28th October 2017 - Twmbarlwm Hill Fort

Today’s walk is one to do on a clear day. It covers the high ground to the north of Risca and Crosskeys and commands incredible views of the whole Severn Estuary. We set off from Twmbarlwm Car Par which is free but sadly a magnet for fly-tippers. We didn’t head straight up to the hill fort as I thought it would be best to save this until last. It was incredibly windy up on the ridge so we dropped down into the woods. Even up here though the views are stunning.

Lots of ferns on top.

The woods here are incredibly dense and the path follows next to them. You can’t see more than about 20 feet into them before it is pitch black. Once we got to the end though the wind came back with a vengeance. There is a car park with some picnic tables up here but I’m not sure how to get up here. It does offer an easier route to the hill fort for the less active. It also overlooks the reservoir which we didn’t go down to.

About to head off down the track.

Next we followed the route around Cwmcarn forest. This is a round route of a couple of miles. The woods are quite cut back so the views here are also very good. There are also some mountain biking tracks which honestly only look suitable for those with suicidal tendencies. They look more suitable for climbing gear than bikes.

A big log in the picnic area.

As we came around the southern edge we could see Mynydd Machen where we went a few weeks ago. I do enjoy this aspect of walking in the hills, seeing walks from a different perspective and picking out a walk you want to do from the actual ground, rather than just from a map. The woods really drop away at this point and there is some very interesting new plantations. The new firs looks oddly like cactus bringing about an almost North American dessert type appearance.

The view over Risca.

The final part of the walk is up to the hill fort itself. This impressive structure apparently kept the first Roman conquest of Britain at bay for 25 years. It’s not hard to see why when you get up to the top. It’s very steep and the view is truly spectacular. You can see all the way from the new M4 bridge to past Western-Super-Mare. 

Heading up to Twmbarlwm fort.

It was ideal weather too. Very clear but cold with low pressure giving great visibility. From here it’s just a quick drop back down to the car. This walk is ideal in clear weather, not one for when it’s raining. It’s also great if you just want a short walk but can also be drawn out for much longer as it is a very large area. I have feeling we will be returning here.

On top of Twmbarlwm.

7th October 2017 - Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal Walk

Today’s walk has a slightly urban feel to it. We decided to take a walk along the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal as Chuck is a real water baby and is always up for a swim. We parked in Car Park in Bettws. It was free very close to the canal. It gets busy quickly so get there early. We set out across a football pitch through a gap in the hedge. Very different to our usual vista.

There are lots of stone bridges along the canal.

The canal is sadly no longer in use. It looked a bit sad but thankfully didn’t have too much in the way of litter. The first section is very much still in an urban area. It’s quite pretty though with houses backing onto the canal and several old locks. The canal starts to leave the town but unfortunately then runs right next to the M4. It’s a nice view from here but the constant hum of traffic does not make for the most tranquil of walks.

And unsurprisingly, lots of locks too.

We left the canal after a bit and headed up into Allt-yr-yn Nature Reserve. The traffic noise was much quieter up here and it is a pleasant little wood. We dropped back down again and under the M4 once again. The canal leads up to Fourteen Locks Park. I didn’t bother counting them to see if it was a misleading name but there were plenty of locks. Sadly none of them in use. There was a large pool at the top and Chuck took full advantage and went for a dip.

Looks lovely with the M4 just out of shot.

This was poor timing on Chuck’s part as we went to a pub in Rogerstone next. Well, I think it was Rogerstone. It may be Highcross. It’s hard to tell where each ends. The pub was called the Rising Sun. Sadly it didn’t let dogs in. We sat outside and although it wasn’t particularly cold our poor wet dog was certainly feeling cool. We drank up quick as he was starting to shiver. We got back to the canal and Chuck jumped straight back in to warm up.

Getting away from the traffic noise now.

The canal heads out between the houses and feels more country-like the further you go. At one point we saw a rather tame heron sitting on the bank. It was posing as passers-by took photographs. We left the canal bank and headed uphill to the outskirts of Risca. We walked through a field of horses which is something you don’t see very often. The odd one or two maybe but there were loads of them. They looked like small shire horses. Any horse experts please feel free to comment below.

One of the Fifteen Locks. I can't remember which one.

We followed a small road to a woods. The woods turned out to be incredibly muddy. Our nice clean dog turned into a horrid muddy mess in quick time. Thankfully there was a stream at the bottom and he was more than happy to jump in. A freshly clean but rather wet dog. A half hour walk back to the car mainly dried him off though. 

