Walking in west Wales
There are an abundence of walks throughout west Wales, covering Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. Below are some walks within the Pembrokeshire National Park within easy reach from our holiday cottages.
Cemaes Head - A network of routes from the picturesque, hillside village of St Dogmaels to around the peninsula of Cemaes Head offers a variety of circular routes and spectacular coastal scenery.
The highest sea cliffs in the Park are between Cemaes Head and Pen-yr-Afr, where you'll see dramatic folding and contorting of the rocks (the effects of powerful earth movements orogenies over millions of years), which reveal the structure and strata of the earths crust. This walk is ideal for seeing sea-birds, particularly gulls such as the greater black-backed gull. Fulmars, cormorants, and guillemots nest on the cliffs through spring and early summer. Keep an eye out for chough (rare crows with vivid red beaks and legs that perform spectacular aerobatics), ravens, kestrels, buzzards, stonechats and the ubiquitous jackdaw.
The recent reintroduction of coastal grazing by ponies has improved the quality of cliff-top heath and grassland habitat for chough at Pwynt-y-Bar. Thrift and spring squill are prevalent on the slopes to the west and heather, bell heather, bracken and gorse cover the heath. Out in the bay bottlenose dolphins can sometimes be seen and seals breed on the beach from August to October. There are spectacular views over Cardigan Bay you may even see Snowdonia on a clear day.
Text provided by the BBC South West Wales Where I Live website
The Preseli Ridge - an inland linear walk with spectacular views of Ceredigion, Pembrokshire, and Cardigan Bay.
Walking the Golden Road is a stirring experience. It takes you along the Preseli ridge across wild moorland following a route that is said to date back to the Neolithic period, 5,000 years ago.
Broadcaster and writer Wynford Vaughan-Thomas wrote of the experience: “Everywhere you feel the presence of the megalithic tomb-builders, of the Iron Age warriors who piled the stones for the great hillforts and of kindly and absent-minded old Celtic saints.”
The track was a main route for travellers in prehistory to and from Ireland. Perhaps the Pembrokeshire bluestones used by the builders of Stonehenge travelled this well trodden byway.
The views are breathtaking, and all along the way there are prehistoric remains to be seen. Starting in the west, the route begins not far from Foel Eryr, which has a burial cairn at its summit. The stone cairns date from the Bronze Age and mark burials, presumably of someone who was once a local VIP.
After skirting the Pantmaenog Forest the route climbs to Foel Feddau. It, too, has its cairn, as does the rocky tor Carn Bica.
Look out close to Carn Bica for an arrangement of stones known as Beddarthur, an eye-shaped ring of stones said to be the last resting place of King Arthur.
The jagged form of Carn Menyn – like that of all the Preseli tors – is the result of many thousands of years of erosion by harsh weather on the dolerite or bluestone rock. Traditionally though, the rocky summit was the source of the stone used to build the inner ring of Stonehenge.
It is also worth making the effort to climb to the outcrop at the top of Foeldrygarn, both for the view and to see its Iron Age hillfort. Within the fort are a trio of cairns that are older than the fort and give the hill its name which means ‘three cairns hill’.
Llys--y-Fran to Rosebush - A pleasant walk, which leads along the banks of the Llys-y-Fran reservoir, through woods and across open countryside as far as the small community of Rosebush, which nestles beneath the summit of Foel Cwm Cerwyn
Mynachlog-ddu - the three peaks This walk over open farm and moorland takes in the outcrops at Carn Menyn from which the bluestones of Stonehenge originate, and crosses a landscape rich in evidence of other prehistoric activity, including the impressive Gors Fawr Stone Circle, which is over 21mtrs/70ft
in diameter.
Dinas Island Dinas Island isnt an island at all but a promontory partially detached from the mainland. It was formed by the same Ice Age melt-water that formed the Gwaun Valley further down the coast. Dinas is famous on the West Wales coast for its birds, with ravens, chough and herring, greater and lesser black backed gulls to be seen in the winter. In summer razorbills, guillemots, fulmars and shag breed on the cliffs (a good spot to watch overlooks Needle Rock). Away from the cliffs there are stonechats and warblers. There are terrific views out to Newport Sands to the north and inland to the Preseli Hills.
There's typical plant cover on the windswept cliff with gorse, bracken and bramble, scrubby trees of hawthorn, blackthorn and hazel, and small oak and ash where there is shelter from the wind. You'll find many coastal wildflowers such as ling, scabious, thyme, heather, thrift, pennywort, foxglove, and orchids. Bluebells bloom in spring on the eastern slopes. Witness the power of the Pembrokeshire weather at Cwm-yr-Eglwys the church there was destroyed in the great storm of 1859.
