Abereiddy/Porthgain - Pembrokeshire
Circular walk: 5.78 miles
what3words address for parking:
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The what3words address takes you to a car park by Abereiddy beach. This is a pay car park and cost us £4 to park all day but the space is limited and I’m guessing it could fill up quickly during busy times. There are toilets here too.
We walked this route anti-clockwise heading inland before turning parallel to the coast. The route was clearly signposted and easy to follow. The fields were full of colour from the wild flowers.
A short section on a minor road brings you to the coast at Aber Draw where you pick up the coast path and from here on it’s a very straightforward walk with only a couple of short, steep climbs.
Porthgain is about four miles along the walk and is a good place to stop, if you need a break.
From around 1850 slate, then brick, and then granite were shipped from the harbour. The crushed granite road stone was dispensed from the massive brick built hoppers, built at the beginning of the twentieth century, directly into small ships alongside Porthgain harbour.
These and earlier slate quarrying related structures including the lime kiln, harbour and pilots house can still be seen. Slate was also quarried at Abereiddi and transported along the tram road to Porthgain for export. Mining finally stopped here in the 1930s.
There’s a good pub here, a seafood restaurant/cafe (that also does take away) and galleries if you need some retail therapy. It’s a popular tourist destination and gets busy.
From here the coast path leads back to Abereiddy. Just before you descend into Abereidy the ‘Blue Lagoon,’ an old, flooded quarry will be on your right. Another popular spot.
This was a really lovely walk on a hot day; great views, open countryside and the inland section was very quiet. The only people we encountered were on the coast path.
hiking
PeterHadfield on scottexservices.com