Pembrokeshire Coastal Path Day 1

Wiseman's Bridge to Manorbier
Distance 15 miles
Ascent 570m
Weather wet start, warm and sunny later
Chough doubt
Chough confirmation
Also llama

The heavy rain and thunderstorms passed over during the night. As we were setting off in the morning there was light drizzly rain. The coastal path winds its way around the side of the shore along an old miner's track which has tunnels through the headlands. We'd put on our waterproofs, but took them off fairly soon as magically it wasn't raining on the other side of the tunnel.

From Saundersfoot we walked along the beach, admiring the geology and caves. A pretty but steep wooded path led up through Rhodes Wood, with gnarly oaktreed, ferns and bluebells.

On the clifftop we emerged into a buttercup meadow, which we walked through a short way before the path headed back into woods, back down the cliff around back up the other side. Repeat.

One of the clifftops had a little viewpoint with carved wooden birds, but not actually much of view. Then we headed down into Tenby.

Tenby was heaving, as one might expect on a bank holiday Sunday lunchtime. We managed to get some sandwiches, which we ate on the esplanade, under the watch watchful eye of gulls and jackdaws.

The tide was out so we walked along the sands of South Beach, then up onto the cliffs and out to Giltar Point. The clifftops were carpeted with thrift, clover, bird's foot trefoil and kidney vetch, along with spring squill (a new one on me, it looks like a tall pretty harebell.) There were skylarks and possibly linnet, and claims of a chough, although this waa unverified as I had been looking the other way at a giddy cow. For miles after that we scrutinised every crow, rook and jackdaw. There were a lot of them, but no chuffing choughs.

We took a bit of a detour around Lydstep Point, stopping for tea and a biscuit and some more jackdaw perusal.

There were some very impressive cliffs, some steep and rocky, some steep and grassy, and some almost hidden and quite vertigo inducing. We admired the arches of the Church Doors, and then walked around the headland to Coombe and Rook's Cave where there were choughs! The path the leads around Parsons Piece (above his nose) and into Manorbier. We are staying at Castlemead, and have had a lovely dinner and tried a couple of beers from the Tenby Brewey.