, dominated by a Texaco garage. By luck a bus arrived within a minute and took me to Aberystwyth. The outskirts of the town were no different to many British towns. Two retail parks with identical shops to everywhere else. Only some signs in Welsh reminded me I was in another country. However the sea front is what makes Aberystwyth special. Besides Edward Is castle ruin, the pier the colourful Victorian buildings and cliff railway make it. Two night running I had great fish and chips from a chipy opposite the pier. Tonight I was able to watch the sun set. It had been a fine day. Even in the town, on the beech, are ringed plovers, oystercatcher and rock pipits. Of course there are gulls and pigeons everywhere taking advantage of scraps. I am glad the walk is going well. With the soulless caravan park visible for the last mile I did start thinking about how I could cycle some parts, or even investigate if it was possible to go by boat along some of the coast to avoid land sections that may be tedious.