Text provided by the BBC South West Wales Where I Live website.
Ceibwr to Molygrove - Coast path circular walk. Wild and lonely, the coast around Ceibwr is especially rocky and dramatic. Ceibwr Bay is a small inlet - little more than a stone’s throw wide – with a stony beach. Grey seals can often be seen close to the beach.
The cove is the only break in a forbidding stretch of cliffs from Cemaes Head to the north and Newport to the south. Their geology is striking - over millions of years the Ordovician rocks were contorted and folded by powerful earth movements and the tortured strata are clear to see. From the path above Ceibwr Bay there are excellent views of the patterned cliffs to the north at the headland Pen-yr-afr.
Ceibwr itself is a relatively recent addition to the landscape. It was carved out by Ice Age meltwater that flooded the Nant Ceibwr, the stream that now fans out over Ceibwr’s beach, along with the stream’s wooded valley, Cwm Trewyddel. The attractive village of Moylegrove shelters in the cwm.
The clifftop section from Ceibwr passes jagged rocks, caves and blowholes. At Pwll-y-Wrach, the Witches’ Cauldron, the roof of one cave has collapsed to create an impressive blow-hole. On one side a stream disappears into this ‘cauldron’, while on the other a narrow passage connects it to the sea.
Look out for the Iron Age hill fort, Castell Treriffith, close to Pwll-y-Wrach.
A lonely part of the coast, the cliffs and rocks around Ceibwr are excellent for wildlife-watching. Seabirds to look out for include gulls, fulmars, shags and cormorants, while there is also a good chance to see choughs.
A member of the crow family, the chough has glossy black plumage and both its long, curved beak and legs are bright pink. They like to probe turf for insects and are rarely seen far from the sea.
Text provided by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park web site.
Cwm Gwaun The river Gwaun rises in the Preseli hills and was formed as a melt-water channel for the retreating glaciers at the end of the Ice Age. Tributaries have carved steep, narrow side-valleys that are densely wooded. In summer, the Gwaun is a slowly meandering stream passing through alder carr (marshy, wet woodland with alder trees predominating), water meadows (look out for meadow sweet with its gorgeous honey-tinged smell in late August to early September) and flood plain.
The path above Coed Sychpant gives views over the valley and the woods themselves provide habitat for birds such as tree pipits, redstarts, tits, nuthatches and pied flycatchers. The river is home to dippers and grey wagtails. Raptors like buzzards and sparrowhawks are also common. If you're lucky, you'll see otter near the river too, and the area is a stronghold for polecat and dormouse.
Text provided by the BBC South West Wales Where I Live website.
Mynydd Dinas The views from the summit of Mynydd Dinas can be magnificent. On an exceptionally clear day it is even possible to make out the Lleyn peninsula to the north and even the Wicklow Hills of Ireland.
Closer to home, on the hill’s modest summit you are about 300m (984ft) above sea level and have an excellent vantage point from which to view the series of headlands that are a feature of Pembrokeshire’s north coast.
Just below Mynydd Dinas is the promontory known as Dinas Island. It isn’t an island at all; in fact it is connected to the line of the coast by a low lying marsh.
The Preseli Hills are the highest in Pembrokeshire and are composed of Ordovician shale and mudstone that has been compressed to form tough slate. In places there are also fragments of rhyolite and dolerite, the famous bluestone that forms the inner ring of Stonehenge.
At Dinas the Preselis seem to rise straight out of the sea and from the little village of Dinas Cross you are quickly onto open moorland. Much of the Preselis upland is boggy and the soils acidic, allowing plants like fir clubmoss, liverwort, ferns and orchids to thrive. In late summer the warm pink of the heather adds rich colour to the landscape.
As you walk look out for buzzards and ravens while you may spot a curlew, a wading bird with a long down-curved beak that feeds on wet moorland.
The Preseli moorlands are largely common grazing land. Large numbers of sheep graze the hills along with hardy Preseli ponies.
The hills can seem very lonely today but they are rich in clues to the presence of earlier generations. Close to the route at Trellwyn is Parc Meirw, the Field of the Dead, a group of standing stones that are thought to date from the Bronze Age.
Newport to Carningli One of the most striking hills in Pembrokeshire, rocky Carningli is a brooding presence over the town of Newport.
