Ancient barrows and forests.

Tuesday 28th April
Ancient barrow and Forests

Tired after two days walking I chose to visit local sights,as well as return to the lovely garden centre at Moylegrove.

Pentri Ifan
This is the largest ‘Dolmen’ and is 3500BC old.  Only a few stones remain of the once 30 meter long structure, a tomb for the dead.  It overlooks the nearby mountains as well as the coast and Dinas Island.  The stones that remain were the main entrance and include a huge 5 meter long capstone supported by 3 stones.


A very atmospheric place with very good views of the surrounding country.

Pengelli Forest
A Wildlife Trust reserve, part of the largest oak woodland in West Wales.  Part is 100 year old oak growth after felling in WWI. Here plants like bilberry and common cow wheat grow. Else where there is more variety and under story of hazel.   Pengelli Forest is well worth a visit.

  

Day 11 Newport to Fishguard

Day 11
Monday 27th April
Newport to Fishguard

Walk distance 19km
Cycle 0km
Height 800m
6 hours
Bus from Fishguard to Newport

Total coastal distance walked  19
Total coastal distance cycled 0

Running coastal total distance  153.45km
Running height climbed  4813m




I took the bus to Newport soon after 9am. There was a small market in the road leading to the private castle, selling produce like local honey. Tempting to buy but not to carry it. The walk started well climbing up smaller cliffs than the day before. The path dropped down to several beautiful and fairly sheltered beaches. The air temperature was apparently only 5 or 6 degrees and in the wind under clouds it felt bitter. In contrast there were moments when the sun shone and it was hot. A lizard scuttled across the path at one point so in the sheltered places it must have been much warmer. Leading up to Cym yr Eglwys I walked under a tunnel of blackthorn.

With rain threatening the wind blew the petals down like snow. The ruined church on the shore was the result of a powerful storm. Although the shortcut was tempting I started the climb up to the headland of Dinas island. I was rewarded by my first proper views of razorbills and guillemots perched on a stack. All in strong plumage they looked beautiful. Some of the razorbills were on the sea and occasionally went under water after food. Some of the birds were sat on eggs. The rain held off and I was able to sit on the headland, Pen y Fan, at 142 m in sunshine. After a bit of lunch for the first time since walking the coast my ankles ached. The next section of cliffs also included beaches. In places trees on the cliff path were growing horizontally. Towards the end in a more sheltered spot I saw spring squill.  

At a rather smart caravan park I met one of the coastal path rangers. He asked after my walk. He was discussing improving the path on the cliff side with the owner. There was a magnificent rock arch beyond the park.


The path crossed the flanks of heather clad moorland. Unusually wood anemone carpeted underneath. As the harbour became visible wildlife still abounded as I watched two gannets diving.


Birdlife had been abundant all day. Rather than list everything the birds that were most obvious were chiffchaff willow wabler and whitethroat. All around signs of spring. I love the reptilian scaled fronds of ferns as they emerge.





On the last promontory overlooking Fishguard lower town is the remains of a fort complete with canon.

Once in Fishguard I just had time, before 5 pm to call in to the town hall to see the famous tapestry commemorating the 200 years since the last invasion. Strange to think of this happening only 200 years ago. In 1797 the French launched an invasion, landing just south of Fishguard. They had hoped the poor would join them to overthrow the crown.  They succeeded in landing and even set up a camp, and pillaged the surrounding area. Thanks to the quick reactions of the military and locals they realised they could not succeed and surrendered fairly quickly.  A number of people were killed and building ransacked. We are so lucky that besides the bombings in the wars that theirs been peace here for so long.

In the evening I walked to the Globe to try their curry.   The pub was busier and a young man called Sam joined me at my table.  He was from London, and was a photographer down to film a lighthouse for an advertising campaign for EE.  Made for an interesting evening sat in front of the hot wood burning stove.

Whimberel near Newport

Seaview hotel

Day 10 Moylegrove to Newport

Day 10
Sunday 26th April
Moylegrove to Newport

Walk distance 15.2km
Cycle 0km
Height 880m est
5 1/2  hours
Cycle from Newport to Molygrove

Total coastal distance walked  15.2
Total coastal distance cycled 0

Running coastal total distance  134.45km
Running height climbed  4013m


Drove to Newport and parked on the Parog and then rode my bike to Moylegrove. I had hoped to avoid the steepest hills and highest point, but with one wrong turn at Navern I encountered both steep hills and the high point. But the village of Navern was very picturesque and I wouldn't have passed its castle if I had gone the planned route. I had just been pushing my bike up some steep turns and was pondering whether cycling was worth it when I passed a near hidden sign behind a gateway. I love the way so many places are understated.

The castle has very little stone left but the layout is clear to see with gateways, motte, moat and a second tower platform. Best of all were the spring plants. Just inside the gateway three early purple orchids were in bloom, along with masses of primroses and  wild garlic coming up. Back onto the lane I cycled to Moylegrove. The lanes are very quiet and I only saw one car. Once I locked my bike, put on my boots and loaded my rucsac I set off following the small lane to Ceibwr Bay.


The first stretch of walk is impressive. First of all a rock stack and then the witches cauldron. This is a sea pool surrounded cliffs and linked with an arch. More like the blue lagoon. Unfortunately the sun light was so bright my photos didn’t work.  Lots of cliff flowers were just starting to come out.
Photo shows a badger sett workings blocking the path.

