{"id":1903,"date":"2019-11-16T02:56:37","date_gmt":"2019-11-16T01:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=1903"},"modified":"2019-11-10T18:22:06","modified_gmt":"2019-11-10T17:22:06","slug":"st-davids-and-the-pembrokeshire-coast-sw-wales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=1903","title":{"rendered":"St Davids and the Pembrokeshire Coast, SW Wales"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">function popwalk(walk) {var url = \"\/Walks\/amap.php?f=\"+walk; varwalkwindow=window.open(url,\"walkwin\",\"height=740,width=1230,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes\"); if (window.focus) {walkwindow.focus()}}<\/script><br \/>\nFirst published in: The Times <a href=\"javascript:popwalk('StDavids.gpx');\" rel=\"nozoom\" title=\"Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window\">Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808334683_2c31df179d_z.jpg\" title= \"48808334683 lifeboat shed at St Justinian&#039;s, with Ramsey Island beyond 1\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808334683_2c31df179d_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808680846_d0558577e1_z.jpg\" title= \"48808680846 dogwood along the lane to Pencarnan\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808680846_d0558577e1_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808824892_269445434e_z.jpg\" title= \"48808824892 robin on the post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808824892_269445434e_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808825212_42f3c9f124_z.jpg\" title= \"48808825212 Three-cornered leeks in the lane to Merry Vale\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808825212_42f3c9f124_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808824537_9d1d63fb1e_z.jpg\" title= \"48808824537 looking across Whitesands Bay towards Carn Llidi 1\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808824537_9d1d63fb1e_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808824377_ecf0f55029_z.jpg\" title= \"48808824377 looking across Whitesands Bay towards Carn Llidi 2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808824377_ecf0f55029_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808331818_f0ff29c82c_z.jpg\" title= \"48808331818 looking across Whitesands Bay towards Carn Llidi and St Davids Head\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808331818_f0ff29c82c_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808333438_c72c18a91c_z.jpg\" title= \"48808333438 the rugged coast south of St Justinian&#039;s 1\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808333438_c72c18a91c_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808825822_76ee7986f1_z.jpg\" title= \"48808825822 the rugged coast south of St Justinian&#039;s 2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808825822_76ee7986f1_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808825917_a8ea8f7765_z.jpg\" title= \"48808825917 Porth Clais\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808825917_a8ea8f7765_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808682106_820eb0fb77_z.jpg\" title= \"48808682106 above Porthlysgi, looking to Carreg Fr\u00c3\u00a2n\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808682106_820eb0fb77_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808826252_d67879dd35_z.jpg\" title= \"48808826252 Porthlysgi beach\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808826252_d67879dd35_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808334398_4e89ecd3a0_z.jpg\" title= \"48808334398 Porthlysgi Bay\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808334398_4e89ecd3a0_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808334493_fdd4cf32f6_z.jpg\" title= \"48808334493 St Justinian&#039;s\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808334493_fdd4cf32f6_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808826982_48fd6090c6_z.jpg\" title= \"48808826982 St Justinian&#039;s Chapel\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808826982_48fd6090c6_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808827107_367c98b292_z.jpg\" title= \"48808827107 lifeboat sheds at St Justinian&#039;s\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48808827107_367c98b292_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nFacebook Link: <script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=1903\" layout=\"button_count\" show_faces=\"true\" width=\"200\" colorscheme=\"dark\"><\/fb:like><br \/>\n<a href=\"javascript:pwindow=window.open('\/Walks\/prn.php?f=1903','pwin','height=700,width=1000,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes');\" title=\"Click for printable version\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Walks\/print.gif\" align=\"right\"><\/a><br \/>\nOnly the upperworks of St Davids Cathedral tower are visible as you enter the smallest city in Britain. First sight of the cathedral is so unexpected it takes your breath away. You step through the arch of Porth-y-Twr gatehouse, and there, filling a hollow far below, lies this magnificent and enormous church, with the ruin of a most spectacular 14th-century Bishop&#8217;s Palace just behind.