St Ann’s Head

DISTANCE/DURATION: 4.4 miles (7.0 km) 2 hours 30 minutes.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Service bus Dale 315/316, *Puffin Shuttle 400 (*seasonal, hail & ride).
CHARACTER: Rugged coast, cliff edge, reasonably level, fields and livestock.
LOOK OUT FOR: West Blockhouse coastal defence, lighthouse and sea birds.

Dramatic cliffs, rich heritage and spectacular views

There are sheer Old Red Sandstone cliffs along the peninsula, with a nearly flat cliff-top plateau – the result of wave cut erosion when the sea was 200 feet higher some 400 million years ago.

St Ann’s Head on the Dale peninsula is the sunniest place in Wales and has some of the lowest rainfall figures in the region, so the chances of great views across the water to Skokholm are generally good.

At Cobbler’s Head there is some magnificent folding of the dramatically coloured cliffs. Skokholm was Britain’s first Bird Observatory, established in 1933 and like its neighbours, Skomer and Middleholm, is now internationally recognised for its wildlife.

Skokholm is a haven for puffins, kittiwakes, guillemots, gannets and Manx shearwater. Chough, storm petrel, peregrine, buzzard and wheatear also put in an appearance on the island and around St Ann’s Head. Porpoises and dolphins are a regular feature of the waters off the head.

From West Blockhouse there are great views across the Haven Waterway to the Angle peninsula. West Blockhouse was an early Tudor fort and there are remains of more modern gun emplacements.

Haydn Garlick, West Sector Ranger for Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority has done this walk. He says: “Walkers on St Anns Head will encounter choughs, ravens and peregrines and, along the westerly path of the walk, may be lucky enough to find evidence of badger activity. St Anns Head houses two out of the countys six lighthouses, with one being used as a holiday accommodation, and the other providing the only working mainland lighthouse in operation in Pembrokeshire. On the easterly side of the walk, there are excellent views in good weather up the Milford Haven estuary towards the refinery and Milford Haven itself.”