| Date: | 2nd. September 2016 | |
| Blog Status: | Photos Only (13 Sept 2016) | |
| County: | PEMBROKESHIRE (Welsh: Sir Benfro) | |
| Location: | St David's Head (from Whitesands Bay) | |
| Type: | Scenic Area (Coast) | |
| Sub-Type: | Headland | |
| Viewed by: | WALK from car park | |
| Car Park: | Pay On Entry | |
| Difficulty: | Moderate | |
| Distance/Time: | 6 Km/90-120 Min | |
| Season: | Early Autumn | |
| Weather: | Cloudy & hazy start/Some sunny periods later | |
| Time Of Day: | Mid-Afternoon | |
| Camera: | Panasonic Lumix FZ-150 (RAW) | |
| Scene Rating: | ••••• |
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Original photographs found on this website are Copyright © Richard Baskerville 2016, All Rights Reserved. If small versions of other photographs are found here, they have not been copied and held on the Personal Britain server, but are reduced renditions of images on other websites that are only embedded (by reference) in this blog. These thumbnail pictures act as links to their original images (as found on their originating website) and these may be copyrighted by their owners. Please see the linked websites for individual copyright details. Because the images are "by reference" they may become broken if the owner changes the link. If you notice a broken link please let us know in a Comment.
St David's Head Walk: Introduction
For many people, the area around Lake Windermere will be their gateway to England's Lake District National Park. The towns of Windermere and Bowness-On-Windermere (some say "villages", although the combined permanent population is about 12,000) have grown into a single, continuous settlement which provides a wealth of accomodation, wining and dining and attractions that has netted increasing numbers of British (and, now, overseas) tourists for over 150 years. The twin towns still have defineably separate town centres, but - as a whole - provide a relaxed, almost Mediterranean, "holiday" feel, with locals and visitors visibly enjoying themselves in the spread of establishments providing alfresco food and drink.
Of course, the area's main attraction is its Lake. Usually called Lake Windermere - presumably to distinguish it from the town - the name is actually tautological, since the suffix -mere in itself means "lake," so that Lake Windermere would in fact translate as "Lake Winander's Lake" in standard English...
Windermere has the distinction of being the largest lake in England by area (although it is by no means the largest lake in the United Kingdom, since there are many larger bodies of water in Northern Ireland and Scotland.) Although there are cruises available on several other lakes, it also offers by far the most frequent and comfortable cruise schedules in Lakeland.
The first commercial passenger ferry service started in 1845 and the cruise industry has developed from that time into the busy service run by Windermere Lake Cruises today. The company operates 3 year-round routes - and a variety of additional summer-only routes - from departure points in Bowness-On-Windermere, Waterhead (Ambleside,) Lakeside (at the southern tip of the lake, near Newby Bridge) and Brockhole.
The majority of their boats are custom-designed motor cruisers with an open top-deck and a glass-encased lower "wide-view" deck (as in the photo below) although they still run some vessels they call 'steamers' and dating back as far as the 1930s as part of their regular schedule. [Actually these vessels - like the MV Teal and MV Swan - are no longer driven by steam - so they're not really steamers at all. They are powered by diesel motors. Older and true steamers, dating back to the 1850s, can, however, be found in the collection of what was the Windermere Steamboat Museum. This was closed at the time we wrote this and was being reincarnated as Windermere Jetty, Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories in a new, custom-designed building on Rayrigg Road LA23 1BN. It's due to open in 2017. Check their website for details.]
How you personally rate Windermere (as a whole) will really depends on your interests and your family status. People with young kids will almost certainly find Windermere a more desirable destination than (for example) hard-core fell walkers. There are a variety of family-friendly attractions and easy walks around or close to the lake, which are less evident in the the rougher mountain landscapes to the north and west of the National Park.
Our relatively modest three-dot rating is not in any way an indication of either Windermere or the cruise being in any way unattractive or "bad value" - we had fun and we met some interesting people on board the boat. It's just that we consider other areas of the Lake District to be closer to our tastes for beautiful and rugged mountain scenery than the Windermere area. The peaks around Windermere are relatively modest in scale, with more appealing peaks like the craggy Langdale Pikes still somewhat distant.
That's not to say that there aren't nice walks and interesting locations around Windermere. It's may be that we just haven't sampled them yet. (Our trip to the Lakes was an impromptu one, and less well researched than usual, so we missed a variety of places that we would normally want to visit.)
