Around the edge of
Wales (18)….Cardigan to Llangrannog
I was looking forward to this section, since one of my first
tasks ever as a National Trust warden had involved restoring a coastal scar at Llangrannog - the result of opening a new agricultural
track across the cliff in the 1980s. I’d never been back to see how successful
the job had been. Mwnt was quiet in the early hours of the morning, with only a
few dog-walkers about, as well as a pair of noisy chough on the first headland
going northwards. The cliffs were a series of steep headlands and wooded valleys with streams tumbling down
to the shore. It was hard walking and I
wished the uninspiring MOD infrastructure at Aberporth wasn’t constantly in
sight.
Near Aberporth, a flock of 4 chough rose from an adjacent
cattle-grazed field and circled on a thermal with a buzzard. The path had been
virtually deserted all morning. I’d only seen 3 walkers in 5 hours. North of
Aberporth the tarmac path towards Tresaith was much busier. This section of
path had an unusually high number of old railway carriages that had been
transformed into holiday chalets, as well as more than its share of the
standard luxury mobile holiday homes.
I stopped at the Ship pub in Tresaith
where they note daily dolphin sightings on a blackboard and enjoyed a cold
drink before heading off to Llangrannog. The valley woodland at Penbryn was
cool, ferny and beautiful – the paths
pretty much as I remembered when we first uncovered them as part of a National
Trust project many years ago. Another steep climb from Penbryn beach followed
by a descent into Llangrannog, past a newly uncovered sculpture of St.Crannog
above the bay, took me to Caffi Patio, where my nephew Meilyr served me a
double shot coffee and a vanilla ice cream. I ended up staying on the patio,
chatting to other visitors, until 6pm.
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