Walk 3 Barry to Ogmore..9th-10th June 2013

Sunday 9th June saw an early start to get down to Llantwit Major. Bit sad as we were leaving our little girls behind...
With the car in the station car park off we set to Barry (should we get senior citizen railcards??). Having walked through the town we headed for Barry Island. It seemed that my blogger friend who has passed this way before us also had trouble finding his way here ....there did not seem to be a sufficiency of coast path signs to follow....had Gavin and Stacey stolen them we wondered? The guys at the yacht club let us through and saved the day as we found ourselves at Jackson's Bay, back on track!

A lovely lady called out "Pam!" I thought it was someone I must know but she was a lady who has also done fundraising for Velindre and she donated - thank you!  The rest of the walk on the island was fine and then we headed off to the mainland and along a  long promenade where we had a drink and some welsh cockles - delicious!



Passing the ruins of a Roman settlement we had a steep climb up the bank to a country park. There followed some up and down paths with good views through the hedgerows of the coast. Soon we had to cross a large caravan park and then dropped down to the sea again and lunched on the now large pebbly beach. Already we've seen so many changing faces of the coast.

Off then to the most southerly point of Wales - Rhoose point. Not a very grand announcement of it..

The cliffs from here and the land immediately behind them have been the scene of much quarrying over the years. They really are magnificent, towering cliffs - many cliff hangers waiting to fall... we passed by Aberthaw power station, which interestingly also uses woodchip as fuel...nice chat here with a man about mullets....or were they? The path then continued along a kind of pebbly levee - not that easy to traverse..

and a bit worrying as we had a huge hedge at the landward side of us...steps soon became evident at Summerhouse point then it was field edge walking to Llantwit leaving behind the views of North Devon - it seemed so close! It had been a long, hot day. Llantwit is a lovely little town - worth another visit. Reminded us a little of Malmesbury - lots of history. Great meal at the Old Swan!
Day 2 began looking like it would be hot again but luckily the cloud cover prevailed more than yesterday overall. Still warm though and the sun would out at the end of the day. North Devon wasn't to be seen for much of the day - the mistiness stopped the view. Lovely walking with fantastic cliff views. We came across the huge St Donat's College - known now as Atlantic college. A private 6th form for all nationalities it seems. It was once owned by newspaper magnate Randolph Hearst. The views here were lovely looking back down the coast.

We soon approached Nash Point with its lighthouse which is the only working one in the UK where you can get married!

After the lighthouse we came across a little cafe where a good cuppa was enjoyed and we had a good chat with the owners who told us the path had to move away from the coast here for a while as the landowner wasn't pleased that people were picking - even digging up - rare plants there. Why do some people spoil things for the majority? We had some fun about not being able to see England that day too! We also met there a couple from Chippenham and had a good chat and received another donation - thank you!

Passing lots more stunning views of mighty cliffs and awe inspiring limestone pavements way below us,

we eventually came to Dunraven castle - or the site of. It was demolished in 1963 - not sure why....death duties? It must have been a very special private place - its own bay and all!

And so we approached Ogmore by the Sea. Sadly the pictures of the rock formations here just don't do them justice. It must be a geologist's dream to be there. We stopped once more for a drink before the final lap to Ogmore itself and hailed a taxi from the beautifully named pub, The Pelican in her Piety! The train was 1 hour late from Bridgend to Llantwit and the station was full of Rihanna fans going into Cardiff so it was entertaining!

Surprisingly this weekend we didn't see that many birds - none in the cliffs strangely. We did see lots of blue butterflies and the thrift and pink campions are flowering profusely. Lots of the woods were full of Harts Tongue ferns and the hedgerows full of clematis. Cows and horses of the levees have given the fields up to sheep and arable now! So another 28 miles or thereabouts completed.... Porthcawl awaits now across the Ogmore estuary in 2 weeks' time all being well.

Thank you again for your support everyone! If you prefer to send a little by text, it's RADN82 £2 (for example) to 70070