Walking the Wales Coast Path - Pembrokeshire - Ceibwr Bay to Cardigan
On 30th August 2023 I walked my final walk of the Pembrokeshire Coast path, from Ceibwr Bay to Cardigan. A 9 mile walk in total, with some of the most incredible scenery of the entire coastal path so far. Not to mention some of the steepest hills to date too.
Instead of using public transport this time, I had my Husband and kids come along as my support crew. They dropped me off at Ceibwr and then had their own little adventure in Pembrokeshire, before meeting me for lunch at Poppit sands. My daughter then joined me for the last 3.5 miles from Poppit sands to Cardigan, presenting me with my Pembrokeshire patch at the finish line.
The word that seemed to come up over and over again when reading up ahead of this walk was “challenging” so I was a tad apprehensive before the walk. The first 2 miles lulled me into a false sense of confidence as, despite having a few ups and downs, it was really nice walking, and the views were incredible. Then all of a sudden I was walking up a very steep hill, but I could see a little further along I was going to be going straight back down. So as I headed right back down to sea level, a quick look at my map, and I realised back up the other side of this descent would be the highest point on the entire Pembrokeshire coastal path. This spurred me on a bit, as I walked up and up and up. However, my resolve wained a little bit when I was then plunged back down again, thankfully not all the way to sea level, but still, it felt a tad cruel. Then it was finally the last ascent to the highest point, and the views all the way back along the coastal path were beautiful, and it was so nice to see how far I have walked over the last few years of doing this challenge.
Thankfully after that the walk was much easier again, and the walk around Caemas Head was beautiful, and luckily much easier terrain too. It felt so good to see Poppit sands come into view too, and luckily it was mostly downhill all the way from that point too, which my legs were very grateful for.
After a lovely restful lunch stop at Poppit sands with my family, my daugther and I headed for Cardigan. It was mostly road walking at this point, but the path did head back over fields towards the end though.
Naturally we stopped for a photo at the way marker at St Dogmaels, but it didn’t really feel complete until we crossed the bridge into Cardigan. We met back up with the rest of the family there, and celebrated with the most amazing food at Pizza Tipi.
It feels so good to have completed the entire 186 miles of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, and it was very satisfying to tick off the last few boxes on my passport and to finish drawing in the last line on my map (pictured below).
I now have an unbroken line from Southerndown (near Cardiff) to Cardigan, and I’m looking forward to tackling some more sections in due course, but for now I think I will take a much needed rest. We’ll see how long that lasts though!