When the sun is setting, Carningli’s profile against the red sky makes the hill look rather like the volcano it once was. Its hard dolerite rock is the solid core of cooled magma that was once the volcano’s heart. Don’t worry though, it last erupted around 450 million years ago.
Carningli translates as the Mountain of Angels. It may have been a holy site long before Christian times but since the Age of the Saints the hilltop has been associated with the Celtic St Brynach. Not a great deal is known about Brynach, who was a 6th century missionary. One of the few references to him describes him as a ‘Son of Israel’ and he is also said to have talked with animals and birds. Brynach is also said to have communed with angels, possibly at the top of Carningli.
This route keeps to the southern flank of Mynydd Carningli, typical Preselis upland where coarse grass and heather grow between a tumble of weathered rock.
Listen out for the song of skylarks and you may also hear the harsh nasal call of ravens. Carningli Common provides grazing for free-roaming sheep and ponies.
Everywhere there are clues to past occupation. There was a hill fort on Carningli during the Iron Age, while the remains of groups of huts from the Bronze Age can be found between Carningli and Carn Edward.
The route also passes through the wooded Cwm Gwaun, a beautiful valley that can seem hidden away from the ‘world’ beyond the hills. In the 18th century the people of the Gwaun chose to resist reform of the calendar and continue to celebrate new year 11 days later than the rest of Britain.
Text provided by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park web site.
Pengelli Wood Pengelli Wood is an ancient woodland, one of the largest of its type remaining in Wales. Parts are thought to have been wooded since the end of the last Ice Age – 10,000 years ago. Its importance as a habitat is reflected in the fact that it is one of Wales’ National Nature Reserves and is also a Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales reserve.
The wood is richly diverse. Oaks grow alongside birch, ash and alder and at a lower level hazel, hawthorn and holly thrive. Honeysuckle adds rich scent on summer’s evenings.
For many centuries Pengelli was a working woodland, cared for by local people as an important resource. In the 1500s it was owned by the historian George Owen. At that time it was grazed by pigs, sheep and cattle while its trees were managed and harvested for timber and fuel.
Each of its different tree species had its own value. Tough alder wood was used for clog making; oak was made into charcoal and its bark was used to tan leather while hazel provided firewood.
Pengelli Wood is home to polecats and dormice. Much of the management work carried out is aimed at improving the habitat for dormice. It is also home to many woodland birds, including tawny owls and pied flycatchers, a summer visitor that uses nestboxes around the reserve.
Look out for the wood’s many wild flowers. In spring delicate white wood anemones carpet the woodland flower. Later in the year purple hairstreak and the white-letter hairstreak butterflies can be seen – look for them high in the tree canopy where their eggs are laid.
Text provided by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park web site.
Pontfaen to Tregynon The River Gwaun rises in the Preseli hills and flows through the beautiful, steep-sided Gwaun Valley to the sea at Fishguard (the town’s Welsh name Abergwaun means mouth of the Gwaun).
The valley is a relict of the Ice Age, formed by the huge volumes of melt-water that flowed as the glaciers retreated. Pembrokeshire lay on the edge of a huge ice sheet that filled the Irish Sea and the Gwaun’s v-shaped profile suggests that it was cut by water flowing under the ice itself.
Today, things are far more tranquil. The Gwaun is a meandering stream that passes through marsh, woodland and water meadows. The valley sides are thickly wooded, with densely packed oaks growing on challenging gradients. In spring the woods are full of wild bluebells and the song of summer bird migrants like wood and willow warblers fills the air. Buzzards and sparrowhawks are a common sight.
Where the route stays close to the Gwaun look out for kingfishers and grey wagtails. You may also see a dipper; small and brown, these little birds dive into fast-flowing water to hunt out food, but are so well waterproofed that droplets simply spin off their plumage as they re-surface.
Pontfaen and Tregynon are both on what was the old turnpike road from Haverfordwest to Newport. Pontfaen’s little church is dedicated to St Brynach, a 6th century missionary who is said to have communed with angels on Carningli, which overlooks the Gwaun Valley. The church is mostly Victorian, but two inscribed stones in the churchyard may date back as far as Brynach’s time.
The valley is sometimes described as the secret cwm, and it does certainly have sense of mystery about it. That strangeness is, perhaps, heightened because the valley communities refused to accept modernisation of the calendar in the 18th century and the Old New Year, Hen Galan, is still celebrated each January 13th.
Text provided by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park web site.
