Newport to Pwll Deri

Tuesday 26th August 2014

Despite forecasts of more rain after the poor weather that I’d suffered on my previous day's walk, I was fortunate to have surprisingly good weather for most of this walk. Just before setting off I realised that my mileage on this walk was going to be considerably larger than on my previous couple of days. For some reason I had thought that I was going to be walking fourteen miles again, but it was actually a tiring twenty-four miles. The leisurely walking that I have been enjoying since the start of this holiday was now over as in order to cover that distance I would have to keep up a consistently brisk pace throughout the day. When you are walking no more than about sixteen miles a day you can afford to take your time and average only about two miles an hour, which means you are able to stop whenever you like to look at the view, take some pictures or even divert briefly to some place that looks interesting; in short you can relax. When the walk is more than twenty miles then you can’t do any of those things and instead you have got to keep your average speed approaching three miles an hour.

This is very difficult when climbing a mountain, or when walking along a constantly undulating coastline such as on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. This was the prospect that faced me as I set off from the small town of Newport along the coastal path near the mouth of the Afon Nyfer when the tide was completely in. There is a short section of the trail on the outskirts of Newport that is only passable at low tide so I had to take an alternative, high tide route. Despite this I had an interesting walk beside the estuary with the water right up to the seawall until eventually I left the town behind and climbed back up to the clifftop above Cat Rock where I had views across the estuary. There are some tall cliffs along this section that are really spectacular, though the foliage was very dense, encroaching on the path and restricted the width to almost nothing. The considerably newer Ceredigion Coast Path doesn’t have this problem while the Pembrokeshire Coast Path (opened in 1970) is clearly in need of not only a trim but also some maintenance.

Despite the eroded footpath I was able to keep my pace up as I walked past several bays and eventually reached the road that descends steeply into the delightful village of Cwm-yr-Eglwys, the valley of the church, which has a ruined churchyard at the mouth of a valley where the sea once actually destroyed the church buildings. I quickly passed through this tourist magnet and began climbing steeply onto Dinas Island, a promontory with gentle slopes down to the valley that connects it to the mainland and fabulous cliffs on its northern edge. The path climbed steeply through dense bracken to a stunning viewpoint where I had great views along the coast both east back towards Ceredigion and west across Fishguard Harbour. The sun was shining at this point and made the summit of the island, Pen Dinas, a wonderful place to be and worth the tiring climb to get there. The views of the awesome, rugged coast beyond Dinas Island to Fishguard were spellbinding as I followed the gentle descent to Pwll Gwaelod.

Another steep climb took me back up to the clifftop for an exhausting walk to Fishguard along that stunning coastline. At this point however I had other concerns on my mind as my right ankle was beginning to hurt, possibly because of the worn out sole on my boots, but I since I had to keep my pace up I tried to keep going. While at the top of the cliffs the walking was easy, but there were frequent descents into coves and steep ascents out of them that really tried my stamina. The views along the stunning coastline spurred me to keep going as did the sight of a ferry from Ireland coming into Fishguard Harbour. Eventually I reached the delightfully unspoilt, tiny fishing port of the lower town of Fishguard. In the sunshine and with the smell of seaweed pervading everywhere I had my lunch before setting off once more along the coastal path.

A tarmacked path, signposted the Marine Walk, took me around the modern town of Fishguard above the seacliffs that overlook the harbour while my right foot once again gave me problems. I stopped several times to readjust the laces on my boots in an effort to ease my suffering, but nothing seemed to help and I started to have visions of being forced to abandoning my walking on this holiday. I have been very lucky so far with injuries, but I was beginning to think that this might be terminal, at least for this week. I did start wondering if at some point in the future something serious might actually happen to me even if it only left me on crutches for a couple of weeks. Fortunately that wasn’t now as the pain eventually eased and I was able to keep going with loosened laces, even if my pace had slowed since my initial burst of speed out of Newport. After walking along the Marine Walk I approached the ferry terminal mindful of the fact that I would not be passing another shop for several days, so I stocked up with food before passing the ferry terminal and steeply climbing the hillside above the harbour.

Eventually I resumed my walk along the coastal path just as a ferry started to leave Fishguard Harbour to return to Ireland. The walk in the afternoon was through relatively remote, gently undulating land with nothing to severely task me except for the many miles and also with less to raise my interest as the cliffs were now more rounded than previously on this holiday. As the miles dragged I wearily rounded Pen Caer and passed by the lighthouse and wildlife shelter at Strumble Head without a moment’s hesitation. The weather was poorer in the afternoon and the scenery was not as spectacular, but the terrain underfoot was much improved with more rock and even tiny bits of scrambling delight. Despite my fatigue I was enjoying the walk as I slowly made my way to the spectacularly situated youth hostel at Pwll Deri that lies below the prominent hill of Garn Fawr. This was a very long and tiring walk that really tried my stamina, but I really enjoyed it as I passed through some great terrain and gorgeous vegetation.