To give a "fuller" and more rounded perspective on what's available in the vicinity than we have been able to experience so far, and to help you plan your trip, our More Attractions And Walks On St David's Peninsula section (below) gives a variety of information (and links to other websites) on the following places and walks:
Solva to Traeth Llyfn Coastal Walk
Solva
Caerfai Beach
Porthclais Harbour
Porthlysgi Bay
St Justinian
Porthselau
Ynys Dewi (Ramsey Island)
Porth Y Dwfr
Pen Beri (Penberry)
Blue Lagoon (Abereiddy)
Traeth Llyfn
The places are shown as "brown spot" locators on our St David's Peninsula map, which is found at the start of the More Attractions And Walks On St David's Peninsula section. We hope to give a more personal evaluation of many of these after our next visit!
With the lack of strong light and shadow, the drama of the narrow, outreaching lines of rock is largely lost, as they appear to be compressed together into a flat image.
It's only when you see them in close-up, from an angle close to perpendicular, that the idiosyncratic structure of the rock formations becomes fully apparent.
Closer view of wall-like bands of rock crossing Porth Lleuog beach towards the sea
The apparent density and continuity of the trees is deceptive. From the photographs it looks like they run without a break from the lakeshore right up over the first ridge. But if you look at a satellite photograph, you can see that the lakeshore is actually bordered by a level 200-300m wide meadow, before the land starts to rise.
In the right lighting conditions, the curious rock formations are inherently photogenic, as in the Scrapbook shot below, uploaded by an unknown photographer (Hayley?) to the blog.superbreak.com site.
A thin line of trees at the water's edge was hiding the meadows at this point, making it look from water-level as if they don't exist!
Further up the lake there is sometimes fewer trees at the edge of the beaches and he extent of the meadows can be appreciated (q.v. photographic location 6 below.)
2 - Fully zoomed shot of seal and pup in a sheer-sided cove north of Porth Lleuog
Despite the fact that some of the distant mountains reach over 700m they were easily dwarfed by vast and effulgent clouds on the day we took the cruise.
On a practical level, this made for a lot or problems with photographic exposure, since the light sweeping across the land and water was contrasty and constantly changing. The unlit mountains were a dark hazy blue, while the lens had to be stopped down to prevent ugly digital burn-out on the darkest part of the clouds.
Of course, the area's main attraction is its Lake. Usually called Lake Windermere - presumably to distinguish it from the town - the name is actually tautological, since the suffix -mere in itself means "lake," so that Lake Windermere would in fact translate as "Lake Winander's Lake" in standard English...
Windermere has the distinction of being the largest lake in England by area (although it is by no means the largest lake in the United Kingdom, since there are many larger bodies of water in Northern Ireland and Scotland.) Although there are cruises available on several other lakes, it also offers by far the most frequent and comfortable cruise schedules in Lakeland.
The first commercial passenger ferry service started in 1845 and the cruise industry has developed from that time into the busy service run by Windermere Lake Cruises today. The company operates 3 year-round routes - and a variety of additional summer-only routes - from departure points in Bowness-On-Windermere, Waterhead (Ambleside,) Lakeside (at the southern tip of the lake, near Newby Bridge) and Brockhole.
The majority of their boats are custom-designed motor cruisers with an open top-deck and a glass-encased lower "wide-view" deck (as in the photo below) although they still run some vessels they call 'steamers' and dating back as far as the 1930s as part of their regular schedule. [Actually these vessels - like the MV Teal and MV Swan - are no longer driven by steam - so they're not really steamers at all. They are powered by diesel motors. Older and true steamers, dating back to the 1850s, can, however, be found in the collection of what was the Windermere Steamboat Museum. This was closed at the time we wrote this and was being reincarnated as Windermere Jetty, Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories in a new, custom-designed building on Rayrigg Road LA23 1BN. It's due to open in 2017. Check their website for details.]
How you personally rate Windermere (as a whole) will really depends on your interests and your family status. People with young kids will almost certainly find Windermere a more desirable destination than (for example) hard-core fell walkers. There are a variety of family-friendly attractions and easy walks around or close to the lake, which are less evident in the the rougher mountain landscapes to the north and west of the National Park.
Our relatively modest three-dot rating is not in any way an indication of either Windermere or the cruise being in any way unattractive or "bad value" - we had fun and we met some interesting people on board the boat. It's just that we consider other areas of the Lake District to be closer to our tastes for beautiful and rugged mountain scenery than the Windermere area. The peaks around Windermere are relatively modest in scale, with more appealing peaks like the craggy Langdale Pikes still somewhat distant.
