Walk 14 Abereiddi to Strumble Head 4th-5th March, 2014

So.. as you read in the last walk, we were 2 days behind schedule now and as we have the next 4 days booked in the form of a self catering house in Moylegrove, we had to fit the missing 2 days in. The weather looked ok for Tuesday-Wednesday last week, so off we went Tuesday morning - our grandson Ben's 11th birthday...how did that happen so quickly? We met the taxi at the finishing place, Abercastle and he returned us to where we left off in Abereiddi - by some locals now referred to as "the war zone" because of the crashed up sea wall and what was the car park.

It seems that there is some talk that it will be left "to nature" - mostly due to lack of funds but what about tourism is the question? The walk began walking around the ruined cottages, Front Street, where the quarry workers had lived .....

and marvelling at the sea - and the weather!

We climbed out of the bay with views of the smashed up sea wall and little Abereiddi behind.....

and out to the Blue Lagoon - this is an old quarry that was then flooded by fishermen after the quarrying stopped in the 1930's and is now a place where diving competitions are held in the summer (hope they still will be..) but the height is amazing! And at this time of the year, the water isn't the turquoise blue that I've seen in pictures - but equally as impressive and a tribute to the men who worked that place.

The tower on the headland was the old beacon used for the harbour entrance. And this is the quarry workings looking down on it from above..

We soon rounded the headland and had great views of Traeth Llyfn. A spectacular beach seen in many coast books and on many cards. The tide was high so we couldn't go down to the beach. I imagine that like the other beaches seen since the storms, the soft, white sand will be missing for some time. Wonder if anyone can work out how long it will take for it to return? I had looked forward to this beach for some time, and was not disappointed? here it is looking back to Abereiddi tower and beyong back to Carn Llidi at St David's Head.

We soon came across the first evidence of the Porthgain brickworks that Chris had been looking forward to - he had heard a lot about Porthgain from his friend Terry. The ruined works stand atop the cliffs between Abereiddi and Porthgain and all along here is the evidence of that earlier industrial heritage, including the old tramway.

It was fascinating to explore up here - there is even a marketing tool advertising the Sloop Inn written in stones on the ground! We soon dropped down into the amazing harbour itself..

And the strange mortar rooves which we had seen since Abereiddi were in evidence....using the lime which was produced in all the lime kilns perhaps? We still saw them up to Strumble so must look out to see if they are still being used after there too.

Porthgain is a very interesting place - dominated by its vast brickworks but what amazing people to have determined to build this place! Quite a small village but apparently most of the houses are still occupied by local people thank goodness...these ex worker cottages are mostly now galleries

..and across from them is the marvellous pub, The Sloop Inn where we enjoyed a coffee break and returned later for dinner!

Porthgain apparently began its modern life at any rate, in the late 1800's with just  the lime kiln and its user..

So we said farewell to Porthgain and made our way beyond - with fine views looking back at such a strange and interesting village..

The entrance to its harbour was marked at each side by great lumps of tower, the nearest one now in white..

On around impressive cliffs - so many coves and islands to marvel at, like Ynys Fach here..

and for quite some time, there was further evidence of much more quarrying on the cliffs..

And in the distance we could see Garn Fawr looming up with its hill fort on top,  just ahead of Strumble Head, our destination for tomorrow.

First though we made our way passing quite close to Trevine - a lovely little hill top village we had passed through in the taxi that morning, with its monolith and nearby stone circle...

..not sure of the vintage and authenticity of the stone circle but it looked impressive anyway! We made our way down to the next cove her, Aberdraw which is a delightful cove with its ruined mill. Very striking and again amazing that the mill had been in use for 500 years before its closure in 1918 due to the cheaper grain being imported and the more industrial processes...

Aberdraw also had its row of quarry worker cottages and as we climbed the next cliff more ruins were revealed next to the huge quarry we had seen from a distance earlier.

Once atop the cliffs again, we had great views back to the recent parts, like Ynys Fach, now with its natural arch revealed, we saw so many of these arches in these 2 days..

..and it was good to see the shoots of spring, like this celandine! No choughs today but plenty of gulls both days making themselves seen and heard on the islands and rocks.

As well as having become a good spotter of natural arches, Chris has also become a spotter of dragons in the rocks (like in the previous walk at Castell Coch..one of many of that name by the way..). And here was one now hiding behind a rock...

..and the views back to St David's Head with its 3 great "Tors" were lovely too..

There was no wind today so it had been lovely to listen to just the waves crashing beneath us and soon we came round to out first hill fort of the day at ..you guessed it...Castell Coch. We didn't understand why the name, the first version had indeed had red rock (red as in the Welsh Coch) but this one didn't appear to be red at all..

..and then we had more rock windows to view..

...just before we approached Abercastle where the car was parked.

Before we could go down to the harbour there we first walked up a little adjoining valley, passing lovely daffodils.

