Day: 34 ?/?/87 Angle to Freshwater West

Distance:  12km (7.5 miles)    Total Distance:  528 miles

I had tried to walk this section previously in the year before having driven all the way down here I felt so rough that I had to turn away again.  

This time wasn't much better.  I was down in Cardiff for a dentist’s appointment so made an excursion down here to West Wales. I felt quite unfit for this section and found the walking hard work.  There seemed like a lot of up and down sectionds but it may just have been that I was not very fit.  

I stopped at Freswater Bay before heading heading home.

Day: 33 15/8/87 Milford Haven to Angle

Weather:  Sunny

Distance:  35km (22 miles)    Total Distance:   528 miles

This was my wife's first experience of coastal walking when she joined me at lunchtime. 

Margaret dropped me off at Gellswick Bay and then went to Pembroke.  I walked through the back streets of Milford Haven and then along the promenade and through the docks past another oil refinery and over the bridge.  The building of this bridge saved me a lot of walking. 

I was not too impressed with the town of Pembroke Dock.  I arrived at Pembroke almost on time.  The weather was hot and I wasn’t very hungry.  The first part of the afternoon’s walk was OK but the oil refinery was a bit grim plus we were getting sun burnt.  Margaret was feeling the pace by the end of the day.  We walked up to the road and got a lift quickly from a woman.  We went to Swansea that night for a friend's bar-b-que and the next day went with friends to a beach on the Gower. 

Day: 32 28/5/87 Runwayskiln to Milford Haven

Distance:  26km (16 miles)    Total Distance:   499 miles

This was the last of six good days good walking and all in fine weather.  Two good stories from today’s walk.  The first was not long into the walk when I saw walking towards me a guy with nothing on but his rucksack and a pair of boots.  I did not have the nerve to say anything and he just walked off into the distance. I wonder if he was walking the coast in the opposite direction?  If so, I wonder how far he ever got.

The second was when I was hitching back.  The person who stopped to give me a lift told me he was a retired Baptist Minister.  When I told him I was a Baptist he took me all the way to Marloes which was fortunate because it was a difficult place to get to.

I think the price has gone up!

The lighthouse at St Ann’s Head gleamed in the sunlight in well-kept grounds.  I was lucky that I could get over the river at Sandyhaven Pill as it would have been a long way up the head of the estuary.

It was a day of real contrast too as it started off in fine cliff top scenery and ended up in the oil refinery of Milford Haven.

Day: 31 27/5/87 Solva to Runwayskiln

Distance:  33km (21 miles)    Total Distance:   482 miles

Another pretty fine day as I recall.  I parked the car on the quayside.  I knew I was in for a difficult start as the walk out of the bay was streep and I did not much feel like doing any up and down stuff.  I was pleased to get to the vast expanse of Newgale Beach and enjoyed the walk along the beach come rocks.  This is where the large IRA arms find was made in 1989.  It was then up onto the cliff top for a while before getting down onto the beach again at Maddocs Haven for a mile.  I remember finding the hotel at Hulesdon but not the path but I soon got back to the coast. 

At Broardhaven the lifeboat and Air-Sea Rescue were out practising.  I had lunch in a café and the enjoyed the walk out of Little Haven through a tree-lined path.

In the afternoon I walked fast along some spectacular cliff top scenery – all very deserted.  It was along this stretch that two people were murdered a couple of years later – it may have been in connection with the arms find at Newgale. 

At Martins Point a boat was just unloading having been to Scommer Island.  By the time I got to Runwayskiln I was pretty tired and still had to walk 4 km before getting a lift.  I recall the lift was from someone who told me the pitfalls of buying a Metro or Maestro.  I was very lucky to get a lift all the way to Solva.  That night I camped outside Broard Haven and went to the pub on the front for tea – just got in before it closed. It got very crowded there later.

Day: 30 26/5/87 Porthgain to Solva

Distance:  30km (19 miles)    Total Distance:   462 miles

An interesting piece of industrial architecture was one of the first striking parts of today’s walk – a disused quarry at Aberiddy.  There was not much sign of civilisation until I rounded St David’s Head and found many people enjoying a day out at Whitesands Bay.  I stopped for food in the café there before going around the next headland looking at Ramsey Island. 

