Day 29 Amroth to Pendine Carmarthan coast

Thursday  17^th January 2019

Amroth to Pendine

Walk distance 7km

Cycle 0 km

Height  300est

2.5 hours

Total coastal distance walked 7km

Total coastal distance cycled 0km

Running coastal total distance 378.35km

Running height climbed 11914m

Quick journey down to Pendine, via Abergavenny and Brecon. Passing through Laugharne (pronounced Lorn)I spotted the B and B which was great as it might be hard to find after dark. Arriving at Pendine at 1230 I had time to explore before the bus was due at 2pm. The beach looks magnificent. A red flag was up and a soldier was patrolling so access was restricted to the western end. I asked when the main beach would be open. Turned out to be Saturday which would help me plan my routes. The sun was shining but it was cold. Inland the village has an air of desolation with all the seaside shops cafes and bars closed. A few people were dog walking and several guys fixing said closed places. Numerous caravans give the place the appearance of chav ville. I imagine it to be heaving in summer. By the car park is the museum of speed. The beach is where land speed records were set. The short bus ride through narrow lanes took me to Amroth. I alighted the bus at the end of the Pembrokeshire path stone marker where Ann and I had reached maybe 2 years before. I was conscious it would be dark soon so after a few photos commenced following the lane up hill and then picked up the cliff path to Telpyn point. The coastline behind, in sun, looked great. Caldey and Tenby silhouetted against a low sun.

Start at Amroth

The climbs were steeper than I imagined and dropped to small coves. At the top of one, lots of rubbish had been gathered by visitors. Sad so much gets washed up. Perhaps some is from Worcestershire, washed down the river and out into the Bristol channel. I saw dark ducks bobbing in whats known as Camarthan bay. These are wintering birds, made scarce by oil spills. Thankfully there numbers are recovering. A highlight was walking through the lower part of an ancient wooded valley - Teague's wood, reputably Wales last wolf lived here until shot.

Lichen growing among limestone rocks and heather

The tide was in so no sand was visible even along the lengthy Marros sands. There was no possibility of walking the low tide beach route. Much of the cliff side is covered with quite young trees, a sign that these were once all grazed flower meadows. Ironically although nature is reclaiming this marginal agricultural land it is to the loss of the flowers associated with traditional grazing. In land all is intensively farmed. Closer to Pendine there are more rocks, limestone. Heather and even purple moor grass grows here on Ragwen and Gilman point. But even here, with little management it is fast disappearing under a sea of bracken, bramble, gorse and scrub. In one area even the gorse reached 20 foot growing up through young oak. Surprisingly along the grass edged path there were brambles and red campion in flower. In places numerous midges danced over the path. Sometimes the sea was obscured by scrub and the path climbed well away from the shore. Although the bay was calm the crashing of waves against boulders made me aware of its presence. As the afternoon wore on it started to cloud over and the temperature dropped as it became dusk. Twice I stopped for a very short coffee break and snack, but the concern of a cliff path at night made me press on. At the last bay, Morfa Brychan, signs announced the presence of the NT as landowner. A huge concrete block suggested ww2 defences. In fact, these were used for d day training which apparently Churchill watched. There are also remnants of hill forts and burial chambers on the high ground of this short walk. I descended the last slope just as it was getting hard to see. Drove to Hills B and B and was greeted with mulled wine.

Most of the restaurants were closed and pubs not serving meals. I ate in the only open restaurant, a very strange looking one, far too many mirrors and glittery decor. But a nice meal of local gammon. In the depths of mid-winter there were only 3 customers. In the evening watched back to back Torchwood.

Pendine sands at dusk