Day 13 Pwll Deri to Porthgain

Day 13
Monday 1st June
Pwll Deri to Porthgain

Walk distance 16 km est
Cycle 0km
Height 460 m est
6 hours
Walked from Youth Hostel

Total coastal distance walked  15km
Total coastal distance cycled 0

Running coastal total distance  183.45km
Running height climbed  5733m

View from hill fort above hostel

The hostel

The evening before

He did wake me! As the other hostellers were also getting up early I decided I may as well do the same and after a cooked breakfast I was out walking by quarter to eight. The first section includes a vast 2 km length of cliffs over 450 feet high.  It is this section that is most visible form the panoramic windows in the hostel. It was windy and I was expecting heavy rain. A couple of times I put on over trousers as heavy showers went over.  Thankfully the darkest cloud belts were missing me. The sun even made a brief appearance and  when I reached a relatively sheltered bay and beach at Aber Mawr I was able to comfortably stop for a cup of tea.

 I walked faster than the day before and didnt stop as much to admire views or to look for wildlife. However in the shelter of the pretty fishing harbour at Abercastle I sat on a bench and had a second cup of tea. This time I had a robin for company. I fed the robin cheeses biscuits.

A hill side cavern?

A small diversion took me to Careg Sampson, the remains of a burial chamber. The top slab is 5 meters by 3,  and it is over 5000 years old.

The forecast was for gales from mid day onwards. By now it was getting windier and walking on exposed paths felt less comfortable. The exposed peninsula of Pen Castell-Coch is dramatic and besides yet another fort, there are fabulous views of a rock arch as well as numerous rock stacks.




Beyond I reached Aber Draw, the beach below the village of Trefin. Here, now in drizzle, I sheltered in the ruin of  a mill house and had my lunch.


Checking the bus timetables I decided that I could walk to the next village beat the storms.  Well the storm beat me and just as I started heavy rain came down. Surprisingly I passed quite few bedraggled walkers and hikers.  By the time I reached Porthgain I was fairly wet.  The last corner took my breath away as I wasn’t expecting to see huge industrial ruins and a thick harbour wall.  The place looked intriguing and I read a sign explaining about the brief export brick and slate industry that was based here.

I gladly headed for the bus stop by the Sloop Inn, and with 30 minutes spare, and after removing rather wet clothes, enjoyed  a pint of beer in the dry and warm.
The bus came on time and dropped me at the end of the lane near the hostel. The last mile back in heavy rain was a bit of a chore. But once back at the hostel I was able to change (having put spare clothes in my car).   A couple had also just arrived and the three of us managed to change in the confines of the hostel porch.  Too wet to worry about modesty. We then all had a drink together stood in the porch and talked, mostly, about the weather. They had walked all of the SW coastal path and were now intent on walking the Pembrokeshire path in one go. I didn’t envy them carrying all the kit, including a tent.  I then drove into Fishguard to wait until the hostel opened at 5pm. That evening I was very glad of a shower and was pleased to eat another meal with interesting company.  The couple I mentioned earlier were both from Devon.   The gale continued all evening and into the next day. It was very satisfying to be in the warm, with such impressive views of the rough sea and the noise of the waves, wind and rain.