Rachel came down yesterday to join me for this leg. I also invited friends for supper, so with clearing up, I was feeling rather bleary eyed setting off at 8am for Abergwaun! However the road was clear and we arrived at Aberteifi/Cardigan in plenty of time for the bus up to Strumble Head – which was fortunate as there was no bus stop where I was expecting a bus stop to be, having checked it only yesterday. Enquiry produced the information that there was a new bus stop on the other side of the town. As I noticed elsewhere in Pembrokeshire the bus driver was an older woman, originally from the north of England. Good to see some diversity in bus drivers. There was an older infirm lady, whom the bus driver patiently talked to the whole journey. We arrived at Strumble Head and set out, having admired the lighthouse again.

The countryside was far less dramatic than the last day I did, coming towards the lighthouse from the south. The cliffs are lower with lots of heather and gorse, but the excitement of the day was the quantity of seals near Carreg Wastad, bobbing on the waves.

Another interesting area was just west of Abergwaun, where the French landed an invasion force of some 1400 men in 1797.  Legend has it that Jemima Nicholas, brandishing a pitchfork led a group of women from the town to the top of the headland, where their traditional red flannel petticoats led the French to believe that the redcoated militia was on its way.  The intrepid women captured about a dozen drunk French soldiers, and locked them in the church. Jemima received a pension, and is a heroine in the town.

It was an easy walk of about 10 miles, although the final paved section into Abergwaun was a bit dull. We had fish and chips at the excellent Hook 31. Highly recommended. Our B and B is near Aberporth, which is nearly 30 miles away, and proved rather complicated to find, with a road that got narrower and narrower to the point where I was concerned that we’d get wedged between the hedgerows! Total distance just over 8 miles and a gold day – everything went smoothly!