Summerhill/Amroth

DISTANCE/DURATION: 4.4 miles 7.0km) 2 hours.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Service bus Amroth 350/351.
CHARACTER: Wooded valleys, moderate grade, fields and livestock, can be wet and muddy in places, 1.5 miles (2.5km) minor road walking.
LOOK OUT FOR: Coastal views, Colby Lodge and gardens, attractive woodland, old canal and dramway, disused colliery and ironworks.

The combination of wooded hillside and successive coves gives this stretch of coast an almost Mediterranean feel on a sunny day.

For some of the walkers who complete the full 299km (186 miles) of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path National Trail this is journey’s end, while for others it’s the start of a fortnight or so of hiking.

Amroth has a Norman church, St Elidyr’s, and once had its own Norman stronghold. The fortification, called Earwere Castle, is thought to have been on the site of the 19th century mansion Amroth Castle.

At low tide, look out for peat and tree stumps on the beach or just offshore. These are the remains of ancient woodland drowned by rising sea levels at the end of the Ice Age between 10,000 and 5,000 years ago.

Away from the sea the landscape is wooded and a highlight of the tranquil and secluded valley is Colby Woodland Gardens, which were originally part of the estate of the early 19th century Colby House. Its woodland collection of rhododendrons and azaleas is one of the best of in Wales.

In the aptly name Pleasant Valley there are the remains of the old Kilgetty Ironworks, which was once supplied with iron ore dug straight from nearby cliffs.

The countryside between Amroth and Wiseman’s Bridge stand on coalbearing rocks and though now quiet, this area was once quite industrial.

In the 19th Century short stretches of railway were built to carry minerals and one branch ran to Wiseman’s Bridge. Part of the route uses one of this line’s old tunnels.

Wiseman’s Bridge had perhaps its only real brush with history in the summer of 1943, when the beach was the location for a full-scale rehearsal for the D-Day landings.

Both Prime Minister Churchill and President Eisenhower travelled to Pembrokeshire to see their troops put through their paces.

Tim Jones, Area National Park Ranger says: “If you are interested in industrial history then you will find this area fascinating. It is worth making a detour to Stepaside to see the old ironworks and mine.”