PENDINE
By John Fenna

ROUTE

From the car park follow the track past the Museum of Speed and toilets down the slipway onto the beach.  Turn right and follow the beach to its western end and up the steps onto the cliff path, waymarked "The Carmarthen Bay Coastal Path".

If the beach is covered by the sea, follow the road from the car park, then by the Spring-Well Inn and The Point Cafe to gain the cliff path.

The initial climb is steep, narrow and, in places, slippery and the ascent of some 85 metres seems to go on for ever, but a convenient bench at the top allows you to regain your breath in comfort.

Continuing along the more level clifftop path take the left fork under the ancient settlement on Gilman Point then zigzag left, then right to descend to Morfa Bychan. From here to just before Marros Mill the path is not as shown as the right of way on the OS map and misses a good view of the cairns.

(1) The path crosses the track to the beach before passing below a huge concrete wall of seemingly WWII vintage to climb an obvious (and steep) zigzag path back up under the shadow of the chambered cairns to the cliff top again.

Passing through a kissing gate, turn left onto a track which is followed for some 150-200m to a fork in the track with a waymark post.

Take the left fork and gentle descent to Marros Sands, guided by frequent waymarked posts.  In places the going can be quite muddy where streams have colonised the path, even in dry weather.

(2) The path follows the shingle banks backing Marros Sands with the sea on your left and reed beds and willows thriving in the narrow strip of land between the shingle and hill behind, forming a lush "jungle" contrasting with the beach "desert".

Just past the ruins of Marros Mill where the stream can be heard rushing through the shingle under your feet, turn right at a waymarked post and follow the path inland to join the track that serves the cottages by the mill.

Turn left and follow this track up under limestone cliffs, ignoring the waymarked turn left to "Underhill" and the Carmarthen Bay Coastal Path to Amroth at the track junction after a gate and kissing gate. Instead of turning left here go right and follow the intermittently surfaced lane to the church, unusual war memorial and road at Marros.

(3) Cross the road and take the track opposite with "Honey Cottage" on the gate and follow this down across Marros Mountain.  The right of way actually diverges from the track, but at present appears totally overgrown and impassable, but track and right of way join again by the cottage, Pwll on the OS map, at the bottom of the track.  If you can find the right of way, use it.   If not, follow the track.

At the bottom of the slope, right of way and track rejoin at a fork with "Honey Cottage" signed to the left.  Go right here, through a gate (ignore the “private” signs – this is a public right of way) past a cottage and through an iron gate by a ruined cottage, onto a track at the bottom of a wood.

(4) Follow the left-hand boundary for some 200 metres, noting the Tolkienesque qualities of the wooded and at one time quarried slopes to your right.   Coming out of the woods, you climb diagonally right across a field to a gap in the hedge ahead, drop slightly left, below some more trees, into another field (with only partial hedges), then follow the right hand boundary as it leads you down to a fenced gateway gap onto an obvious track in the woods again.

The path is not obvious on the ground and care is needed to follow the right of way along this section. Try and keep the steam below in sight, keep one eye on the map and one on the compass and you should be OK.

Once in the woods follow the obvious track bearing right past some old lime kilns up to a field.  Bear left, following the top of the woods, onto a gated track, which is then followed southwards to a road.  Turn left past Green Bridge Farm, noting its unusual tile roof and round chimneys, and down to the Green Bridge in the dip.  Turn left by a gateway to a track, by some large stones, to find a stile onto  short, steep, path down to the cave entrance. Retrace your steps to the road to continue the walk.

(5)Cross the road to the waymarked track opposite and follow this down the valley for approx 1.25km.

(6) On a bend with a vandalised waymark, take the path left and climb gently up a wooded stream valley on an excellent path between fields to join the B4314.

On reaching the road turn left, then almost immediately, leave it again turning left up a track signed as a No Through Road, up to the church (7).