Rosebush Slate was quarried in a small way at Rosebush’s Bellstone Quarry from the 1820s, but the Victorian house-building boom prompted huge demand for roofing slate and slabs and attracted new investment into this area of Pembrokeshire.
The now flooded Rosebush Quarry was opened in 1842 and the two neighbouring quarries went into full production during the last 30 years of the 19th century.
At the peak of the boom years the quarries employed 100 men. Many lived in the 26 cottages of Rosebush Terrace, built to house the quarrymen and their families.
To transport the slate a railway was opened in the 1870s linking the quarry with the main London line to the south. But the slate boom was short lived and both quarries had gone out of business by 1908.
When the market for slate declined the quarry owners tried to sell Rosebush as a holiday resort, publicising the benefits of the Preseli air and the facilities on offer at the corrugated-iron Prescelly Hotel. Both quarries and the railway are defunct but the hotel remains, now renamed Tafarn Sinc.
Beyond the village and the old quarries the route joins the Golden Road, the ancient path that follows the line of the Preseli’s high ground. Foel Cwmcerwyn’s summit is the highest point in the National Park, at 536m (1,757ft).
The Golden Road is thought to date back 5,000 years to the Neolithic period.
St Justinian to Porthclais Visit the place where legend says a King was turned into a giant boar.
Look out for: Porth Clais harbour/lime kilns, St Non's Chapel
Porth Clais harbour at the mouth of the River Alun was once the place where goods were brought in for the cathedral in St Davids (St Davids peninsula was known as Dewisland to the pilgrims who came to came there to visit his shrine in the cathedral). They would land at Porth Clais and walk to the shrine via St Nons Holy Well and Chapel (below St Nons Retreat).
The narrow narrow harbour here was carved out by meltwater about 7000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age. It was a busy port from the sixteenth century, carrying not only pilgrims but limestone to be burned in the lime kilns that surround the harbour. Its mentioned in the Mabinogion in the tale of Culhwch and Olwen as the place where the Twrch Trwyth (the Irish king whos been turned into a giant boar with a comb and scissors between his ears) comes ashore. St Davids, the cathedral and the Bishop's Palace are a must-see.
Text provided by the BBC South West Wales Where I Live website.
Foel Eryr Buzzards, kestrels and ravens patrol the skies above Bronze Age cairns...
Look out for: Buzzards, views
A large hut, drystone enclosure complex and a Bronze Age burial cairn grace Foel Eryr as well as a National Park observation beacon, which points out the different sights to be seen from this spectacular viewpoint over the Park. Look out for moorland birds like buzzard, kestrel, raven and skylark.
Text provided by the BBC South West Wales Where I Live website.
Foeldrygarn/Carnalw - inland circular walk
The writer and broadcaster Wynford Vaughan-Thomas said the scattered rocky outcrops of the Preselis moorlands ‘rival the tors of Dartmoor in their impressive shapes’. He wrote: “Everywhere you feel the presence of the megalithic tomb-builders, of the Iron Age warriors who piled the stones for the great hillforts and of kindly and absent-minded old Celtic saints.” At Foeldrygarn it is easy to share the ‘presence’ he describes.
Carnalw is topped with a small Iron Age fort, dating from some time during the last millennium before the Romans arrived in the First Century AD.
Foeldrygarn itself is also ringed by the banks of a hillfort. But its most striking features are the three huge piles of stones – cairns – that give the summit its name, which translates as ‘three cairns hill’.
The three cairns, at 360m (1,190ft) above sea level, command incredible views. The many stones that form the landmark were collected and piled on the hilltop by the Bronze Age inhabitants of the north of Pembrokeshire, between 4,000 and 3,000 years ago.
The burials were probably constructed as memorials, ever-present reminders to the people living on lower slopes of important forebears.
The jagged forms of the outcrops result from the effect on rock of long periods of freeze and thaw. Carn Menyn, just off the route, is a perfect example of the long, slow process, as is Carnalw.
But Carn Menyn’s greatest claim to fame is that its dolerite rock is the famous bluestone that was used to build the inner ring of Stonehenge, 280 km (175 miles) to the east of the Preselis. More than 60 large bluestones were used in the construction - how they arrived at Stonehenge is hotly debated.
The open moorland is rich in wildlife and there is a good chance that you will spot buzzards and ravens. If you are very lucky you may see a merlin, a tough, fast-flying little falcon that is Britain’s smallest bird of prey.
Text provided by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park web site.