That's not to say that there aren't nice walks and interesting locations around Windermere. It's may be that we just haven't sampled them yet. (Our trip to the Lakes was an impromptu one, and less well researched than usual, so we missed a variety of places that we would normally want to visit.)
To give a "fuller" and more rounded perspective on what's available in the vicinity than we have been able to experience so far, and to help you plan your trip, our More Attractions And Walks On St David's Peninsula section (below) gives a variety of information (and links to other websites) on the following places and walks:
Solva to Traeth Llyfn Coastal Walk Solva Caerfai Beach Porthclais Harbour Porthlysgi Bay St Justinian Porthselau Ynys Dewi (Ramsey Island) Porth Y Dwfr Pen Beri (Penberry) Blue Lagoon (Abereiddy) Traeth Llyfn
The places are shown as "brown spot" locators on our St David's Peninsula map, which is found at the start of the More Attractions And Walks On St David's Peninsula section. We hope to give a more personal evaluation of many of these after our next visit!
St David's Head: Background
Windermere (the lake) once formed part of the border between Lancashire and Westmorland, although it is now entirely within the county of Cumbria and the Lake District National Park. Estimates of length go up to 18 kilometers (depending where you take the southern part to end.) Estimates of maximum width is more consistently put at about 1.5 kilometers and depth at about 67 metres - much less than many Scottish lochs, although the deepest points of the lake are still below sea-level.
Windermere is a "ribbon lake" formed in a glacial valley about 13,000 years ago. The River Leven flows out of the lake at the southern (Newby Bridge) end. It's fed by small waterways like River Rothay, Trout Beck, Cunsey Beck and a number of yet tinier streams. The lake contains 18 islands, of which the (privately owned) Belle Isle is by far the largest. The smaller islands (called "holmes") range from the largish ones (like Bee Holme, Blake Holme and Crow Holme ) down to Maiden Holme, which has just one tree!
Supported by the lake's rich habitat for fish like trout, char, pike and perch - as well as habitats for migrating wildfowl and good agricultural land - there have been settlements around the shore from at least the Anglo-Saxon era, although population around the lake didn't start a large-scale growth until Victorian times.
Inspired by fashionable Romantic poets and painters like Wordsworth and Turner - whose works encouraged 19th Century gentry to get away from the grit and smut of newly industrialised cities and "back to Nature," the area around the lake started to find a new purpose as a tourist destination. The arrival of the Kendal and Windermere Railway in 1847 greatly accelerated this process - as did the area's later association with popular Victorian and Edwardian children's writer Beatrix Potter. The arrival of tourists may have precipitated the use of the name "Windermere," since the name "Winandermere" was still in local use, during the Victorian era.
Windermere cruise boats also date back to the time of the railways and were at one time operated by British Rail. After privatisation, four of the old railway boats were bought by Windermere Lake Cruises Ltd. Three of them are still running. There is also a vehicle-carrying cable ferry, which crosses from the eastern side of the lake, south of Bowness, to Far Sawrey - and two summer only passenger ferries that cross the lake (one from Lakeside station to Fell Foot Park in the south, and another from Bowness with Far Sawrey.) There has been some sort of ferry across the neck of the lake for over 500 years. Initially these were rowed, but were later steam and diesel driven. The current ferry ("Mallard") is the largest so far - carrying 18 cars and 100 passengers.
It has been said that there is "only one town or village directly on the lakeshore" (Bowness-on-Windermere) although this is open to interpretation, since settlements like Waterhead and Lakeside now also have many buildings close to the water's edge.
Windermere become part of water-speed-record history in 1930 when Sir Henry Segrave broke the record on Windermere in Miss England II at an average speed of 158.94 kilometres per hour (not quite 100 mph.). Segrave's mechanic drowned on the third run, but Segrave was rescued by support boats - only to die a short time later of his injuries. Norman Buckley also set several world water speed records on Windermere in the 1950s. These were not the only men to have died in the Lake District attempting speed records. Donald Campbell died in Bluebird K7 on Coniston Water in 1967. The wreckage and his body were not recovered from the depths of the water until 2001. Depending on your perspective these were either evidence of a kind of "driven" madness or the insuppressible aspiration of Man. As with artists, the two are perhaps quite close.
William Wordsworth lived most of his life in the area - initially in Grasmere, but then at Rydal, just north of Ambleside. The area is also associated with Arthur Ransome of Swallows and Amazons fame. His 1930s school holiday boating adventures are set on a fictional Lake District lake, which is said to have been a cross between Windermere and (nearby) Coniston Water.
