DISTANCE/DURATION: 2.8 miles (4.6 km) 1 hour.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: *Puffin Shuttle 400 (*seasonal, hail & ride).
CHARACTER: Rugged coast, (1.5 km walking on minor roads), fields and livestock.
LOOK OUT FOR: Trefrane Colliery and adders.
Harder rocks turn to gentler bays, with signs of industrial heritage blending into the landscape…
As the older, harder rocks of the rugged St David’s peninsula give way to the coal measures of Carboniferous times (coal mining has left its mark see the remains of Trefrane Colliery), there’s a marked softening of the coastline into beach and dunes at Newgale.
Wave action wears away the softer rock, ‘grading’ the material and depositing the coarser stuff at the back of the beach as pebbles or boulders.
Newgale in particular has an outstanding pebble bank at the top of the beach. Finer material such as sand and shingle is dragged back down the beach by the backwash to the shoreline.
At Nolton Haven the sea has cut into the weaker rocks to form a sheltered, sandy bay hemmed in by small headlands.
Look out for adders on the heathland at the top of the cliffs, with their distinctive zigzag markings.
Ian Meopham, West Sector Ranger for Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority has done this walk. He says: “Ravens and choughs can be spotted at Rickets Head, and coastal grazing can be seen on this walk, where ponies have been introduced to the coastal slopes by the National Trust to restore the coastal areas. The remains of a colliery are a reminder of the regions industrial past.”
Text provided by the BBC
Find this Walk
Grid ref: SM855185
SAFETY FIRST!
- Take great care when on the Coast Path
- Stay on the path and away from cliff edges
- Wear boots and warm, waterproof clothing
- Take extra care in windy and/or wet conditions
- Always supervise children and dogs
- Leave gates and property as you find them
