Manorbier to Bosherston

Saturday 30th August 2014

On the final day of my holiday on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path I was surprised to realise that I was disappointed to be leaving Pembrokeshire. I had become used to walking many miles along the coast and despite the often unchanging routine of the landscape I missed it when I moved away from the coast. The last section of the coastal path that I did on this holiday was twelve miles from the Manorbier Youth Hostel to village of Bosherston where I had to catch a bus to start my journey home. When I left the hostel the sun was shining, which I felt was a welcome change from the previous day and what had unfortunately been the norm for much of this holiday. The rocks on this section of the Pembrokeshire coast are red sandstone, which contrasted strikingly with the volcanic rocks that I had seen earlier in my holiday. There were none of the high, dramatic sea cliffs and instead the coast was more heavily eroded with gently descending slopes down to the sea.

Generally I prefer volcanic rocks, but I still thought the coastline was spectacular and I really enjoyed my walk once I passed Manorbier Range as I was able to get a lot closer to the sea than I had been able to earlier in the holiday. There were striking vertical stripes in the rocks on the coast as I rounded Priest’s Nose and passed around Manorbier Bay, but because I had a bus to catch I needed to ensure that I kept up a brisk pace and I’d set myself targets to reach at certain locations within a timeframe that would enable me to catch the bus. Despite needing to average three miles an hour I was easily able to maintain the required pace thanks to a lack of steep gradients as the trail lacked the steep ups and downs that I’d suffered earlier in the week. Swanlake Bay and Freshwater East came and went until I reached Stackpole where the rock changed from red sandstone to grey limestone.

The change in the rock was obvious and led to a clear change in the coastline with caves, blowholes and arches becoming common place. This section of Pembrokeshire has been described as typifying why the coast was worthy of National Park status, but unless I was in too much of a hurry I really couldn’t see the appeal. While the coastline was heavily eroded into a complex line of cliffs, the land above the cliffs was flat and uninteresting apart from the multitudinous wildflowers that covered the meadows wherever farming allowed. Unfortunately I prefer the more rugged, brutal landscape of the volcanic rocks to this more beautiful, soft landscape of limestone. After lingering far too briefly at the delectable Barafundle Bay I headed out onto Stackpole Head where limestone tried its utmost to change my mind.

Here limestone cliffs were at its best with deep inlets, enticing sea-level caves and steep cliff-faces that were proving too enticing for many people who were scaling their sheer faces. I wandered around this popular point in awe of the amazing rock formations and took many pictures. Fortunately I had maintained such a fast pace during the course of the morning that I was now able to spend quite a bit of time at Stackpole Head and look at the disintegrating rocks of the peninsula. Eventually I tore myself away and made my way along the coast to Broad Haven where the path, continuing to St Govan's Head, enters Castlemartin Range, which has restricted access. In order to ensure that I caught my bus I decided to leave the coast at Broad Haven, and so I didn't need to worry about access problems and headed straight towards the village of Bosherston.

However, I had an ulterior motive as I wanted to visit the famous Lily Ponds of Bosherston. Behind Broad Haven are three limestone valleys that have been dammed to create stunning lakes that are teeming with wildlife, and most notably lilies. The lilies are at their best in early summer and since I was now a couple of months late the display was not as good as they could be, but it was still an awesome sight and to see these ponds almost full of water lilies was incredible. I was astounded by these lakes and could have easily spent the rest of the day slowly walking around and exploring the whole delightful area. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to do that, so instead I followed the route of the coastal path (for when the range is closed) over Grassy Bridge to the central causeway where the lilies of the Lily Ponds could be seen in all their glory.

Although there were only a few white lilies in bloom there was still a stunning sight before me that only got better as I climbed to the top of a small limestone hill where I behold the incredible sight of these ponds full of lilies. To see these ponds in June or July must be an awesome sight and something that is going to be difficult to avoid. Beyond the second causeway a short climb brought me to the village of Bosherston where I caught a bus to start my journey home. The Lily Ponds were a fabulous end to a holiday that was considerably more enjoyable than I’d anticipated or hoped. I usually walk up mountains, so I wasn’t sure how I would enjoy coastal walking, but I loved the coastal paths and especially the challenge of walking twenty-four miles every day for several days. I was astonished by how much I’d enjoyed the Pembrokeshire coast, so much so that as I was leaving on the bus I was thinking about returning so I could walk the sections of the path that I’d missed this time.