Happy birthday, Wales Coast Path!
OVER stones and through rock pools, I’m shown up by my rambler companions, some 40 years older than me. I’m not a hiker. Yet, as I view the waterfalls tumbling down Dunraven Bay cliffs, I vow to become one.
Trekking four miles along Monknash Coast, Glamorgan, I jaunt through the remains of Dunraven Castle.
This is just a small part of the Wales Coast Path Walking Festival, which runs until Sunday and marks the seventh anniversary of the 870-mile coastal path. More than 40 guided walks (mainly free) have been organised that are suitable for hikers of any age.
Llantwit Major is a great starting point, bursting with history, from its maze of medieval streets, Iron Age hill forts and fine Tudor buildings, to a religious history dating back to 500AD. Known as the ‘Westminster Abbey of Wales’, St Illtud’s Church and Galilee Chapel house carved Celtic stones.
I make an overnight glamping stop at Hide at St Donats, which takes up to 12 guests. Couples are put up in the Walden Lodge, Bugail Hut or one of three wooden cabins — all spacious.
Morning beckons. And after poached eggs, this time I’m off through Laugharne, Carmarthen — famous for poets Dylan Thomas and Richard Hughes. Trudging uphill, you’ll see the Taf estuary, Dylan’s boathouse, the Gower, Devon, Caldey Island and Tenby. Nothing quite beats it. TRAVEL FACTS CABINS at Hide at St Donats from £109 a night ( hide.wales) More information at: walescoastpath.gov.uk