I took on one of Wales’ most scenic walks and it took my breath away
E views on o er between Pendine and Tenby are among the most beautiful in the country, as Robert Harries nds out...
WHEN my friend suggested we go for a walk to herald the longawaited arrival of some decent weather, I instantly looked forward to a couple of laps of Carmarthen Park. However, what lay in store was a longer and altogether more challenging journey, but one that ultimately proved more rewarding and enjoyable.
e Wales Coast Path is an 870-mile-long trail which runs alongside, or close to, the entire coastline of Wales. A tiny slice of that stretches from the seaside village of Pendine in west Carmarthenshire to Tenby in south Pembrokeshire. is journey is more than 12 miles long and should take between four and ve hours to walk. If you’re used to walking.
As the weather promised to be mainly ne, we decided to go for it on a Saturday morning. As luck would have it, my local rugby team (Nantgaredig RFC) were playing in Tenby that afternoon, with kick-o at 2.30pm. erefore, we had a challenge: to get to the rugby club in one piece, preferably having changed out of shorts and hiking boots, in less than
ve hours. So, as well an enjoying the wonder of west Wales, we had a glittering prize in mind – rugby and the most righteous of righteous pints.
After my mum dropped us o at 9.30am (I’m 39), we only had one thing to do and that was to get started. e walk gets under way at the end of Marsh Road, before you turn up the hill and out of Pendine, taking you past the gift shop and the cafe. If I was hoping for a gentle start, I was in for a very rude awakening. e start is the hardest part of all. Steep, and I mean really steep, stone steps take you high above the sea, and after ve minutes I’m using my knees as arm rests. Not even a quarter of a mile in and I’m already wondering if Amroth has a bustling taxi trade.
When you get to the top the reason for this walk hits you in the face. High above Pendine, as the sun bounces o the ocean, I feel totally and utterly privileged that this landscape, this view, this coastline, is in my home county. It’s wonderful, and if my breath wasn’t taken away by those steep steps, it’s long gone now. I know we had a match to get to and a tight schedule, but sometimes you have to do something that you don’t do often enough. at is, to stop and stare. e path is di cult in places but it’s aided by visual delights that leave you wanting more. You walk uphill, then downhill, past lambs wondering who the hell you are, and all the while you can see your destination in the distance.
at, in many ways, is both the best and worst thing about this hike. I can see Tenby almost straight away. It’s over there, seducing you with its brightly-coloured buildings and the sand that lies in front of them. So far away, yet so close.
My rst mental checkpoint of this Saturday morning bonanza is the gorgeous and frankly underrated gem that is the village of Amroth, the
rst place you encounter as you cross the divide between Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire.
e Pendine to Amroth section itself is almost six miles long, and parts of it are akin to walking over a rollercoaster track again and again. But before getting to Amroth, we are faced with a closed fence and a warning sign.
A section of the path is closed due to a landslide, leaving it unsafe for walkers at risk of sliding into the sea like a pebble. Bloody climate change.
Don’t tell me we have to turn around with our tired tails between our legs and have the weekend’s joy placed in the hands of Pendine’s
public transport infrastructure?
ankfully, we’re diverted right (north) up a historically lesser-trodden section of path until we come to a gate. Beyond is the main road which brings you down the hill into Amroth. So, technically, the entirety of this walk is not coastal, but we march on past one of my favourite pubs in west Wales (the New Inn) and along the seemingly never-ending pavement which takes you to the main stretch of the village, adorned with small shops selling ice creams, co ees, and buckets and spades, as well as a couple of other pubs.
Eventually you rejoin the coast path at the end of Amroth, above and beyond the council toilets.
Starting from this point is very much like setting o from Pendine in that you once more have to climb high above the sea on uneven terrain.
But it’s nice to be back o -road. Walking on the road felt like cheating. is feels like we’re hiking again, with Tenby winking at us from the west.
is section of the walk is probably my favourite – you walk through the trees and under a bit of welcome shade as the spring sunshine really begins to bite your neck. at’s the thing with Wales – you’re just as likely to need sun cream as you are a mac, and quite often you’ll need both in
the same morning.
Before you know it, the walk takes you away from the wondrous woods and on to a road which spills down into Wiseman’s Bridge, past eager lunchtime drinkers huddled outside the inn that bears the same name. Pretty soon you come to a raised walkway with railings separating you from the beach, before you usually enter a dark and deceptively long tunnel which reminds me of Snake River Falls at Oakwood – you can’t really see where you’re going but you trust you’ll come out in the right place. at should reopen in this summer but in the meantime it is shut – because of more landslips – so there’s a quite steep but relatively short diversion over the headland.
is area used to be home to a railway line, built in the 1830s, which was used to move iron from a nearby ironworks to the harbour at Saundersfoot.
Before you get to that harbour, you nd yourself in Coppet Hall, a small but beautiful beach with a bar and restaurant at its front. At this point it’s nice to have sand under your shoes, having walked the previous seven-plus miles on a mixture of uneven paths, mud, grass and road.
Almost as soon as you leave Coppet Hall, you’re in Saundersfoot, along the beach, up the ramp and into
the town. At this point I feel like we’re almost there. In my mind Saundersfoot practically is Tenby, neighbours along the coast, right next door to each other, a legacy of sitting in the back of a car as a child going from one to the other in what seemed like an instant. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Tenby is far from Saundersfoot, at least it is if you’re walking, having already walked for about three hours. e hill up towards and past the St Brides Hotel o ers a delicious view of the beach and the sea but a relatively short climb seems to take an age at this point. On the way out of Saundersfoot you take a left and once again nd yourself among the trees as you rejoin the coast path which will bring you into Tenby. Eventually.
is stretch doesn’t have the breathtaking views that can be seen high above Pendine and Amroth, but it’s an enchanting walk which feels like you’re really in the woods, with the added allure of your nearby destination acting as an adrenaline shot to get you through the nal few miles. We were now just over an hour from the rugby kick-o and all seemed well until we reached a coast path sign which read “Tenby: 2.5 miles”. Do they keep moving Tenby?
at nal two and a half miles were the most di cult, owing to tired legs and making the mental mistake that we were close by when in fact we weren’t. Eventually, after almost ve hours and more than 12 miles, we arrived in Tenby, leaving the path and coming out at the top of of the wonderfully named Waterwynch Lane and down on to e Croft. By this time the heavens have opened, but at least the rain soothes my burnt neck.
Finally, we’d made it to Tenby. It’s a stunning and rewarding hike. One of Wales’ most beautiful walks, ending at Wales’ most beautiful town. Alas, our journey was not quite complete. Unbeknown to me, Tenby RFC don’t actually play in Tenby (well, the town centre anyway). At this point, bolting on another mile and a half ’s worth of walk seemed both hilarious and inconsequential. By the time we properly made it to our destination, it was pouring and we were drenched.
What a wonderful way to spend ve hours, and I’d recommend it to anyone. Just remember to take sun screen and a coat. It is Wales after all.
At this point it’s nice to have sand under your shoes, having walked the previous seven-plus miles on a mixture of uneven paths, mud, grass and road