In the afternoon I was starting to find the hills difficult.  I was pleased to get to Solva which was a deep long natural harbour.  I got two lifts back to the car – the one out of St David’s taking a bit of time.  I camped outside St David’s at Tretio and went back into the town that evening for Chicken Cordon Bleu

Day: 29 25/5/87 Goodwick to Porthgain

Distance:  27km (17 miles)    Total Distance:   443 miles

I caught up with the guy I had seen on the first day and also with another family with whom he was walking. I walked with them for about an hour and walked on when they stopped to take a break.  It was another fine day and Stumble Head had a lot of visitors.  I was very glad to find a tap for water at the Youth Hostel just a couple of miles on at Pwll Den.

I walked as far as Porth Gain.  There were some very steep paths near the edge near Abercastle.  I walked up to the pub at Cross Goch and had a soft drink in the pub before hitching to Goodwick from some people who were holidaying in Goodwick.  I went back to camp in the same place as last night and went to a pub in Newport for tea.

Day: 28 24/5/87 Newport to Goodwick

Weather:  sunny

Distance:  18km (11 miles)    Total Distance:  427 miles

It was a much shorter walk today.  I was glad to get out of the noisy campsite but I was to see it again later in the day when I walked through it.  It was a good day for sun – again a change from the previous day.  Dinas Head was crowded with walkers. 

Again today was the reverse walk of what I had done a few years previously with friends from Cardiff when we had walked from from Fishguard to the Sailors Safety.  I walked though the campsite where one of my friends had left her coat and we had had to walk back to find it. 

I walked though Fishguard and finished my walk there.  I walked back to Fishguard to start hitching back.  I got a lift from two Australians in a VW Traveller.  I took the car back to Newport where there was a festival weekend going on.  I found a very quiet campsite there where I was just about the only person there.  The facilities were very basic with only one tap and a toilet.  I also found a restaurant where I went – I was very hungry by then.  I then went to a Gymana Ganu in the local church.

Day: 27 23/5/87 Cardigan to Newport

Weather:  drizzle

Distance:  23km (14miles)    Total Distance:   415 miles

I made my way from Llandovery where I had camped the previous evening to Cardigan, getting slightly lost and going up towards New Quay in the process.  I parked up at the top end of Cardigan, walked through the town and over the bridge – the bridge over the Teifi to start the walk proper.  I could not find the path along the estuary so went along the roads until after St Dogmals.  I stopped at a café on Poppet Sands which marks the start of the Pembrokeshire coastal path.  I stocked up on provisions after having a pasty.  I remembered quite a bit of this bit as this was the stretch I had done a couple of years previously with the Cardiff gang.  It drizzled for most of the day but I found the walking quite easy with only about three or four major ups and downs.

Some good examples of folding rocks were evident.  I met up with a guy who worked for the Health and Safety Executive about 4 miles before Newport, so walked the rest of the way with him.  I had met him a bit before that but had overtaken him, but later he caught me up so we walked together from then on. 

Apart from the one road that reached the coast at Moylgrove, there was no evidence of civilisation the whole day from Poppet Sands to Newport.  By the time we got to Newport we were gasping and the tea shop we found was most welcome. I had a pot of tea and a chocolate cake and then left my mate in the hands of the proprietors who were phoning around for him trying to get him into a B&B, but it was crowded because it was festival time.  I hitched back getting a lift from two young girls to Cardigan – they were off to work in a pub there.  I drove to the Sailor’s Safety at Pwllgwaeloed and set up camp and then the pub for a poor dinner.  It was descended upon by a party of Hell’s Angels who also camped at the campsite.  I tried to get an early night but it was not very successful!

Day: 26 8/5/87 Tresaith to Cardigan

Distance:  21km (13 miles)    Total Distance:    404 miles

I parked just outside Tresaith, walked down into the village, stocked up on cans and off to Aberporth, virtually the only piece of coastal path in this area.  It was a fine warm day and I needed the pint of milk I got when walking through Aberporth.  The RAF depot looked virtually impossible to get around so it was inland up a sharp hill and around the camp.  Then it was a good bit of map reading needed to follow the footpaths through the farms, quite a few now derelict.  The path into Mwnt also meant going through a farmyard of barking dogs.  The churchyard in Mwnt appeared well looked after and in beautiful isolation.  I went partially around the hill at Mwnt but there was a warning about erosion of the paths, so I came down past the beach.

Again there was no coastal path so I went through more farmyard paths.  It was hard walk the rest of the day after a hard weeks walking.  I tried looking for an open shop in Ferwing without success so carried on towards Gwbert – but still no shops – so getting quite thirsty!

I walked along the road feeling quite disappointed at having missed out the coast near Cardigan Island.  When the road went inland I carried on around the mud banks.  Sometimes it got boggy and finally I cut inland getting a bit lost in the farm and having to creep around avoiding the farmer!

