Most B&Bs like to make you wait till 8am or later, but the Heart of Oak serves breakfast between 6:30 and 7:30am. Full of eagerness, and full of bacon and eggs, I’m out walking before 9 o’clock. This early start makes me feel like a proper hiker – but turns out to be a mistake.
(If I’d hung about I would have missed the worst of the rain and cut out miles of unnecessary walking, for reasons I’ll explain later.) Continue reading
Pembroke Castle looks splendid above the water of Pembroke River and seems in good condition for an old castle. When I mention this to a man walking with his dog, he tells me the castle was extensively rebuilt after being pummelled by Cromwell.
I know the first part of today’s walk will be coastal. But later I’m anticipating an uninspiring slog around the edges of the oil refinery, surrounded I’m sure by the nondescript sprawl of industrial estates.
West Angle Bay is beautiful in the morning sunshine. To the side of the beach is a rocky area with a natural sea-water swimming pool. The backdrop is St Ann’s Head.
After walking for several hours, I’ve finally reached Castlemartin, and I’m back to where I should have ended my walk yesterday if I hadn’t spent most of the day sheltering in the pub! I feel a sense of relief. I’m back on track.
The coastal footpath seems unsigned through Castlemartin, but I take the first left off the roundabout, go down a lane and find the path. To my right is farmland, to the left is the artillery range – and in the distance is the sea. I’m heading back to the coast.
I ask for an early breakfast, and catch the 9am coastal cruiser from Pembroke. This is the express service, avoiding beach detours, but my bus driver is the same as yesterday. He quizzes me about my walking plans. Am I going to spend the whole day in the pub again?
The bus driver is highly critical of my plans. Why am I walking to Castlemartin on a Thursday? I should wait until Saturday when the firing range will be open to the public and I can walk along the coast. I should go and walk somewhere else today.
When I explain I must walk the coast in sequence, and can’t pick and choose, he raises his eyebrows in disgust. ‘Oh, you’re one of those,’ he says.
The bus – the Pembroke Coastal Cruiser – bounces along the country lanes, going down every dead-end and visiting every beach it can find along the way. It takes 90 minutes to cover the short distance from Pembroke to Stackpole Quay, so my walk begins rather late. It’s nearly midday by the time I reach Barafundle Bay.
I catch the bus back to Manorbier and spend a long time on the beach, just soaking up the views and taking photographs. It rained last night and the humidity of the last few days has been flushed out of the air. Everything is crisp and fresh.
In fact, today is one of those glorious summer days you dream about, with hardly a cloud in the sky. The sea is a tropical shade of turquoise and the air dazzlingly clear. Continue reading
The humid weather continues, and the BBC forecast predicts thunderstorms arriving at around 1pm this afternoon.
I was planning to walk from Tenby to Freshwater East, but instead I decide to cut today’s walk short. My new plan is to be safely under cover in a pub in Manorbier by lunch time, just before the storm breaks. So, anticipating an easy 8 mile stroll, I set off from Tenby and begin my walk along the magnificent South Beach.
After lunch, I ask the bartender to refill my water bottles. Then I leave the pub and cross the road to walk next to the shore. I’m looking forward to reaching the next village – Amroth – and passing over the border into Pembrokeshire, because this will mean I’m finally joining the famous Pembrokeshire Coast Path.
It comes as a surprise to find a marker plinth and realise I’m already there! So this is the start of the official Pembrokeshire Path? I feel a tingle of excitement. I’d been looking forward to this moment. A photograph is necessary…
… and it’s also time to swap maps. I put away OS 177 and open up OL 36. Hello, new friend! The double-sided OL36 map should see me through almost as far as St Davids, by which time I will be more than 1/2 way along the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. Continue reading
Last night I moved, by train, from Carmarthen to a B&B in Tenby, and this morning I have to catch the bus back to Pendine. The journey takes an hour, with the bus rocking and rolling along the narrow lanes in a drunken fashion. I’m always surprised so few people travel by bus because it’s a great way to see the countryside. A funeral party gets on and then off somewhere near Amroth, and a couple of walkers a few stops later. By the time the bus reaches Pendine, I am the only passenger left.
I walk along the beach and take some photographs. Straight ahead is Dolwen Point with Gilman Point behind.
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Response ID: 328,436,497 Report number: 1222 Location: Ceredigion Coast Path (part of the Wales Coast Path) between Gwbert & Mwnt Date: 04/02/26 2 walkers, no dog, meet about 40 Welsh Black bullocks Pips report: “On the return stretch of our walk we encountered extremely treacherous terrain and a herd of about 40 Welsh Black bullocks […]
Incident number:1220 Response ID: 328,248,081 Location: Back Forest Farm, River Dane, near Wincle & DaneBridge, Peak District ///wasps.promote.homelands Date 26/01/26 Single walker, no dog SY’s Report: “I was heading back to DaneBridge/Wincle from Gradbach/Black Forest. I’d walked by Back Forest Farm along the path between their fields and came to a gate/stile. As I crossed […]
Incident number: 1218 Response ID: 320,795,463 Date of incident: 29.12.2025 Location: Below Denston Hall, Denston Suffolk Status: Lone walker with dog on lead on PROW L.Cooper’s story “I saw a group of cows ahead and waited to see if they would move. As I couldn’t get past without going near to them I backtracked and […]
Ruth's Coastal Walk (UK) 