Mawbray in the sun..........

Well, after a week away, it was nice that it was sunny for a walk out on the beach.......Rocky certainly seemed to enjoy it after being cooped up in the car yesterday.

Aberystwyth...old haunts.

Since the route home from St David's was via Aberystwyth it'd have been a shame not to stop. The town is much expanded since I was there at uni ...rather a few years ago - but the pier and prom haven't changed much!

Pembrokeshire coastal sketches

Although it was gloriously warm today ...and to some extent yesterday - it's still chilly if the sun goes in at all. Well worth carrying the paints though and taking the risk. Apologies for the poor lighting and therefore photographs!

Wooltack point yesterday 

Towards Strumble head today.

Pembrokeshire choughs.

It has been an absolute delight to be accompanied by these fabulous birds on the majority of our coastal walks. 44% of the British population are in Pembrokeshire, that's 55 breeding pairs.(www.pembrokeshirecoast.wales)  The collective noun is a clatter of choughs.

Strumble Head - round walk.

What a splendid day and walk! Parked up at the lighthouse, then west on the coastal footpath to Penbwchdy headland. Glorious views all the way. Then back a bit to the YHA and up onto Garn Fawr before returning via the lanes to the car.

Fantastic views all round...

Grey seals; peacock and red admiral; devil's coach-horse and pillow lavas.

Lots of glorious choughs.....

...and a tired Rocky! 

By-the-wind sailors at Marloes sands.

No Portuguese men o'war today, but fresh by-the-wind sailors washed up ...

 

Rocks and fossils at Marloes sands.

After walking round Wooltack point we went down onto Marloes sands ...the geology is really interesting and it's good for fossils too....although there weren't too many spectacular fossils, so I kind of got distracted by the lovely colours and patterns in the rocks!

Cliff top view over Marloes sands.

Easily identifiable geology from www.discoveringfossils.co.uk.

Fossil ripple marks - vertical on the cliff face.

Fossils: left solitary corals; middle bottom - crinoids? and then top right possibly a small section of cephalopod.

Lovely colours in the rocks.

The impact of the storms on grey seals ....Wooltack Point...

We parked up at the carpark just beyond Marloes Court and then headed north onto the muddy coastal path. Out onto Wooltack point, but before that, down to Martin's Haven where there was a TV crew discussing the impact of the tail end of hurricane Ophelia and the force of storm Brian on the grey seals. There were a couple on the beach ....having walked the coastal footpath for the last five days I fear some of the proposed figures for pup mortality may be underestimates.

Seals at Renny slip - not many pups though.

A superb coastline - we enjoyed watching porpoises/dolphins off the end of the point. 

Across to St Davids headland. There were lots of ships in the bay - apparently ( according to the coastguard, who was waiting for the helicopter to take off a skipper with a multiple fracture) waiting to get into their allotted slot  into Milford Haven.

Field sketches from Abereiddy along the coast...

A perfect day and the opportunity to do two watercolour sketches on the cliff tops!

Looking west towards Carn Llidi....

...and east towards Strumble Head.

Abereiddy to Porthgain

A much better forecast today and a lovely coastal walk -some sunshine as well! Much of the carpark has been washed away at Abereiddy, but there are still graptolites (Didymograptus murchisoni), middle Ordovician - 470 mya, to be found on the beach.

The Blue Lagoon - former slate quarry, was reasonably blue! 

Views up and down the coast.

Porthgain today.

An artist's impression ( from the information board) of what Porthgain would have looked like in the 1900s when it was a thriving port, providing bricks and road stone. Prior to this it exported slate. 

Newgale, Pembrokeshire ...Portuguese men o'war and by-the-wind sailors.

A rather damp and windy afternoon so off to Newgale - some lovely fresh Portuguese men o'war and some by-the-wind sailors too!

Medieval tiles in St Davids Cathedral

I just love the designs - laid in the late 15th and early 16th century these encaustic tiles are just splendid - yes they've had some renovation, but they are worth a visit in their own right

St Davids Cathedral

Well it was a good job I took the opportunity to take some photos of the exterior on Sunday when it was sunny! Today was forecast to be wet but the morning wasn't - just a bit dismal, so it was a walk into St Davids and a few photos and some food shopping. ...love the gargoyles and the purple Welsh slate.

 

Solva in the mist

A quick nip down to Solva and a walk up onto the Gribin ridge where there is an iron age fort. To be honest you can't see much of it, but it is reported (http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/410450/details/gribin-ridge-fort-solva ) to have had a timber palisade; to contain platforms that would have supported a variety of structures and was only discovered in 2010. It commands a good view of Solva and along the coast. It has to be said though the local paths at this time of year were a bit of a sluther!

Views and the now obligatory Portuguese man'o war! 

St Justinian to St Davids Head

The day was ok, but then a rather damp fog appeared so not a lot of photographs especially as the camera obviously didn't like the moisture and started grunting and groaning in a spectacular fashion! Walked along the coastal footpath; lovely rocks again. Sadly, at Porthselau, there were three live seal pups washed up - and another later in the day at Porthmelgan. A couple of old Portuguese men o'war were on the pebbles at whitesands.

Plenty of choughs enjoying the breeze....

The iron age fort and neolithic burial chamber.

Nice textures...

Caerfai to Caer Bwdy Bay

The trouble with being used to getting up early for work and then having accommodation that more or less backs onto the coastal path is that you do a ten mile walk and are back home for early afternoon. Hence another walk ....the sun came out so there was a quick sketch first before heading off. Just a few Portuguese men o'war on the beach and they weren't in as good a condition as this mornings.

Caerfai in the sun

The field sketch 

Fantastic folds and colours...

Porth Clais to St Justinian ....with Portuguese men o' war

As the morning deteriorated we came to Porthlysgi Bay. Over 25 Portuguese men o'war ( there doesn't seem to be agreement on what the plural is) were washed up  - well up the beach. Sadly the storms seem to have taken their toll on seal pups too this year.

The colours on the beach were good too!

...and some general views across to Ramsey and then on to St Justinian (in between squalls).

Caerfai to Porth Clais....with choughs and St Non's chapel.

The forecast was for blustery showers so we togged up and set off to walk along the coastal footpath from Caerfai to St Justinian and then back through St Davids to Caerfai - which we did. I've had to split it into a couple of blogs though to get all the photos in! It was rather windy - with some unforgiving showers!

General coastal magnificence

Lovely to see and hear so many choughs on this stretch of coast.

....and some history too!