People were out enjoying the sunshine as I came into the town.  I popped into a café for a cup of tea and an ice cream – pretty grotty café.  I then got a lift back to Tan-y-Groes with a young lad from Fishguard off to see his girlfriend in Aberystwyth – a carpet washer!  He had just set up in business. 

I then went back to my parent's Cardiff via friends in Aberdare.

Day: 25 7/5/87 Aberaeron to Tresaith

Weather:  Fine in morning, misty in afternoon.

Distance:  27km (17 miles)    Total Distance:   388 miles

For some reason I can not recall too much of today, especially the first part from Aberaeron to New Quay.  I know the weather was fine but it turned very misty in the afternoon.  The path between Aberaeron and New Quay was good – a couple of ups and downs and through an elegant white farmhouse at Gilfarch-yr-Halen.  I managed to walk on the sand and rocks from Little Quay Bay to New Quay as the tide was out.  The beach was quite crowded at New Quay – I felt quite out of it in all my walking gear!  I stopped for milk at New Quay but did not feel hungry enough for lunch as it was too hot.  I took the wrong way out of New Quay up the cliffs and had to scramble through a shellfish processing factory debris up some cliffs – most precarious!  The paths from here on were poor to say the least, though they were marked on the map. 

Afternoon not written up.

Day: 24 6/5/87 Aberystwyth to Aberaeron

Distance:  24km (15 miles)    Total Distance:   371 miles

Not written up.

Will post photo of map.

Day: 23 5/5/87 Aberdovey to Aberystwyth

Distance:  35km (22 miles)    Total Distance:   356 miles

Not written up.

Will post photo of map

Day: 22 4/5/87 Barmouth to Aberdovey

Distance:  29km (18 miles)    Total Distance:   335 miles

Not written up.

Will post photo of map.

Day: 21 3/5/87 Harlech to Barmouth

Weather:  Fine, some sunny intervals

Distance:  25km (16 miles)    Total Distance:  316 miles

As there were no trains running today (I hoped) I was able to walk along the railway.  It seemed to take a long time to get to Shell Island – I went all the way up to the top of the peninsular.  I stopped at the caravan and yacht HQ for a tea and scone to recharge.

All the rest of the day was then along the beach -–stopping in another caravan club / pub for a pint at lunchtime.  Upon reaching Barmouth, I walked over the railway bridge to save having to do it the following day – it cost 20p.  I hitched back from Barmouth to Harlech – getting two lifts from women quite easily – quite a change from the Lleyn Peninsular where hitching had been difficult.

Day: 20 2/5/87 Criccieth to Harlech

Weather:  Very changeable, some heavy showers.

Distance:  31.5km (20 miles)    Total Distance:   301 miles

I had camped in Penrhyndeudraeth the previous evening for £3 which I thought was expensive for what it was.  The first few hours walking were very fine, along the sands and beaches between Criccieth and Porthmadog.  The wind started to blow up as I left Porthmadog after tea and cheesecake and a walk along the cob.  I managed to get into Portmeirion by going along the beach for a while and then into the wood.  I managed to keep mainly to the coast all the way to Penrhyndeudraeth and had lunch there in a pub. 

After lunch I walked on the road, past the explosive works where some of my ancestors had worked and over the toll bridge.  I then attempted to get out to the island but failed – I thought it was Shell Island by mistake which was accessible all the time.  The showers in the afternoon were heavy as I headed out into the mud flats and dunes of Morfa Harlech.  It was difficult to see which way to go so I was conservative in which way I headed.  When I got to the sea it was a straightforward track down past Harlech to the railway where I cut back to Harlech and ended walking for the day.  I caught the train back to Cricieth for £1.90.  I ate in the Little Chef in Penrhyndeudraeth and got to a campsite just outside Harlech (on the north side I think) for £1 which I thought was a lot much more suitable. 

Day: 19 28/5/86 Abersorch to Cricieth

Distance: 30 km (19 miles)    Total Distance:    281 miles

I felt quite relieved to get out of Abersoch.  Another nice day weather-wise.  It was a day full of long beaches which could have been a bit more interesting if it had been broken up by some cliffs!  There was a steep climb over Mynydd Tir-y-cwmwd with a maze of paths over the top.  The Pwllheli South beach was long and not very interesting.  The town itself although crowded was very nice.  I went into a couple of bookshops to browse and called in a pub on the way out of town for a quick pint.  The Butlins holiday camp soon came into sight though first its rubbish dump did!  After the holiday camp complete with its cable car way and concentration-camp like hostels, it was a walk along the railway banks into Criccieth.  I put up camp in a nice site near Morfa Abererch and had a wonderful shower.

