Walk 19 Aberystwyth to Tre'r Ddol 30th March, 2014

Mother’s Day! Also the clocks sprang forward overnight so to bed early last night – then up at 6.45 and off by 7.30. The tops today were just normal – lovely views and bright with promise of a sunny, warm day ahead. We had arranged to meet the taxi at the community shop/café at Tre’r Ddol at 9. The café people had agreed it was ok to leave the car there so we bought our sandwiches there.....and very nice they were too! The taxi took us back to the castle where we had a quick look around before setting off at 9.15.

The seafront is recovered now from the storms – it did suffer on the seafront, losing its old bandstand. But the defences had held up, the pier is still there and the town had no serious flooding…

I had hoped we would get up Constitution Hill using the funicular railway….

but it is closed til the middle of April! So up the hill we went – is that where the term taking a “constitutional” comes from I wondered? The only view of the railway was from the bridge crossing it ...uphill!..

On top of the hill is the world’s largest Camera Obscura….and views of the walk ahead..

Up on top we soon saw the caravan village ahead of Clarach – that was the settlement we had been viewing yesterday wondering if it was Aber. It was near Clarach where we realised I had left the map in the car….good job we had a good idea of the route today…hopefully! 

We had good views back too looking over Aber and to New Quay and just about to Mwnt and maybe a bit further although it was still too hazy for it to be really clearly seen. It was really bright all day but still too hazy to see the Lleyn ( it was Barmouth, not the Lleyn, Pam!) Up again onto the clifftops once we passed Clarach – and it was a real cliff walk today with many ups and downs all the way to Borth. We soon saw the highlight of our day – Sarn Gynfelyn. 

There are at least 3 Sarns in Cardigan Bay, the other 2 further north which we hope we’ll see too – causeways caused by glacial moraine which go out into the sea for 7 miles or so. It’s said that these Sarns are really the edges of a sunken settlement, Cantre’f Gwaelod which was inundated when the keeper looking after the locks to keep the sea out went to sleep and the whole place was flooded. It was an amazing sight with waves breaking all along it and on its beach was a lime kiln. 

Lots of debris from the storms was washed up here and there were 2 houses at the settlement, Wallog – what an idyllic place! 

There were guinea fowl pecking away in the nearby field – quite a strange sight! As we climbed away we kept looking back and out to sea – could we really see the edges of Cantr’f gwaelod, Ceredigion’s Atlantis?

 We had a nice chat with a couple form Bristol who are walking the coast path in stretches. They completed the South West path some time ago. Lots of big cliffs were to follow, sometimes the only useable gear was crawler! – and it was quite hot and sunny! 

Soon we could see Borth and make out Aberdovey across the estuary 

before we dropped down to the caravan park at Pen-y-Graig beside a lovely beach and the outcrop of Carreg Mulfran 

and so up the last hill before Borth with its war memorial on top. 

Walked down this last descent and had lunch overlooking the sea gently washing into Borth, the tide was on its way out. A chap told us the seas had been really wild and high here in the storms. We headed down Borth High Street, The end of the Ceredigion coast path is actually at Ynyslas which is about 3 more miles beyond Borth with its lovely high sand dunes, which our grandsons love, and which looks across the river Dovey to Aberdovey. The coastal path though crosses the railway near Borth station – the driver gave us a wave! 

And so began the second half of the walk. It was a walk of 2 halves today – cliff top coastal – and now along a flat bog and estuarial. We have now to head around the River Dovey. Borth Bog – or Cors Fochno – nature resrve. The whole of the Dyfi estusry area is the only UNESCO biosphere in Wales and indeed it did make a lovely walk across the bog, through reeds, crossing the river Leri which was canalised in the late 19^th century, 

passing ditches where man has drained the land and from which ducks flew as we passed, and where alders were just bursting into bud.... 

The hedges have become more and more green over the past few days of our travels. Towards the end of the bog, it was a long 2 mile stretch as straight as an arrow....

.....and which we were now looking forward to reaching the end of as it was really hot in the sun, over 20 degrees it turned out. Luckily the bog wasn’t too boggy today – it has had a few dry days so we didn’t get too wet. Soon we could see the village of Tre Taliesin appearing across the fields and shortly we reached the A487 to walk into Tre’r Ddol ..

....where we enjoyed much liquid refreshment at the café and where lovely people from Machynlleth gave us very kind donations – and also good advice about path on the way to Aberdovey – thank you! So almost goodbye Ceredigion now, a brief pass through Powys at Machynlleth and then comes Gwynedd! Another 11 miles off the total.....