cliffs – greenbenchramblings

Pembrokeshire coast and gardens – a week away in June – Part2 – A Coastal Walk

After enjoying our coastal walk in Cornwall last year we looked forward to exploring part of the Pembrokeshire coastal path. We spent much of the walk looking at the wildflowers growing close to the track and out to sea watching black and white plumaged Oyster Catchers flying in formation quickly flirting with the waves. In every bay gulls of many different sorts called from their nesting ledges to their partners bringing in food. The noise level and excitement level rose sharply whenever Peregrines or Sparrow Hawk flew close by. All along the walk we were accompanied by Kestrel hovering and eyeing up the short grasses below them in search of small mammals. In the scrubland along the clifftops on both sides of the paths small songbirds entertained us every moment of our walk, Wren, Dunnock, Linnet, Pippets, Blackbirds and Goldfinches.

Aberporth was the starting point for our coastal trek, and this little coastal village was a very colourful place. It took us a while to find the beginning of the path and we seemed to make a few false starts before finally getting going.

The local planners were not averse to letting architects design modern homes to contrast well with the cottage style prevalent throughout the village.

Once on the path proper we caught site of the headland we decided to aim for. It looked so far away. The path took us along the cliff tops and we spotted so many interesting beautiful wildflowers along the way and also this brightly coloured beetle on a dandelion flower. When we reached our destination the path dropped down steeply and we were able to walk on the beach for a while.

Here steep cliffs towered above us, in places green with algae.

The wooden footpath sign directed us back to Aberporth and as usual the return journey took us half the time of the way out. But we discovered just as many interesting wildflowers as we did on the way there.

We still have not decided where our next coastal holiday will be but it will definitely be where there are accessible walks close to the sea.

A coastal walk in Cornwall

While on a week’s break in Cornwall we decided to try a coastal walk and also decided that the day to do it would be the anniversary of my surgery to rebuild my right leg. Before my surgeon performed this complex 5 hour operation I was able to walk a few hundred yard at a struggle and in pain, so I was determined to see what I could do exactly a year on.

We had a great coffee and brownies at a beach cafe and took off. Immediately the path went steeply uphill and we could soon look back to the town we had left from, Portreath.

We had not been to Cornwall for years and quickly remembered just how beautiful the coast line is, with every step giving us breathtaking views.

We took regular breaks for drinks of water and a close look at our walk map. We stopped or slowed all the time simply to take in the beauty of the landscape we were walking through and to check up on my newly rebuilt right leg! Just after this particular stop we were entertained by a pair of Kestrels hunting as a duo team playing and following their instincts. We walked alongside them as companions for a good half mile enjoying their antics and acrobatics before they finallyy turned away.

A seriously steep sided couple of valleys were our hardest challenge of the walk. The first we had to zigzag down sometimes using steps cut into the valley side to climb the steepest sections. A fallen plank bridge, the only way to cross a deeply cut stream, meant a scramble to get across the trickling water. It was a great relief to get over and begin the ascent. The second valley side was a walk along steep stone tracks.

We met a couple of brothers sharing a walk who stopped to talk and were fascinated to meet us with me tackling this long difficult walk with a walking stick. They asked if we would like our photo taken, a suggestion we accepted readily. They were great to talk to and gave us chance to catch our breath too.

The half way point was at Derrick Cove, our signal to start the return leg of our walk, but not until a twenty minute rest and plenty of water. We had walked three and a half miles and knew we had the same to do to get back.

We decided to walk a slightly different way to avoid the steepest valley climb, but this meant walking along a road for a while. It meant also dropping down into Portreath from a different direction so we enjoyed different views of the town for the last few minutes of our walk.

So back at the car we felt elated but ached severely. We had such mixed emotions, but overall a sense of huge achievement was the strongest emotion of all.