The views get nicer further west.

The walk back through Bettws was….er…..not scenic shall we say to be diplomatic. When we got back to the car there were people waiting for our car parking space so as I said before, get there early. This was an interesting change to our usual walks. It just shows that even people who live in a big city, in this case Newport, can find a fairly rural walk right on their doorstep.

Hi.

24th October 2017 Daily Blog from Porthcawl - Going Home (Sad face emoji)

Alas after three days of drizzle, today the weather decided it had been average for long enough and turned to heavy rain instead. So nothing to report today I'm afraid. Unless you'd like to here about Lidl in Bridgend? I thought not.

Pooped!

It has been a great couple of days despite the weather. I can only imagine how beautiful The Gower peninsular is in the summer. Hopefully we've inspired you to plan a little AirBnB getaway of your own. All our post holiday admin is done and Chuck is fast asleep after three days of constant go. Hope you enjoyed the extra posts? Normal weekend service should resume next week. Weather dependant. 

23rd October 2017 Daily Blog from Porthcawl - Day 4

Day 4 of our travels today and the last one before we go home tomorrow. It didn’t quite go according to plan and sadly neither did the weather about which the Met Office lied. Having said that, it wasn’t a bad day overall. We started off from the National Trust car park in Rhossili. Top tip, take lots of change. A days parking requires £5 in coins. Who carries that around with them? As I didn’t have £5 in coins…sorry National Trust. We left hoping not to be clamped when we returned.

The views weren't long distance but they had a magical quality.

We set off across Rhossili Down. We took the lower path as visibility was poor and as it was meant to clear up later we thought we could get the views on the way back. There were a few sheep dotted about here and there so Chuck was on the lead for a lot of the time. It was very grey and damp but every now and again we caught a glimpse of the coastline. The beach down below us was gigantic and after walking for nearly an hour we were just half way along it.

The rocks at Llangennith Burrows. Make sure you're off before high tide.

We passed through Hillend Caravan Park down onto the beach. Chuck was finally free and super excited. He spent the next half an hour chasing seagulls having the time of his life splashing in the sea. Just be aware that the water here can be dangerous. Chuck is scared of the waves however and generally just likes splashing around in the shallows. At the end of the beach is large round rock formation. We didn’t go onto it as we were unsure if the tide was coming in or going out. It looked as though you could easily become stranded on there.

A giant jellyfish washed ashore. Sadly we had no ice cream.

The path rose up onto some cliffs which were very wild and jagged. The rough weather made for a powerful vista with the waves crashing against the cliff. It was odd as the dunes from the beach seemed to reach up to the cliff edge but we hadn’t really climbed much from the beach. It was as if the sea had dropped down to reveal the cliffs. Before long we had dropped down onto another beach.

Jaggedy cliffs at Broughton Burrows. Still raining.

Broughton Bay was again a huge beach. We stayed low so Chuck could stay off the lead instead of going up across the cliffs. However, the footpath back to the top was not obvious and I think the path we went up was not the footpath but just another path made by people getting off the beach. This confused the navigation somewhat and after about half an hour we ended up back where we would have initially come off the beach. Very frustrating. As we had lost so much time and the weather was refusing to clear up, we decided to cut it short.

Chuck doing a spot of beach combing.

We plotted the most direct route to our intended pub stop in Llangennith. This took us through a caravan site with lots of ‘Private Keep Out’ signs. All well and good but as I pointed out a few weeks ago, it is illegal to conceal or block a public footpath. As there were no directional aids we ended up on the far side of the caravan sight unable to find the correct route of the path. We found the footpath that the one we had lost lead to but getting to it involved jumping over a barbed wire fence. As this was the only option we clambered carefully over and returned to the path.

The footpath that wasn't a footpath. Either way it was steep and sandy.

It’s a real bug bear of mine when people try to conceal a Public Footpath across their land. If they just put a couple of arrows we’d have been through in no time. As it was we ended up climbing over their fences and probably going into places they really didn’t want us to go. It would be better for both parties if they directed instead of obstructed. The alternative route was about two miles further. I’m sorry but a Public Footpath is a Right of Way and we will find a way through. Rant over.

Come on Mummy and Daddy. Nearly at the pub.

We arrived at the King’s Head in LLangennith quite soaked and annoyed at our scrambling through bushes and barbed wire. However the welcome we received made up for it. The drink selection is fantastic. It’s not cheap but they have an incredible array of whisky and gin. I tried three different Whiskies, all very different and we had a bowl of rather delicious chips. The final part of the journey was back across Rhossili Down. The promised break in the weather never materialised so we took the low path again.