Bluebells, sea campion, violet, daisies, thrift, with the white sea scurvy carpeting many areas. Gradually the cliffs rose higher and higher. In places where the cliff had collapsed heather grew on the tumbled rock and scree. Elsewhere bracken and grass tied the soil. Much of the cliff looked grazed and cared for. Choughs kept me company for much of the walk indicating healthy grassland full of insects. Once again I wondered about the illusive dolphins. The higher I went the more exposed and the colder it was. The wind was strong but was from the sea. At one point my cap took off and blew into a field. I had to climb a barbed wire fence to rescue it.

Glancing to the sea I saw something disappear. Watching again an animal surfaced and went under again. I knew it was not a seal and hoped it might be a porpoise or dolphin. The kayaks appeared and I wondered if they would drive it off. A bit further on after the kayaks had gone ahead I realised the noise of it breaking out of the rough water drew my attention again. I watched as every few seconds it breached. Sometimes I could see its fin, most of its body, its beak and even the color contrast. I tried to get a photo but it was so quick. It was a dolphin! (I think).

Although lower I was still over 300 feet above it and it looked so small. Several times I stopped to watch it further along. The wind was so strong and cold my eyes watered. Soon after as the cliffs dropped away I disturbed a male peregrine. He flew off and all the nearby oystercatchers flew off in alarm circling until the peregrine returned to his perch. They then separated and went back to there business. Finally dropped down to a beautiful sandy beech it was so nice to walk on the level and hear the waves close too. I rounded the sand dune. In fact the sand dune and back drop of crags looked more like the Sahara. The estuary beyond with the Parog opposite and village above was pretty. I did not think it possible to walk up the side of river so cut back through the dunes and was glad to see a cafe. The lady was about to close but served me a coffee. She quizzed me about the walk. Her son had run in the marathon today and done very well. The last bit of walking was further than I realised up the estuary to a bridge and back down to the Parog. It was rewarded by close views of shelduck feeding and in areas of shaded path by colours and scents of blackthorn, and Alexanders, wild garlic and even emerging cow parsley. (and the wreck of a boat)

In the evening I ate a rather good steak and beer in the Hotel restaurant and retired early, exhausted.

Welsh hinterland, Dolaucothi Gold Mine

Saturday 25th April
Dolaucothi Gold Mine

I travelled via Leominster and a route I'd not done before through Builth Wells. I love driving through mid Wales, it is so quiet and such a beautiful hilly landscape. I stopped very briefly at Llandovery to buy supplies and looked at the remains of the castle. This castle was the scene of many battles as it was possessed by English and Welsh at different times. There is very little to see though and its location by a car park spoils it.   As I was tired from the previous weekend and every evening of garden fence building I decided to abandon the idea of a long coastal walk after the drive. The further round Pembrokeshire I get the longer the drive from Worcester. Instead I took a seemingly tortuous route to the National Trust goldmine at Dolaucothi.

I arrived just in time for a Victorian tour of the mine and quickly doned a helmet and torch to catch up with the group. This was so good, that after a ham toastie and much needed coffee from the cafe I went on the Roman tour. The guide, Rachel from Essex was very good. By the end I hope I had learnt much about this gold mine in Wales. After I  was really itching to go gold panning, especially after a young girl showed me the flecks of gold she had found. But the competition from many children was just too much. The mine had been worked before Roman times. It must have been targeted by them as a resource to exploit. After just seventy years they had stripped it of the most accessible seems in the quartz. They dug open pits as well as shafts into the hill sides.

Later on,  two separate Victorian mine companies encountered the Roman workings and in one instance found 2000 year old laders,props and the remains of water wheels for pumping water out. Unfortunately for the Victorians, time and again they found the Romans had extracted the gold. They did find gold enough to run the mine for a time. A single bar of Welsh hold is worth a million pounds. The royal family own one bar for use for state rings. The condition for miners must have been poor. In Roman times slaves probably worked it and in Victorian times people worked 12 hour shifts just by candle light deep under ground. Their tunnels were small, following seams. The seams that still hold gold are too expensive to extract now. Perhaps one day they will be reopened.

Their is evidence the Romans built a 7 mile aquaduct to carry water to hillside reservoir. This was used to wash the soil off the hillside to find seems. Today the natural water course still carries lose gold. Hence the panning that visitors can try. The tour down into the Victorian mine was fascinating and on it saw fluorescent bacteria and fungi on the roof , the different rocks, shale and quartz and where they miners encountered roman working. At the end of the tour through the mine we climbed up Roman steps cut into the rock.  In the Roman workings we even saw cave spider nests and were told of a rare fern growing. Definitely recommend visiting this site. By now really too late to visit anywhere else I carried on with the long drive and checked into the Seaview hotel in Fishguard. Despite a little drizzle I wanted to enjoy the sea view and air. Views of the modern harbour walking around the cliff path followed by views if the old lower town. Information sign told about the history of the town, its harbour, smuggling and the last invasion of the kingdom. For example, the upper town was once bombarded by canon from a pirate holding the town to ransom. A canon ball was found in the walls of one hotel when being refurbished. A town smuggler returned with accurate fire and drove the pirate off. I walked the whole length of upper and lower town. Colorful buildings were interspersed with derelict or empty properties. Two pubs in the square looked empty and others closed. I was not sure if I would find somewhere to eat. Maybe the advertising was just poor. I went into the Globe and was relieved they were serving food. As I settled down into the really cosy pub, with two foot thick walls and enormous fireplace I realised I had struck lucky. Friendly staff and the most delicious lasagna I have ever had!