Coast Walking (Wales): Laugharne to Llansteffan 26 June 2015

We took a taxi to Llansteffan so that we could walk back to our accommodation in Laugharne. At Llansteffan we found some bare essentials for lunch from the single shop, buns and tomatoes, and set out through the dunes which had few species of interest. This shore faces the estuary of the Afon Tywi and we had to walk around the headland which separates it from the neighbouring estuary of the Taf on which Laugharne lies, the two rivers combining as they enter the sea. Passing underneath Llansteffan Castle we proceeded through woodland with good views and frequent seats. One of the seats had a striking metal sculpture of the “Singing Ladies” by Julia Griffith Jones. As we rounded Wharley Point we could see Laugharne Sands, the inaccessible far end of Pendine Beach. Little egrets flew past and on the mudflats we could see herring gulls, curlews and sanderlings, the latter crowded in a line along the water’s edge. Shortly after we had to leave the shore and head inland to minor roads with grass and toad rush growing down the middle. Crosswort was quite common along these roadsides, sheltered from the salt spray. Although not a coastal experience, we made good progress along these roads until we reach Cwn-celyn on the bank of the Taf. We were able to walk at first along the top of the saltmarsh, but then the coast path rose up through a little woodland to a cornfield. The path was supposed to proceed diagonally across, but the farmer had left no way through the corn, which was wet after a night’s rain and continuing drizzle. This was the first sign we had had of opposition by local farmers to the coast path. Just beyond we came to the farm at Pilgrims’ Rest, where the footpath was supposed to go through the farm and then along the Afon Cywyn. The coast path was not signed here, but there was a battered notice on a post about a minor path diversion, although no diversion had been provided as shown there. We proceeded through the farm and a field beyond (with great difficulty) but could find no way by the river as shown on the OS map. The way was obstructed by ruts and potholes. We had to take a much longer route by returning up the road the other way, where we suddenly found a coast path sign for a footpath cutting off a long corner between two roads. We regretted following this because the path was completely unmaintained with long vegetation and took longer than the road route would have taken. We continued north and west along minor roads, heading for St Clears, the first crossing place for the Afon Taf. Where this road ended at a T-junction a footpath was supposed to continue west and one was signed through a hedge. After one field we found the path was going nowhere. Returning to the first junction we had to crawl under an electric fence and walk through a cow pasture where an isolated stile (complete still with footpath sign) marked a previous field boundary. We had to crawl under another electric fence to gain the footpath beyond, that we could take north over a stile. On the other side of this stile we found a coast walk sign indicating the way we had come, confirming the route we had taken. A series of paths led to the extreme southern end of St Clears, a footbridge over a tributary and then a main road bridge over the wider Taf itself. The coast path ontinued towards Laugharne along this main road. Occasionally there were diversions into new footpaths paralleling the road behind hedges, but these were unmaintained, and it was easier to walk along the roadside, despite the fast traffic. One such path even took us away from the road, around three sides of a large square and back to the road, thus making our route three times as long. While the grass along these diversions where walkers were encouraged to go was uncut, that of the road verges where walkers were discouraged was cut short and easier to walk! Later there was a genuine path leading away from the road, to the river and through a small woodland. The first part of this path was through a hay meadow thick with yellow rattle and including four orchids – common and heath spotted, southern marsh and greater butterfly orchid. A flock of swifts was flying over this meadow, presumably because of the abundance of flies (and horse-flies were indeed a problem). In a marshy section we saw golden-ringed dragonflies (also fly predators). We then gradually walked up the hill where Laugharne is situated, turning left on the track to the river once again and through more woodland past Dylan Thomas’s Boathouse, now a tea room. Just past this was the little wooden garage to his boathouse, which is where he wrote some of his works – inside through the glass in the door we could see that it seems to have been left as he had last used it, down to the jacket hanging on the back of a chair. From here one can take a lower path on a concrete platform through the edge of the saltmarsh, or, as we did, an upper lane that led higher up the village and opposite the lane leading to our accommodation.