In practice the weather started to close in on us, and long-distant views were all too hazy and washed out to have much appeal anyway, so we took the shorter (red) route back through the valley north of Carn Llidi and abandoned the ascent.
The route map and instructions on the National Trust's website also turned out to be misleading in a number of ways. There are many more paths on the ground than the NT map suggests (and no signposts.) In particular, the NT map gives little indication of how to get to the Coetan Arthur (Arthur's Quoit) megalith, which is actually at a point between the looping coastal path, which runs west then north-east around the Head.
Coetan Arthur appears as Red Dot 6 on the enlarged version of our map, and we'll give advice on the easiest way of reaching this ancient monument in the our description (below.)
Windermere is a "ribbon lake" formed in a glacial valley about 13,000 years ago. The River Leven flows out of the lake at the southern (Newby Bridge) end. It's fed by small waterways like River Rothay, Trout Beck, Cunsey Beck and a number of yet tinier streams. The lake contains 18 islands, of which the (privately owned) Belle Isle is by far the largest. The smaller islands (called "holmes") range from the largish ones (like Bee Holme, Blake Holme and Crow Holme ) down to Maiden Holme, which has just one tree!
Supported by the lake's rich habitat for fish like trout, char, pike and perch - as well as habitats for migrating wildfowl and good agricultural land - there have been settlements around the shore from at least the Anglo-Saxon era, although population around the lake didn't start a large-scale growth until Victorian times.
Inspired by fashionable Romantic poets and painters like Wordsworth and Turner - whose works encouraged 19th Century gentry to get away from the grit and smut of newly industrialised cities and "back to Nature," the area around the lake started to find a new purpose as a tourist destination. The arrival of the Kendal and Windermere Railway in 1847 greatly accelerated this process - as did the area's later association with popular Victorian and Edwardian children's writer Beatrix Potter. The arrival of tourists may have precipitated the use of the name "Windermere," since the name "Winandermere" was still in local use, during the Victorian era.
Windermere cruise boats also date back to the time of the railways and were at one time operated by British Rail. After privatisation, four of the old railway boats were bought by Windermere Lake Cruises Ltd. Three of them are still running. There is also a vehicle-carrying cable ferry, which crosses from the eastern side of the lake, south of Bowness, to Far Sawrey - and two summer only passenger ferries that cross the lake (one from Lakeside station to Fell Foot Park in the south, and another from Bowness with Far Sawrey.) There has been some sort of ferry across the neck of the lake for over 500 years. Initially these were rowed, but were later steam and diesel driven. The current ferry ("Mallard") is the largest so far - carrying 18 cars and 100 passengers.
It has been said that there is "only one town or village directly on the lakeshore" (Bowness-on-Windermere) although this is open to interpretation, since settlements like Waterhead and Lakeside now also have many buildings close to the water's edge.
Windermere become part of water-speed-record history in 1930 when Sir Henry Segrave broke the record on Windermere in Miss England II at an average speed of 158.94 kilometres per hour (not quite 100 mph.). Segrave's mechanic drowned on the third run, but Segrave was rescued by support boats - only to die a short time later of his injuries. Norman Buckley also set several world water speed records on Windermere in the 1950s. These were not the only men to have died in the Lake District attempting speed records. Donald Campbell died in Bluebird K7 on Coniston Water in 1967. The wreckage and his body were not recovered from the depths of the water until 2001. Depending on your perspective these were either evidence of a kind of "driven" madness or the insuppressible aspiration of Man. As with artists, the two are perhaps quite close.
William Wordsworth lived most of his life in the area - initially in Grasmere, but then at Rydal, just north of Ambleside. The area is also associated with Arthur Ransome of Swallows and Amazons fame. His 1930s school holiday boating adventures are set on a fictional Lake District lake, which is said to have been a cross between Windermere and (nearby) Coniston Water.
St David's Head: The Walk Itself
Route(s) and Timing(s)
Our plan was to follow the walk described on the National Trust website - although we intended to loop clockwise rather than anticlockwise and to follow what the National Trust calls an "Alternative Route" around the south-side of the Carn Llidi outcrop, before ascending the summit, to take in the view. (Our route map - below - shows our intended route using yellow and purple lines.)In practice the weather started to close in on us, and long-distant views were all too hazy and washed out to have much appeal anyway, so we took the shorter (red) route back through the valley north of Carn Llidi and abandoned the ascent.
