Walking the Pembrokeshire Coast Path – Broad Haven South to Merrion

A sunny day was forecast after the snow (which missed most of Pembrokeshire anyway) so we set off to walk the next section of the path. I’d decided to do this as a circular walk so we weren’t dependent on the twice-a-week bus, but then found that the path was only accessible at weekends – this section is all within the Castlemartin firing range. With a bit more organisation we could have made use of the Saturday bus and we wouldn’t be feeling so tired tonight.

We parked at Bosherston and walked down by the lily ponds to Broad Haven, where we finished last time. It still gets me every time – the transition from the calm lake in a secluded valley to the beach and open sea, just a few metres apart.

We pootled along taking photos, with a diversion to St Govan’s Head (the most southerly point in Pembrokeshire) and down to St Govan’s Chapel, wedged into a cleft in the limestone, then found a bit of shelter from the strong wind to eat our sandwiches.

At that point I looked at the map and realised we had made very little progress westwards. When I suggested to Ian that we might only have done a quarter of the walk he was somewhat horrified that it might be a 14 miler, so I revised it down a bit. We then walked rather faster. It was very easy walking (apart from the fierce headwind), very level with gravel tracks across the firing range and signs telling us not to pick anything up as it might kill us. It was black bird day – choughs, jackdaws, ravens and cormorants.

Before too long we reached Stack Rocks and the Green Bridge of Wales, a natural arch which I’d never visited before. A big chunk of it fell off last winter so catch it while you can! At this point the path heads north inland, the south-western corner can only be visited on an accompanied tour so that will wait for another day.

The road north was longer than I’d anticipated, but after passing the ruins of Flimston Farm and church we reached the junction near Merrion and turned east, to head back to Bosherston along the alternative route (for when the range is closed), pleasant enough across mostly empty fields. 12.1 miles in all, 7.3 coast path, and we’re both pretty tired and wondering if we are particularly unfit at the moment or just getting too old for this. I think we need more practice!