Route took in some peaceful riverside paths
ON Saturday, December 4, Andrew Padfield led the ramblers on a fivemile circular walk in the Llangwm area of mid-pembrokeshire, about three miles south east of Haverfordwest and a mile south of Hook.
The route took in the village of Llangwm, and the hamlets of Guildford and Port Lion and some wonderful, peaceful riverside/shoreline paths that ran alongside the upper reaches of the Daugleddau – the waterway that feeds into the Milford Haven. The weather for the day was dry with a stiff northerly breeze at times and temperatures that reached just seven degrees C.
The walk started from the car park at Black Tar which is just down river of the confluence of the Eastern and Western Cleddau where the two rivers merge to become the Daugleddau. From here they headed down the road towards to reach the slipway on the shore near Llangwm Pool – a tidal section of the upper reaches of the Daugleddau – and here they turned southwards on a footpath showing evidence of the recent high tides – towards Black Tar Point and that led them to briefly to meet a bridleway.
The bridleway crossed a hillock to reach the village of Llangwm where they followed country road through the village to meet a set of stepping stones that allowed them to cross the stream at the head of Llangwm Pill into the hamlet of Guildford on the opposite side of the muddy Llangwm Pill.
At the southern most end of the Pill – just above Beggars Reach – they located a stile that gave access to Benton Wood. This leafy path led them uphill through the woods to the top of the hill near Newton where they were great views over the Cleddau. Turning westwards they passed through Newton farm as they circled around Port Lion into a lane that led to the top of Newton Mountain at the modest height of 98 metres – the highest point of the day and shortly afterwards met the Freystrop road where they stopped for lunch.
In the afternoon, they started the return journey and followed a country road towards Foxhall, but at a bend they picked up a bridleway that took them northwards across country to Ashdale and then downhill to cross a ford in a swollen stream before meeting the road that leads into Llangwm.
A quarter of a mile down this road they turned left into a country lane until they reached Sprinkle Farm from where there were great views over the Pembrokeshire countryside with the Preseli Hills standing proudly in the distance.
The road now turned to a south easterly direction for the last three quarters of a mile stroll back to the start.