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s hardly a sign of the modern world, just woods and fields beyond rising to knobbly, mountainous outcrops on the unseen coast. It&#8217;s a truly wondrous way to start this walk round one of the most spectacular sections of coastline in all of Wales.<\/p>\n<p>Green lanes and country roads took us down to the southern corner of Whitesands Bay. On the far side of the tan-coloured strand the rocky promontory of St Davids Head ran a long finger westward into the sea. Wavelets creamed on the sands, and from a rock stack offshore came the querulous cries of a herring gull asserting its territorial rights.<\/p>\n<p>The Pembrokeshire Coast Path leads along the coast at the very edge of green and purple cliffs whose dense sandstone has fractured into slanted faces as smooth as slate. The sea gasped hungrily at their feet, and from up ahead came the swish and thump of the tide race in Ramsey Sound.<\/p>\n<p>Ramsey Island, long and low-slung with two humps of hill, lay square-on across a mile or so of very turbulent water. Sinews of tides pulled hard in opposite directions, whirlpools circled end to end, and a jabble of large waves rose north and south.<\/p>\n<p>Ramsey is a RSPB reserve these days, but the old farmhouse where the Griffiths family once stuck out the tough island life still stands out against the green turf. From a tiny fingernail of beach at the southern end came a thin hooting. With binoculars we made out a little gathering of seal pups in white fur, nerving themselves for the short journey to the waves and their new lives as creatures of the sea.<\/p>\n<p>Soon Ramsey Island was behind us. The path led in and out of tiny coves and beaches. We skirted the slit-like inlet of Porth Clais, and headed inland past the ancient chapel of St Non, mother of St David, with the last of the daylight transferring a silver sheen from the sea to the darkening sky above.<\/p>\n<p>Start: St Davids Cathedral, Pembrokeshire SA62 6RD (OS ref SM 752254)<\/p>\n<p>Getting there:<br \/>\nBus 411 (Haverfordwest)<br \/>\nRoad &#8211; A487 from Fishguard or Haverfordwest<\/p>\n<p>Walk (10 miles, easy, lanes and cliff paths, OS Explorer OL35): From town centre follow Goat Street (&#8216;St Justinian&#8217;s&#8217;). Bear left at &#8216;Merrivale&#8217;; on down Catherine Street. Opposite Ramsey Gardens, right (749252, blue arrow) down lane. In \u00bd mile at road, left (743252). In 200m, right (&#8216;Ty Newydd Farm&#8217;). In 400m right at road (737250). In 500m, left at T-junction (736254, &#8216;St Justinian&#8217;). In 500m, right (731254, &#8216;Pencarnan&#8217;). At Pencarnan entrance, fork right (728258, &#8216;Public Path to Coast Path&#8217;). At coast, left on Pembrokeshire Coast Path\/PCP for 6\u00bd miles via St Justinian&#8217;s (724252). Porthlysgi Bay (731238) and Porth Clais (741242) to St Non&#8217;s Bay (750243). Inland off PCP at kissing gate (fingerpost) past St Non&#8217;s Chapel to road (752244); left for \u00be miles to St Davids.<\/p>\n<p>Conditions: Coast path along unguarded cliffs<\/p>\n<p>Lunch: Picnic; The Bishop&#8217;s Inn, Cross Square, St Davids SA62 6SL (01437-720422, <a href=\"http:\/\/thebish.co.uk\">thebish.co.uk<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Accommodation: 15 Tower Hill (Landmark Trust), St Davids SA62 6RD (01628-825920, <a href=\"http:\/\/landmarktrust.org.uk\">landmarktrust.org.uk<\/a>) &#8211; cosy cottage overlooking cathedral.<\/p>\n<p>Information:  St Davids Visitor Centre (01437-720392)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/visitwales.com\">visitwales.com<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/satmap.com\">satmap.com<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/ramblers.org.uk\">ramblers.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Only the upperworks of St Davids Cathedral tower are visible as you enter the smallest city in Britain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-walks","category-3-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}