We had to get up bright and early this morning as neither of us had found the carpark for the hotel yesterday and we were both pay and display carparks which charge from 8 am. We then wrapped ourselves around an excellent breakfast before driving to Y Mwnt to leave one car.  It was not immediately obvious how to find the carpark, but eventually we tracked it down – right at the foot of Y Mwnt – which is a pointy hill on the coast, visible from some distance.

I decided that we did not need to go back to Poppit Sands, as the walk from there is down the estuary, rather than along the coast, and is a narrow, tarmac’d road – unpleasant and dangerous to walk along, and not part of the coast.  Consequently, we started again from Cardigan Castle, right on the bridge over the Teifi. 

Aberteifi/Cardigan is a pleasant town (allowing for the fact that Welsh towns are not generally as pretty as English ones, although the surrounding countryside is nearly always fabulous). In the paving on the main road there is a slab with the words of the well-known hymn, Calon Lân, (Pure Heart) engraved.

I am not sure why – perhaps it was written by a local bard? The castle was first built by a Norman invader, Gilbert de Clare, presumably as part of his assault across the Irish Sea on Ireland. It was taken for the Welsh in 1165 by Rhys ap Gruffydd (usually known as the Lord Rhys), the mightiest Welsh prince of the late twelfth century. He rebuilt the castle in stone, and some of his works remain extant.  

The weather was bright and breezy, with squalls to begin with, but we made good time along the north side of the estuary – there was a fair amount of road walking to start, but the views of the southern bank were good, and it is always nice to see the boats bobbing (or not bobbing) on the water. We passed some apple trees that were dangling temptingly over the path, so Jane clambered up the five-bar gate to supplement our lunch.

Turning off the road, we walked through beet fields, with Ynys Aberteifi/Cardigan Island ahead of us – it is known for its colonies of grey seals, but we did not see any there. In fact, the whole day, despite having our eyes peeled for dolphins, which are regular visitors to this part of the coast we only saw one seal. Eventually, the point of Y Mwnt came into view.  The sun had come out by this point, so we sat above the little inlet, where lots of people were enjoying themselves – some hardy souls were even swimming.  I decided that I was not brave enough for full immersion, but I did paddle – it was eye-wateringly cold, but exhilarating. My feet tingled for ages afterward.

We then climbed up to the top of Y Mwnt, great views in all directions, before visiting the lovely little church of Holy Cross at the foot. It has been there, time-out-of-mind, for the benefit of pilgrims and the tiny local community. It was a very tranquil space, moving in its quiet simplicity.

Another gold day, covering a modest eight miles.