It was after that that I phoned home and found out that my house had been broken into.  I did not go home that night as I had paid a deposit on the key for the shower.  I went to drown my sorrows in the famous Italian restaurant in Nefyn after going to tell the police in Pwllheli to stop looking for me, because Dad had told me that he had asked them to keep an eye out for my car – although it did not seem they were.  I also phoned the Barclaycard people to stop that.  I went home the following day to find no record collection or hi-fi.  My record collection had included some Leonard Cohen LPs.  Serves the burglar right if he gets depressed.

Day: 18 27/5/86 Aberdaron to Abersorch

Distance:  24 km (15 miles)    Total Distance:    262 miles

No log

Will post photo pf map.

Day: 17 26/5/86 Nefyn to Aberdaron

Distance: 35 km (22 miles)         Total Distance: 247 miles

No log.

Aberdaron

Will attach photo of map.

Day: 16    25/5/86   Pontllyfni to Nefyn 

Distance:  21 km (13 miles)    Total Distance:    225 miles

After packing up camp and waving goodbye to the campsite I’d used a fair amound recently, I drove south. I returned to the good cafe in Dinas Dinlle I’d found yesterday and enjoyed a good breakfast. I parked in the hamlet of Pontllyfni to start the days walking. The walk along the seafront until the pier at Trefor was quiet,  mainly along the shingle and sand.

I thought I was doing rather well but just before the beach at Trefor I stood in a massive mud puddle. A group of people who had been following my progress since I started that morning stopped and chatted to me from which from which I gained encouragement.  There seemed to be nowhere open in Trefor for refreshments.  A crane on the pier was busy demolishing a building on it. 

Trefor Pier

The terrain changed in the afternoon. It was a long uphill walk up through a quarry on Yr Eifl with steep climbs and good views back upalong the coast towards Caernarfon. The mist had come down by the time I reached the top and I had to use a compass to guide me across the plateau. 

The ascent of Yr Eifl

I kept to the road after that because access to the coast via the farms seemed impossible.  I eventually got down to the beach at Nefyn.  Now I was out of the mist the sun was up again.

It was good to see an open café on the beach.  I walked up through Nefyn and got a lift in a new Montego.  I returned to Nefyn to camp in a deserted camp site in Pistyll, for just £1 a night.  That night I went to an Italian restaurant and had a jolly good pizza. There were no alcoholic drinks available though as its still ‘dry’ on the Llyn peninsular on a Sunday.

End of the days walk at Nefyn

Day: 15    24/5/86    Llanfair PG to Pontlyfni 

Distance: 34 km (21 miles)    Total Distance:    212 miles

I drove up from Coventry and camped in Bangor overnight at the same campsite just off the A5 I'd used earlier in the month. Little did I realise at the time that my house was being burgled overnight. My hi-fi, including a nice old Leak valve amplifier, and my record collection were stolen. I recon I got my own back though as among the LPs was a couple of Leonard Cohen albums.  There must be one depressed burglar in the Coventry area now.

My old Leak amp - I saved up my pocket money to buy that.

I parked near the post office in Llanfair PG and walked along the road and over Britannia Bridge. This was one of the first legal transgressions of the walk.  You are not meant to walk over it but it was safe enough and I was not caught!

Britania Bridge (Wiki)

I had to keep to the main road all the way to Caernarvon but as it was my first days walking of the week my moral was high and it was a fine morning.  I did some exploring of Feninheli (Portdinorwic).  Its a little port and was crammed with expensive yachts with people preparing them for upcoming outings.  I had a break near the Alcan works just outside Caernarvon.

It was quite busy in the town.  I got some provisions and eventually found a good outdoor pursuits shop. I bought a hat as I had forgotten to bring one and a map case.  The Caernarvon Castle looked good in the sunshine.

Caernarvon Castle

Past the town there was a road/track following the sea for a while.  I then had to go on a path and follow the River Gwyrfai, a rather pleasant river, for about one mile, and back along the other side.  I then started a race against time – I could see the weather was closing in and I wanted to get around the peninsular today.  I made it past the tip before the rain began but the wind around most of the way was strong.  The building at the tip was peculiar. Fort Belan had with cannons pointing out to the strait.  I don’t think I should have been looking around the grounds but there were no clear signs saying not to. The fort was built in 1775 as a defence against attack from the Americans.  It would have been a long way for them to come and I don’t think this one fort would have been much of a deterrent.   

