Where are the Welsh Coast's 'Magnificent 7' Walks?

This post was published for an event in 2012.

For an up-to-date post on Wales' favourite coast walk, click here

Porthdinllaen, Llyn.  Just one of the stunning locations that you can visit this weekend

If you're like me, you're probably suffering from cabin fever after this weekend's abysmal weather.  And now I'm back to work, the sun's shining through my office window.

What I really need is a bracing walk along the coast...but duty calls, and this pleasure will have to wait until next weekend.

Now, as you probably know, next weekend is one of the most important in the history of the Welsh coast.  Forget the 'big shop', this weekend you simply must go to the coast to celebrate the opening of Wales Coast Path 

Better still, why not be one of the very first people to walk on it after its official launch on Saturday? 

To mark this special occasion, our coastal rangers would like to invite you to join them on one of our Magnificent 7 celebratory walks. 

Whether it’s listening to the dawn chorus on Gower or exploring the historic ‘crog-loft’ cottages of Llyn, we have the walk for you.

Fron Deg, Rhiw, Llyn.  This beautiful coastal 'crog-loft' cottage is a destination for one of our coastal walks this weekend.  Come to learn about its history and the project to restore it.

Organised in partnership with Ramblers Cymru as part of the Big Welsh Walk weekend, the Trust’s guided walks will kick-off a season of events linked to the opening of the coast path.

Here's some details about the walks...

1. Church Bay, Ynys Mon / Anglesey

• Sunday 6th May 10.30am
• 5 miles 2.5hrs
• A National Trust walk around the Church Bay Meet at the Swtan car park with Warden Bryn Jones
• Contact Number: 01407711178

2. Porthdinllaen, Llyn

• Saturday May 5. 4pm-6pm
• Start and finish at Porthdinllaen car park at Morfa Nefyn
• Circular walk with Ranger. Learn about the fascinating maritime history and wildlife of the village and beach.
• Contact: 01758 760533.

3. Mynydd Rhiw

• Sunday May 6. 2pm – 5pm.
• Start and finish at Mynydd Rhiw lay by at summit of road between Bryncroes and Rhiw. Circular walk visiting the cottages of the tyddynnwyr (smallholders) hear from the Ranger about our exciting restoration project.
• Contact: 01758 760533.

 

4. Cwm Tydu, Ceredigion

• Saturday May 5. Time 10am - 1pm 
• Start and finish at the beach at Cwm Tydu - walk along the coast and through the woods at Ryslip to see early spring flowers, along with the possibility of chough and pearl bordered fritillary. 
• Contact: 01545 573030 / 07917266367

 

5. Solva, Pembrokeshire

• Sunday May 6. 2pm-4pm 
• A 4 mile circular walk from Solva Harbour to Nine Wells and back with National Trust Area Warden Andrew Tuddenham.You'll see ship wrecks, coastal forts and plenty of birds along the way. Some moderate gradients. 
•  Contact 01348 837860.

 

6. Stackpole, Pembrokeshire

• Saturday 5th May 10am – 2.30pm 
• Starting and Finishing at Broadhaven car park. Walk with Head Ranger Chris Oliver along the lime stone cliffs of Stackpole, with a chance to see a variety of birds including Chough, Guillemots, Razor Bills and Gannets! Pause at Boat House Stackpole Quay for a tea before winding your way back through dunes, woodland, farmland and the Bosherston Lakes back to Broadhaven. 
• Contact National Trust at Stackpole on 01646 661359 for further details.

7. Cwm Ivy, Gower

• Sunday May 6 4:30am. 
• Dawn Chorus walk on Coast Path at Cwm Ivy. Listen to the countryside wake up, with experts on hand to identify the bird call. A magical experience. 
• Contact 01792 390636 or email: gower.admin@nationaltrust.org.uk

STOP PRESS: 

EXTRA WALK ORGANISED:

8.  Porthglain to Abereiddi, Pembrokeshire

• Saturday 5 1:30pm 3 hr walk 
• A 4 mile circular walk from Porthgain to Abereiddi and back, with National Trust Seasonal Assistant Ranger Stephen Merrill. See the dramatic remains of a quarrying industry that once exported roadstone all over the UK. Some steps and moderate gradients. Start at Porthgain outside The Shed restaurant
• BOOKING (essential) National Trust North Pembrokeshire Estate Office, Mathry
  01348 837860.

Mwynhewch eich taith gerdded ar yr arfordir y penwythnos yma!

Enjoy your walk!

