Woodland, hills and beach offer stunning views
ON Sunday, June 13, Carys and Colin Thomas-ray led the Carmarthen Ramblers on an 8.5-mile circular walk that involved a section of the Wales Coast Path, Broughton Bay, some woodland walking, a beautiful remote beach and a couple of hill climbs that gave some absolutely stunning views.
Weather wise, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky all day and temperatures rose to the mid-twenties with an occasional light breeze. The flower of the day was the foxglove.
The walk started from the car park just passed the church in Llanmadoc on the north side of the Gower Peninsula from where they walked the road passed the church into the village towards the Britannia Inn until they reached a footpath that took them out of the village and down through a couple of fields and into Cwm Ivy Woods. Here the footpath led down the hillside through the shady woodland to reach the coast path near Tilpins Well on the edge of Cwm Ivy Marsh.
The intention was to cross the sea wall across the marsh but the path had been closed due to damage to the wall and had been rerouted. The diversion involved a half mile walk through Cwm Ivy woods as it skirted around the southern edge of the Marsh before reaching the road in the hamlet of Cwm Ivy.
They followed the lane downhill towards the Whiteford National Nature Reserve and stopped briefly in the dunes whilst Carys related the history of Whiteford Light house which they could see out on Whiteford Point at the northern end of Whiteford Sands.
Their route led around the foot of Cwm Ivy Tor and then along a footpath up onto the headland at Prissen’s Tor where Broughton Bay soon came into view.
The path dropped down through the dunes to reach the Bay and they walked the length of the beach passing Delvid Burrows before stopping for lunch on the rocks just before Twlc Point.
In the afternoon they turned inland leaving the beach near Broughton farm and followed a footpath on the start of a gradual climb that took them around the western side of Llanmadoc Hill from where they had a good view of Worm’s Head at the end of Rhossili Bay in the distance before reaching the village of Llangennith.
They located a footpath behind St Cenydd’s Church and turned southwards through the fields climbing more steeply now as they headed for the summit of Hardings Down passing ancient hillforts on the way and stopped at its peak at a height of 152 metres to take in the fabulous panoramic views over the peninsula and out to sea across the Bristol Channel.
They descended the Downs into a welcome breeze on a footpath that dropped into a lane near Upper Hardingsdown that led to the main road into Llangennith where they turned right along the road briefly to meet a path that took them onto the barren Tankylake Moor.
Their route crossed the moor and onto a footpath that climbed up Llanmadoc Hill to reach the highest point of the day at a height of 186 metres for the most fantastic panoramic views. Looking over Carmarthen Bay and the Loughor estuary with the tide full out the remote sand banks in the Bay and the Burry estuary were exposed.
On the return leg of the walk they stayed on the ridge and walked in a south-easterly direction for about half a mile enjoying the aerial view over Whiteford Nature Reserve and Cwm Ivy marsh (that they visited that morning) ahead of them and just before the Bulwark took a path that led off the ridge and steeply down the hillside through the colourful masses of foxgloves into Llanmadoc for the last five minute stroll through the village back to the car park to complete the walk.