Ragwen Point walk, Carmarthenshire
Enjoy stunning views across Carmarthen Bay and fascinating local history on this cliff-top walk to a secluded bay.
Map
Start:
Car park at Pendine, grid ref: SN234080
1
Go down to the beach from the car park and turn right towards the first outcrop. Follow the steep path up the hill. When you reach the top you can look back along the miles of beach. Pendine Sands is best known as the place where Malcolm Campbell and JG Parry-Thomas set the world land speed record five times between 1924 and 1927.
2
Follow the path round to the left towards Ragwen Point. This area used to be overrun with Japanese knotweed but, after extensive conservation work, it's now home to many native wildflower and plant species.
Wildflowers
If you walk here in spring you'll be able to see and smell the wild garlic that now thrives here. Do the walk at different times of the year to see what other wildflowers grow here.
3
The path crosses Gilam Point, where there's an Iron Age hill-fort and the remnants of a medieval field system.
4
Follow the path to a small pebble beach: Morfa Bychan. Allied Forces preparing for the Normandy landings in 1944 practiced on this beach.
Practice area
All over Morfa Bychan Beach and further inland there are concrete structures, built to mimic the defences that were present on the French Coast. These were built for the Allied Forces to practice on in 1944.
5
Take the right-hand fork and follow the path through fields to its junction with the road. Then turn right again and walk down the lane back to the car park in Pendine.
Mock defences
Some of the concrete structures along the route are huge, giving an idea of what the Allied Forces were up against at the Normandy landings in 1944.
6
Take the right-hand fork and follow the path through fields to its junction with the road. Then turn right again and walk down the lane back to the car park in Pendine.
End:
Car park at Pendine, grid ref: SN234080