The route map and instructions on the National Trust's website also turned out to be misleading in a number of ways. There are many more paths on the ground than the NT map suggests (and no signposts.) In particular, the NT map gives little indication of how to get to the Coetan Arthur (Arthur's Quoit) megalith, which is actually at a point between the looping coastal path, which runs west then north-east around the Head.
Coetan Arthur appears as Red Dot 6 on the enlarged version of our map, and we'll give advice on the easiest way of reaching this ancient monument in the our description (below.)
The NT site also lists the distance as 6 Km, 1 hr 15 mins and moderately strenuous. The 6 Km distance presumably excludes the Alternative Route and the ascent to Carn Llidi summit, which would add at least another 2 Km. A timing of 75 minutes sounds optimistic to us, unless you just keep walking without taking time to look at anything(!)
Even following our shortened route, we took 2 hours - so allow 3 hours if you want to climb Carn Llidi and have adequate time for admiring the view and taking photographs
We agree, however, that the degree of difficult is "moderate" - since the route entails some scrambling up fairly steep, rocky paths and over bare rocks (although the majority has wide paths on gentle inclines.)
The B4583 ends in the Whitesands Bay car park - which is pretty much your only choice for parking if you want to start the St David's Head walk from this vicinity - unless you're staying at one of the nearby camp-sites, caravan sites or holiday cottages, that is...
Although St David's Head is under the ownership of the National Trust, the first part of the walk - on the slope up and past Porth Lleuog and Penlledwen point - is not on National Trust land. Nor is the car park, so NT members will have to pay the same as everyone else.
Whitesands Bay car park is mainly aimed at families who spend a day on the beach
The car-park is manned and is "pay-on-entry." Like a lot of beach car parks the assumption is that you will want to stay for a large portion of the day, so there is a flat daily fee of (at the time of writing) £5.00 per day, although the parking attendant seems to have some leeway in this. (We arrived at 14:20 and were charged £4.00, for example.)
We have seen no publicly published tariff for the car-park, so the times at which such reductions occur is something of a mystery. Generally speaking, greater transparency and clarity about such things as what months/hours the car park is staffed and the charges at various parts of the day is something highly desirable.
Since many people who are out for a drive also like to stop and have a quick walk on the beach before continuing their tour, an optional hourly rate would also be good (although during high season, the car park - which can take 100 cars - often fills to capacity anyway, so the extra staffing costs that a "stepped" rate would entail make this somewhat unlikely.)
The car-park attendant seemed to go home at 5pm, so it's possible that you could get a free walk on the beach after that time: although this was September, and this may not be the case during the longer days of high summer. (We also assume that the car park is not staffed/charged in the winter, although whether or not this is true - and if so, for what months - is also a matter of conjecture, given the lack of information...)
The car park has public toilets - now with a 20p turnstile at each entrance, so make sure you have change. There is also a pleasant beach cafe with inside and outside seating and helpful staff. Hot food stops at 7.30pm. Buckets and spades (etc) are available at a little shop in the same building, if you decide to build sand castles instead of taking the walk ... or decide to do both.
From Whitesands car park, go through a gap in the wall on passing the site of St Patrick's Chapel. Climb a sandy slope up on to the cliff path. After about ½ mile (0.8km) you reach a kissing gate and National Trust sign. Continue to the crest of the hill.
The gap in the wall is fairly obvious, but the mentioned Chapel has no obvious ruin, so don't look for that. The site is just marked by a sign to the side of the gap.
The path climbs a grassy ridge at the northern end of Whitesands Bay and gives a pleasant seaward view of the beach with Ynys Dewi (Ramsey Island) in the distance.
The BBC Breakfast weather forecast had been for overcast conditions in the early part of the day, but with cloud breaking up at about lunch-time - so we had killed time exploring the grounds of our hotel on the Western Cleddau river (as it starts to widen into tidal mudflats, having exited Haverfordwest.) We'd then stopped in St David's city for a more intensive look at the Cathedral than we'd had time for the previous evening.
There'd been some sun over the Cathedral and this had encouraged us to move on towards the coast, but - even though we arrived after 2pm - the weather had become overcast again and was showing little sign of clearing. The air was also heavy with humidity, resulting in a grey haze over distant landscapes that was flat rather than moody.
