Coast Walking (Wales): Carmarthen to Kidwelly 29 June 2015

We took a train from Ferryside, where we were staying at the Three Rivers Hotel, to Carmarthen. We began our walk from the station following the Coast Path signs that helpfully guided us around the sidings, main roads and roundabouts to the A484 south through industrial estates. We passed a college, by which a minor road came off the roundabout south to Croesyceilog. Although we were walking as close as possible to the river Tywi most of the riverbank was inaccessible and the path kept far from it. The railway, which runs right beside the river most of the way, had given us much better sights of it and enabled us to record heron, cormorant and mallard as we trundled by. Our walk, on the other hand, consisted mostly of roadside plants and garden escapes, perhaps the most notable being crosswort on several hedgebanks.

Problems only began near the farms of Gwmyrarian and Towy Castle, where it was difficult to find the way and needed trial and error to get back on track. Some parts were poorly maintained or consisted of tracks used for herding cows that were in bad condition for walking. Subsequently we were twice harassed by uncontrolled dogs that the owners would not call off. Towards the end of the footpath section we crossed one steep pasture that gave excellent (if distant) views up the river to Carmarthen. One hedgerow also had the bright pink, white centred, flowers of harsh downy rose. Another section of lanes eventually brought us down close to the river and a track went straight across the railway towards a saltmarsh. This enabled us to record a few saltmarsh plants and sit on a grassy bank to eat lunch. There was a colony of wild celery along a stream here, a plant that can often be spotted first by the distinctive smell. But this track was too difficult to proceed with because it had been badly poached by cattle. So we went back to the official Coast Path, which ran beside the railway on the inland side – thus never allowing access to the river or saltmarsh at all. This path led straight into the road into Ferryside and past its station, where we stopped for an iced-lolly as refreshment. Across the road from the café was a small park area with mosaics by local children and a statue of a seine fisherman, formerly one of the staple occupations of the village. There is access over a level-crossing to the estuary-side, which here is a mixture of mud and sand. With the tide out sufficiently it is possible to walk this to where the headland of Tregoning Hill begins, and we collected a number of shells typical of sandy estuaries. There was a particularly good selection of sand gapers Mya arenaria of all sizes. We had the opposite of the morning's starting view, back across the river to Llansteffan.

We came up by a short path directly to Three Rivers Hotel. Here the coast road bends inland and eventually leads to the main road to Kidwelly, but a coastal way to Kidwelly branches off to the right and leads round the headland. The official Coast Path does not take this way, but goes by footpath over the hills, including some steep up and down, presumably to avoid using the road, but the road gives good views over the river estuary and has very flowery hedgerows, including wild madder. It also passes the beautiful old church of St Ishmael’s, whose steeply sloping cemetery is mostly uncut. It was once the centre of a whole parish, but most of the buildings in the parish and the old village of the same name have disappeared or stand in ruins. Little traffic disturbed us, as cars prefer the wider road over the hills, but the road became busier later on where it passed above the caravans of Carmarthen Bay Holiday Centre and also less pleasant where it was used daily for herding cattle between a farmyard and outlying pasture, making the road messy and attractive to horse-flies. It became more pleasant again after Penallt. A footpath came off through wet pasture (again puddled by cattle and difficult to walk) to the railway and then back along an embankment. This gave good views over the Gwendrath river that runs down through Kidwelly and here becomes saltmarsh. A group of ravens fed here, and a redshank, while a host of turnstones wheeled around spectacularly in formation, flashing black and white. This embankment led to another footpath, where we were joined by the Coast Path, all along the river into Kidwelly, past a wetland nature reserve, and with good views of the Castle and Church steeple. Beside the river we found one group of the tall wild leek, a rare plant that occurs only in this area and in Cornwall.

As soon as we reached the town we took the bridge over the river and returned by a street paralleling the water on the other side, leading to the station. We reached it just in time for the 5.11 train back to Ferryside, except that a level crossing, closed for the train approaching, prevented us gaining the platform on the other side of the line! We therefore had to wait for the next train, which fortunately at this time was only 25 minutes (normally an hour or more).

There was a fine sunset that night from the Three Rivers Hotel.