Go through the churchyard then turn right to regain the B4314.  Turn right and follow the road past Great House Farm, an ancient and architecturally interesting, if somewhat run-down, building whose gateway has front pillars surmounted by huge balls originally at the entrance to old Tremoilet Mansion.

The road leads steeply down - note the escape lane on the road - to the right-angle bend by the Spring-Well Inn.  A plaque on the sea wall tells how a bus driver "gave his life to save others", presumably after suffering brake failure before the escape lane was built!

Turn left along the road past the Beach Hotel, or along the beach to regain the start of the walk.

ALONG THE WAY

Pendine is probably most famous for its sands which run for approximately 5 miles to join Laugharne Sands and the Taf Estuary.  At low tide the beach is almost half a mile wide and is backed by the wide sand dunes of Pendine Burrows.

Although the sands are very popular with holidaymakers, most of the beach and sands are controlled by the MoD and are a "Danger Area" as part of a weapons-testing area.  However, by the village, part of this expanse of beach is always open to the public and when the red flags are not flying, so is the rest of the beach.

In the past this massive flat beach has been the scene of much excitement, with the world land speed record being challenged and broken here many times by such luminaries as Sir Malcolm Campbell, Guilio Foresti and Parry Thomas.

A sign on the wall of the  Beach Hotel, headquarters of many an attempt on the land speed record, lists the major achievements by the speed kings and, if you are interested in history and speed, the Museum of Speed, situated by the start of the walk, will be an added attraction.

Man has inhabited this area a lot longer than cars have been around and the walk passes many sites of prehistoric and historic interest including the ancient fortified settlement and stone circle (?) on Gilman Point, chambered cairns above Morfa Bychan and an ancient settlement on the flanks of Marros Mountain.

More recent historically interesting sights are to be found in the ruins of Marros Mill on the beach at Marros Sounds, the ruined lime kilns and abandoned quarries in the woods below Marros Mountain and the churches at Marros and Pendine.

St Lawrence's Church in Marros has a massive 70ft tower, added to the church in the 13th or 14th century for defence (or prestige), which once housed the village school, while the church itself is probably based on a Celtic site.  Note the initials carved in the church wall - not gratuitous graffiti, but showing which parishioners were responsible for each section's maintenance.

The remains of an ancient cross are to be seen near the church porch, while, by the road, is a most unusual war memorial styled on the chambered cairns at nearby Ragwen Point.

St Margaret's Church, Pendine, has an unusual slated pitched roofed "saddle back" tower, a 16th century addition to a church probably founded by St Teilo in the 6th century.  There is the stump of the old cross in the churchyard and a fascinating cast iron gravestone nearby.  Both churches boast some interesting stained glass windows and have the peaceful atmosphere only found in churches of immense age.

The predominantly limestone geology of the area adds some interesting features to the walk, mainly stunning cave-riddled cliff scenery and views that stretch from Worms Head to Caldy Island and, on good days, Devon.  Marros Beach, as well as having interesting natural stone "platforms" on the beach, also can reveal the rare sight of a submerged forest which stretches hundreds of yards out to sea, showing the trunks and branches and peaty floor of a forest that was lost to the sea thousands of years ago.

At the Green Bridge, where the walk crosses the road to Amroth for the second time, the stream disappears under the natural limestone bridge the road is built on, but does not reappear on the other side.  It is swallowed into the cave-riddled rocks below the dry valley on the far side of the road, not to reappear until it reaches Morfa Bychan a mile away.   Only surface run-off water in modern concrete channels is found on the surface of the valley.

The wild flowers of the area reflect the limestone base of the land and are to be found in great profusion.  Foxgloves, oxeye daisies, scarlet pimpernel, flag iris, ransoms, bluebells, foxgloves, stonecrop and many others can be seen, and there is evidence of a varied mammalian population.

The variety of wildlife and superb views give ample opportunity for stops "to look at the view" on this rather strenuous if not over long walk.

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