The King's Arms at Llangennith. A spirit drinkers paradise.

We got back to our car and fortunately it wasn’t clamped. Again, sorry National Trust, put a card reader in your brand new shiny parking meters and I’d have paid. You can’t get blood out of a stone. So there you go. Not quite what we planned but a nice day nonetheless. Tomorrow we’re off back home but we’d like to maybe get a small walk in or visit something depending on the weather. Hopefully it’s something worth writing about. I’m sure it will be. See you tomorrow. 

22nd October 2017 Daily Blog from Porthcawl - Day 3

The view across Onwich Bay fron Penrice.

Welcome to Day 3 of our holiday on the South Wales coast. Our destination for today was the Gower Peninsula just west of Swansea. This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) features cliffs, hills and sandy beaches. Today we covered all three. We set out from Millwood car park, which is free, just north of Oxwich. It’s in a deep valley so there was an initial climb to warm us up, which was good as it was quite cold despite the improvement in the weather. We skirted around Oxwich village and headed straight for the castle. We didn’t go in but you can see the majority of it from the footpath and then read the history on Wikipedia.

The walk across the fields to Onwich Castle.

The next leg of the journey was around Oxwich point. This affords magnificent views of the whole coastline and probably the Devon coastline too on a clear day. There were unfortunately some rather angry cows on top but we fought our way through and the view from the cliffs was worth the risk to life. The path then drops right down to just 50ft or so from the sea before climbing back up through some woods and then back down onto the beach.

Walking down to Onwich Point after surviving a cow attack.

Oxwich beach is one of those beaches that you can walk along for half an hour without seeming to get anywhere. Chuck didn’t mind however as he was busy making friends with Cody the Malamute. Much more fun was had chasing seagulls as well. The beach was littered with large shellfish, some of which were still very much alive. However they were being massacred by the seagulls and the shellfish weren’t very good at fighting back as they were mostly made of slime.

Chuck has spotted the water already.

There is a stream that runs down the beach to the sea about half way along. There was a bridge and everyone seemed to be heading for it. Although the stream didn’t look big we had visions of sinking into quicksand and thought better of jumping it. The path let into a hinterland of scrub grass and then up a steep hill through some woods following the Welsh Costal Path. We ditched the costal path here to head towards Cefn Bryn, a giant ridgeline feature that runs for several miles across the Gower.

The ponies resident on top of Cefn Bryn.

Despite the wind and now occasional rain, it was definitely the right choice. The views offered were of the entire peninsular and further towards Llanelli and the Llanrhidian Sands. We could see our entire walk. Populating the top were wild ponies who mostly seemed quite oblivious to us being there, although one or two followed us for a little while. After being spoiled by the views for nearly an hour we dropped down into Reynoldston with view of going into the pub there. A sign on the door that said ‘No Dogs Allowed’ put paid to that. We could have sat outside but such blatant racism does not garner our custom.

Chuck checking out how far home is.

We followed the main road back down to Little Reynoldston and down a track into Millwood. We didn’t really explore Millwood as we’d been out a while and wanted to get back for tea but it looked like there was some interesting stuff there. Thankfully today the winds had dropped so were able to get home without any difficulty. Whilst we didn’t stop in Swansea I can report it looks rather nice when the sun is out. All in all a much better day than yesterday. This is a great walk for such a wide and varied rosta of environments. Not sure what we’re doing tomorrow yet but make sure you come back to find out. See you then.

21st October 2017 Daily Blog from Porthcawl - Day 2

Welcome back to the South Wales coast around Porthcawl. Today’s plan was to go to Kenfig Nature Reserve to quickly wear Chuck out and then head to Swansea. Things didn’t quite go according to plan. We knew it was going to be a poor weather day as the brilliantly named Storm Brian was closing in. The rain never really came but the wind definitely had designs to ruin our own plans.

Comedy wind inflated clothing.

Kenfig nature reserve is a landscape of dunes and grass. It’s very much like The Braunton Burrows from our old stomping ground North Devon. Chuck got incredibly excited as the Burrows was his favourite place to go. He howled with delight, singing the song of his people as he ran up and down the path, despite the gale force winds and rain.

Chuck was blown away by the view.