Fort Belan cannons

The walk back south to Dinas Dinlle was tough along soft sand, but was rewarded in the end by finding a great café and gift shop which I stayed in till the rain had eased off and enjoyed sandwiches, cake and tea.

Feeling much relieved I decided to carry on till Pontllyfni where it was only a short walk back up to the main road.  Fortunately I didn’t have to cut in to avoid the River Llifion but could cross it on the beach.

 By the time I finished it was raining and I got a lift from a young woman and her mother. It was only the second time I remember hitching and getting lift off a woman.  This lift was to Caernarvon.  My second lift was off some old farmers, very Welsh who kindly took me out of their way and over the bridge to Llanfair PG - very kind of them.  I camped in Bangor for the last time on this journey.

Day 14      9/5/86   Newborough to Llanfair PG 

Distance: 23 km (14 miles)    Total Distance:    191 miles

Today was not a very successful day walking today at all!  The weather was poor – drizzle on and off all day with a hard wind at times. This was particularly when I tried to walk out to Traeth Melynog.  Here the wind and rain were appalling and I could not find the path so I was forced to backtrack.

There then followed two other attempts to get nearer to the coast and access better scenery. One route was blocked by a river where stepping stones were marked on the map but if there were any they were way under the level of the river. Again I had to backtrack.

This also appeared to be an area of few public footpaths. Even when they were marked on the map there was no sign of them on the ground.  I gave up in the end and kept to the road for the rest of the day stopping in a pub in Brynsiencyn for lunch. 

I suppose the highlight of the day was going to the bookshop in Plas Newydd, a National Trust House and finding a book on Dylan Thomas in the sale – I got one for myself and one for a friend from Swansea.  The coincidence here is that he swears one of the pictures in the book is of him. I also bought some love spoons for friends in Coventry (this must have worked as I ended up marrying one of them later).

The Love Spoon (one of three!)

Dylan Thomas (going cheap)

The walking for the week finished in Llanfair PG.  It had been quite a trek and it had only rained on the last day.  I got a lift back to Newbourough from a chap on his way home from working at Sellafield – not in people’s good books after the accident earlier in the week at Chernobyl. 

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch - the longest place name in Europe

 I was later to find out that Anglesey was one of the worst affected places by radioactive fall-out from the accident (I wonder if that’s why I have a thyroid problem 20 years later – all that radioactive rain that fell on me?).  I camped in Bangor again that evening going to visit some aunts and uncles, before heading home the next day.

Postscript: I had a wonderful time walking around Anglesey in a week.  The scenery is spectacular and varied.  I was frustrated at times that access to the actual coastline was forbidden or impossible to find.  I understand things have much improved some 25 years later and access is now much better.   

Day13   8/5/86   Rhosneigr to Newborough 

Distance:  28 km (17 miles)    Total Distance:    177 miles

Today was another mainly sunny day which clouded over only towards the end. The first point of interest was the cairn at Barclodiad-y-Gawres, a Neolithic burial chamber which had been restored. In English it means It means the Giantess's Apronful – though I admit the translation was beyond my rudimentary Welsh.

There was also a good view back over the beach towards Rhosneigr. There was a lot of barbed wire preventing me going along the coast at Porth Trecastell so I ended up having to cut inland a bit. The old army camp looked eerie. At Porth China I took time to explore 12th Century St Cwyfan’s Church situated on a small island with a causeway leading to it.

St Cwyfan’s Church

St Cwyfan’s Church interior

 It was then around the coast to Aberffaw and lunch – a pint of Guinness and a packet of nuts in a very Welsh speaking pub. The locals were busy organising a day out at the races.

The next stretch to Malltraeth was quite laborious and away from the sea as there wasn’t a coastal footpath available. I remember feeling particularly tired walking over the bridge at Malltraeth till I reached the Newbourough Forest. Finding the path around the outside of this was particularly tricky though it improved after the ‘Tower’. The path was always slightly in from the sea so the view was never excellent. The island at the tip, Llanddwyn offered a good view but I did not actually go out on it. The walk up the east side of the forest was not too interesting.

Llanddwyn Island & Newborough Forest (Contemporary photo)

Llanddwyn beach

I walked to the outskirts of Newborough and got just one lift back to Rhosneigr off a bloke and what may or may not have been his son. The seemingly an ill matched pair were going for a drink in Rhosneigr.

I camped in Bangor again that and went for an awful Chinese meal and then to the Waterloo again for a beer.