Pearls Discovered in Carmarthen Bay

Morfa Bychan, Gilman Point and Pendine Sands from the summit of Ragwen Point

I owe my Carmarthenshire colleagues a bit of an apology.  Well, more of a whopping big one, actually.  

I was preparing a map of the National Trust's Welsh coastal properties, to be used at future coastal events.  And here's the thing, I left out the little group of properties that look out over Carmarthen Bay.

In my defence, they are often overlooked, sitting as they are half way between the more famous and dramatic properties on the Gower peninsula and the Pembrokeshire coast.

But as I discovered today, they have a secluded charm all of their own, and as a result I would like to confess my appreciation of modesty as opposed to drama, when it comes to coastal places to visit.

The best things in life are often hard to find, and these little stretches of coast are no exception. 
  
They are concealed down ramsom-lined lanes, tucked into wooded valleys echoing with birdsong, secreted amongst brambly hillocks and nestled within unspoilt farmland where time passes at a more leisurely pace than the rest of the world.

But their beguiling modesty is deceptive.  They hold treasures that more boastful areas would trumpet about.   
 
At Morfa Bychan Ragwen beach, tucked in between craggy headlands a short distance west of Pendine, I discovered remains of bomb-blasted concrete walls that were built as part of the preparations for D-Day and said to have been visited by Winston Churchill.  

On Gilman Point, which once reverberated to the thunderous exhausts of ‘Babs’, during J. G. Thomas’ 1927 fatal land-speed record attempt, I traced the remains of a prehistoric hill fort and spied my first holly blue butterfly of the season, flitting amongst ivy flowers.

Later, at Mwche and Pentowyn near Llanybri, I looked across the Taf estuary at Dylan Thomas’ "timeless, mild, beguiling island of a town" and realised that the inspirational view from the Boathouse is actually protected by the National Trust.

And finally, after strolling through verdant timeless farmland as rich as cream, and through the unspoilt yard of the dairy farm at Lord’s Park, I gasped as I came upon a view as fine and expansive as any in Wales – the whole sweep of Carmarthen Bay from Worm’s Head to Caldey, with Somerset, Devon and Lundy in the distance.

So, where were the pearls I hear you ask? 

Well, someone recently said to me that the Trust’s Welsh coastal properties are like a string of pearls, and that my job is to try to thread them together.  As I got into the car for my long journey home, I pondered on the fact that although some of our pearls are big and world-famous, it is the smaller ones that are the true gems of our coast. 

Long may they remain overlooked. 

Around the Welsh Coast in 14 Days!

I can't believe that it is only two weeks since I started my new role.  It feels like I've been at it for months!

The first week was a great opportunity for me to get acquainted with the NT Wales Office in Llandudno - somewhere I know well already of course.  

At least I could see the sea (over the heads of the shoppers on Mostyn Street) from my temporary desk.  

In case you are thinking that being in the office for four days is not the best way to promote the Welsh coast, it was very useful in that I could start working with the excellent support team that will be helping me once I really get into the job.

As a reward for the indoor-days, I visited our hidden-gem of a property at Glan Faenol and met up with inspirational warden, John Whitley (see previous blog post).  I was disappointed to hear that the Wales Coast Path may not be crossing this fascinating NT-owned stretch of the Menai coast, due to yet-to-be-resolved access issues on neighbouring land.  "All in the fullness of time, Richard", I thought.

Before my next meeting (with CCW Coast Path project officer) I managed a quick visit to the Anglesey side of the Strait to visit Caeau Glan Mor (NT) and take in this view of Ynys Gorad Goch and Telford's bridge.

The little-visited NT viewpoints along the Menai will soon be enjoyed by Coast Path walkers

Week 2 saw me heading off to South Wales, with working visits to Llanerchaeron and Stackpole - two utterly different but equally fascinating properties.  The main purpose of my trip was to meet the Pembrokeshire team at their Start of Season Meeting.  It was great to meet such a dedicated and enthusiastic team.  One outcome of my presence was that I promised to try (successfully as it turned out) to get Coast Path marathon runner, Ari, to visit my colleagues at the Tudor Merchant's House at Tenby.

On my way back, I called in at Penbryn, one of the hidden gems of Ceredigion.  Although it was already evening, with the sun sinking low over the Irish Sea as I strolled onto the golden sands of the beach, I was pleased to come across the local part-time NT Ranger, Glyn, who spends his evenings keeping this beach clear of litter.  I promised myself that I would return to do the popular dark-skies star-gazing walk that starts here. 

Evening sun on Penbryn beach - Nefoedd!