The path passed a lake which obviously Chuck spotted from about half a mile away. He was in in no time. Thankfully the terrific winds soon dried him out. The walk continued across dunes of increasing size. The higher we got, the windier it was. As we approached the shore a gap in the sea bank was funnelling the winds to a very high speed. It was almost impossible to look out over the sea. The waves were crashing with some vigour. Being out in this weather gives a tremendous sense of the kinetic power of nature. The wind howling past your ears. You really feel it. Dressed accordingly I could happily stay out there all day.

A bit of comedic light relief from the weather.

We followed the Wales Costal Path towards the steel works at Port Talbot. The track passes some old railway sidings here. Top tip, route at the correct path, don’t just follow the service road. We ended up having to squeeze under a barbed wire fence to get back on our track. Just before you get to the M5 are the ruins of Kenfig Castle. And very ruinous they are. Not that much to make out really but an interesting 5 minutes can be had looking around if the weather is nice, or 30 seconds if not.

The kings of the castle. Odd cactus shaped plant photo-bombing. 

We made a beeline for a pub marked on the map between Kenfig village and Maudlam. When we got there we found The Prince of Wales. Dogs were only allowed in the snug but this was no problem. It was a constant coming and going of canine fun. The highlight was a highly timid Newfoundland who had to be dragged past Chuck. It was so sweet to see such a big dog that was so meek. Just shows you can’t judge a book by its cover.

Chuck educating himself on the local wildlife.

We headed back down the road to the car. Our quick walk had turned into over three hours. But we aren’t big fans of cities usually so we wouldn’t need long in Swansea. Good job as we never got there. We ended up stuck on the M4 for 90 minutes and turning around and coming back to Porthcawl. The high winds had shut the bridge over The Neath River. We’re intending on going to The Gower past Swansea tomorrow so hopefully it has reopened. Tomorrow’s post will very much depend on the bridge being open. Make sure you come back tomorrow to see how we get on.

Looking a tad windswept in The Prince of Wales.

20th October 2017 Daily Blog from Porthcawl - Day 1

A rocky coastline with a rugged hinterland.

After the success of blogging on location from our little get away to Cornwall last year we thought we should do the same again this year. We’ve taken a few days staying in an AirBnB in Porthcawl South Wales. We’ve wanted to go to Swansea for some time but looking on AirBnB website we discovered it was half the price in Porthcawl and as most our time will be spent walking the surrounding area it made sense. We are proper AirBnB virgins but we would like to start our own AirBnB so we thought it made sense to stay in one first before just letting out our own. As this is ‘live’ blogging each day we can let you know how things are progressing.

The weather was initially 'bracing' to put it kindly.

We only live about 90 minutes away but it’s a bit too far to come for a day so it made sense to stay. We set off around 1100 and didn’t really hit too much in the way of traffic. Top tip for supplies, there is only a small Co-Op in Porthcawl so stop in Bridgend on your way in if you’re coming from the east, which 98.372% of you will be. There is a Lidl, a Tesco and a Pets At Home all right next to each other. Saves lugging lots of food from home.

The sea wall with a brooding sky behind it.

The place we’re staying in is great. Really nicely done and cosy. I’ll do a full review at the end of the week. I was warned by someone who lives nearby that Porthcawl is a dump but I think it’s actually quite charming. It is slightly run down in places, especially by the amusements but we came here to be outside, not playing 2p slot machines. The beaches are dog friendly at this time of year, October – April, so Chuck has been in the sea already.

This is just as the tide was beginning to turn.

There’s a great new bar and restaurant building by the sea wall, next to the lifeboat station. It’s quite posh but didn’t seem ridiculously expensive. I paid £7 for a double Jura and a soda water. The tide was coming in and the waves really start to crash against the rocks when it does. It has been a bracing day but I love that. The beaches are rocky and the hinterland is wild and moor like. We walked all the way out up to the Royal Porthcawl golf club with a not so fetching view of Port Talbot steel works. But it was far away enough not to spoil the view. Devon and Somerset could made out across the Severn and The Mumbles bay next to Swansea was also visible.

The restaurant and bar next to the lifeboat station.

Porthcawl is so far proving to be a wonderful little place to come and stay. The weather for the next few days looks pretty terrible to be honest but we’ll do our best to make some mini adventures for you to enjoy reading about. Hopefully we can inspire you to make your own little weekend getaway. It only requires two days off work and is far better than a week in Los Del Thompson Package Holiday. So have a look along the coast for somewhere off the beaten path to stay and get booking. We’ll be back tomorrow, as long as we don’t get washed away.

The far end of Porthcawl. The dog walking area is just around the corner.