Wales Coast Path 2024

Today's walk was one of those sections that are hardly coastal at all, but necessary to join up the whole path where the coast itself is inaccessible or just plain dangerous. Leaving Aberdyfi (where we had bought some lovely rolls from Otto's ), it was an immediate climb up to the ridge between the Dyfi estuary and Cwm Maethlon. It starts on the latter side with a view down to this fertile valley, then crosses over at Bwlch to join the 'Panorama Walk', where we had to pass a bull and bullocks along the way, but with scenic views across the estuary. It gradually descends, then, crossing to the A493 road to Penmaen Dyfi and Plas Talgarth, a small hill which afforded different views over the river. We took a brief break at Pennal, an historic village, and explored a little of the church. Following the Coast Path then took us up a long and dull walk uphill through a forestry plantation, finishing at what the guide book terms "a cruelly steep ascent": this section ...

  This walk was done yesterday, 21 September, again using the train. From Llwyngwril, it's a steep rise up from the beginning, without the gentle warm-up afforded the previous day. On the way up, we stopped briefly to look at Castell y Gaer, an Iron Age hillfort. There's a lot of up and down on the non-coastal section of this walk, then it seemed quite suddenly that we were walking down to the coast again at Tonfanau, where our picnic was taken. We got to Tywyn for an ice-cream stop.  After that, it was a long walk along a sandy beach,  where we spotted large oyster shells, a cuttlefish bone, and parts of a giant spider crab among the more everyday pebbles and shells. 

A shorter walk today, still using the railway to get to our start. After a stroll along the top of the beach at Fairbourne, where we stopped for our coffee flask, the path climbs through an old slate quarry. The quarry workings provided up with enough interest to take minds of the slope. Once at the ridge, the path follows what must have been a Bronze Age route, with frequent Standing Stones marking the way. We saw a frog in the road. Coming down into Llwyngwril, we had a refreshment break at the Garthangharad .