We wanted to visit a great example of a cromlech, an ancient burial tomb probably form about 3000 BC. This one is I understand the largest example in the UK.

And this was in a field of sheep and some of the first lambs of the season...at least this year born into sun and warmth, much better than into the Easter snows of last year!

Abercastle is a very pretty village, with its own island at the harbour entrance, Ynys y Castell. And a ruined warehouse looking down on it. This again was a hive of industry in the last century and apparently was a good smugglers den in earlier times, being accused of piracy in Elizabethen times!

Although today had been only 7 miles, it had been amongst one of my very favourite walks so far. So beautiful and such a past to learn about. 

Along the slippery cliffs today we had had a chat with a couple going the other way. They were here on holiday and the lady had one wrist in a cast and sling. She had slipped and broken her wrist whilst walking the path on Sunday - a salutary reminder for us to take care. They also gave us a kind donation - thank you!

Off we went then to find our guest house for the night, Cwmwdig Water Guest House near Berea. Andrew was a first rate host and made us very welcome and supported us with a kind donation - thank you , Andrew! We enjoyed a relax and then wound our way - in the car! - back to the Sloop in Porthgain, still light at 6.15....a lovely evening...

Wednesday 5th March dawned with promise once more.. a little misty over Garn Fawr as we drove up to Strumble but bright. One of the roads leading to Strumble was closed, maybe breaking up after so much rain? But we arrived before the taxi did. He was a very chatty Colin from Goodwick, Fishguard Taxis. Very interesting chat about the councils giving up on the beaches again - and he gave us a donation, Made a change from the usual tip the other way - felt a bit strange, but kind! So back to Abercastle and it did seem quite a long way...

More interesting facts to discover on the harbour wall...the first single manned cross Atlantic sailing in a fishing Dory in 1876 landed here..

The tide was in this morning as we climbed out of the pretty Abercastle, following the banks along the long harbour back to the headland.

Once on the cliffs again, we had fine views to Strumble with the mist still just showing on the clifftops..

It was very still again and the coast was so interesting with its rocky outcrops..

Another few hours later and this view would be so different with the tide further out. And the view ahead was clearing of mist..Garn Fawr now much clearer...

We had lots of ups and downs today and the ground was slippery and unforgiving on ankles if approached with too little care! One of our favourite coves today was Pwll Strodur. A really pretty and tranquil place...

As we approached AberMawr and its neighbour Aber Bach, we passed the next Castell Coch. Again not a red one apparently and much of it has gone into the sea as usual but it impressed me nevertheless.

Views from here to Abermawr were lovely and very unexpected as there were no cliffs at all behind the beach - quite strange to behold! And of course we could see views of the rest of the Pen Caer peninsula now, the rest of today's walk to Strumble.

Brunel had plans to make Abermawr a transatlantic crossing harbour but not sure why he changed his mind. And this was the place where the first telegraph came across the Atlantic. 

Signs of the recent storms were again in evidence - here you can see the highest tide marked with the big boulders....and the washed away soft earth was remarkable.

We rounded the headland, Pen Deudraeth which splits the "twin" bays and went into Aber Bach...and it was here so legend tells us, that the last mermaid was caught!

As we left the twin beaches behind, the views were good - similar to Newgale with the huge boulder stretch and the pond behind.

We wonder what will happen to Newgale where the road was closed once more last week it seems..
Many more inlets were passed and then we came around a headland to see the incredible sight of Pwllcrochan looming. Just impossible to capture on a photo sadly and also so difficult to explain the sheer size of the mighty cliffs here - phenomenal!

It became even heavier going really and more remote and wild - and we even had to climb an unexpected escarpment towards Pwll Deri!

Pwll Deri is an amazing cove beneath the cliff of Garn Fawr,

which we had now decided we had to go up to see the next hill fort!
From the climb up there, Chris spotted his next dragon on the headland we had just scrambled along....

It was worth the effort to get up there, both for the views and to see the fort - quite small really but we could imagine the signals sent down to the fort at St David's Head - and indeed to those between!

I have to admit from above it looked no distance at all round to the Strumble Head lighthouse car park and so was a bit surprised at how long it took over the rough, and sometimes boggy, ground. We soon came to Carn Melyn where we turned easterly to head to the finish point of the day..

We passed a group of wild horses and a strangely out of place but pretty reed bed in a beautiful, little cove making our way through a boggy wilderness...

We did have the occasional view of the lighthouse ahead and I had taken so many pictures trying to capture the light.....and I did!....can you see it?

So we made our way into the really peaceful bay, Carreg Onnen with its little islands, one of which holding the lighthouse. The path is really near the edge here so we were pleased it was a still day. there had been a little more wind than yesterday but not much! And guess what - I even got another shot of the flashing lighthouse...really it was!

It had been a long day to say it was only just over 10 miles today but well worth it! Looking forward to next week now.......this walk was for Cath.

Don't forget to take a look at www.justgiving.com/Pamela-Mallpress - thank you!