PERSONAL BRITAIN
View over Whitesands Beach - looking flat and dreary under unbroken cloud and haze
Even at this angle Whitesands Beach affords a pleasant view. However, if you want to shoot back towards the mainland, youll need to walk out to the end of the little peninsula (known locally as Trwynhwrddyn) which separates Whitesands Bay (Porth Mawr) from Porth Lleuog. This is best done from beach level before you start to climb up to the coastal path.
A more dramatic view of Whitesands Beach can be had from the southern end, and - had the weather been better, we would almost certainly have walked southwards along the coastal path to the headland (marked as Brown Dot A on our map,) which offers a nice view/photo across the beach with the full spine Carn Llidi rearing up in the background [as shown in this Scrapbook Album image from Ruth Livingstone, who has walked the whole of the Pembrokeshire coastal path and documented it on coastalwalker.co.uk.]
As with all of our Scrapbook Album pictures, click the image inside the photo edges to go to the larger (in this case, panoramic) shot on Ruth's site.
Arguably the best view of Whitesands Bay is from the south, with Carn Llidi beyond
If the tide is out you can then walk along the beach and walk to the end of Trwynhwrddyn, before taking the path along the top of Porth Lleuog.
The view of Trwynhwrddyn towards Ramsey Island should also be a nice one in stronger (or evening) light. As it is we had to fight hard to get even a slight amount of drama from it ... and to get any kind of detail from the clouds.
For some reason I'd always assumed (from time spend in South Wales in my childhood) that the bright green seaweed that you can see in the left bottom of this picture was the type that they used to make so called Laver Bread (although it's not a bread at all) and was toying with the idea of collecting some on the way back. Lucky that I didn't! Laver Bread is actually made from an unappetising-looking grey-brown seaweed that looks as if it has died! [There's a bushcraft video about it on Youtube, if you're interested.]
1 - Peninsula separating Porth Lleuog and Whitesands Bay - Ramsey Island distant
The path runs quite close to the cliff at the rear of Porth Lleuog, so you can get a good view of the curious rock structures that cross the beach, in defined lines, like long fingers stretching towards the sea or parallel walls built by a crazed sheep-farmer.
The headland on the northern side of Porth Lleuog beach is entirely unremarkable, and was made more so by the light-flattening haze.
Curious bands of rock and misty headland on the northern side of Porth Lleuog bay
It's the view from the base of that headland down the beach towards Trwynhwrddyn an Whitesands that is the interesting one - particularly when it includes the large rock structure at the centre of the beach, which includes a flattened rock stack reminiscent of the dorsal sail of a prehistoric dimetrodon, or the rounded dorsal fin or a Porbeagle Shark.
View south across Porth Lleuog beach showing the dimetrodon-like rock at its centre
Even following our shortened route, we took 2 hours - so allow 3 hours if you want to climb Carn Llidi and have adequate time for admiring the view and taking photographs
We agree, however, that the degree of difficult is "moderate" - since the route entails some scrambling up fairly steep, rocky paths and over bare rocks (although the majority has wide paths on gentle inclines.)
Getting There and Parking
The postcode of the Whitesands Bay beach café is SA62 6PS - but as with many rural postcodes in sparsely populated districts, this postcode covers a huge area and may only get you to within a few kilometers if you are using it as a satnav destination. It's probably still worth giving it a try, although if your satnav takes you through St Davids (the city,) check against road-signs that your route is taking you to Whitesands Bay along the B4583. [The route is signposted from Cross Square, in the centre of the city.]The B4583 ends in the Whitesands Bay car park - which is pretty much your only choice for parking if you want to start the St David's Head walk from this vicinity - unless you're staying at one of the nearby camp-sites, caravan sites or holiday cottages, that is...
Although St David's Head is under the ownership of the National Trust, the first part of the walk - on the slope up and past Porth Lleuog and Penlledwen point - is not on National Trust land. Nor is the car park, so NT members will have to pay the same as everyone else.
Whitesands Bay car park is mainly aimed at families who spend a day on the beachWe have seen no publicly published tariff for the car-park, so the times at which such reductions occur is something of a mystery. Generally speaking, greater transparency and clarity about such things as what months/hours the car park is staffed and the charges at various parts of the day is something highly desirable.
Since many people who are out for a drive also like to stop and have a quick walk on the beach before continuing their tour, an optional hourly rate would also be good (although during high season, the car park - which can take 100 cars - often fills to capacity anyway, so the extra staffing costs that a "stepped" rate would entail make this somewhat unlikely.)
The car-park attendant seemed to go home at 5pm, so it's possible that you could get a free walk on the beach after that time: although this was September, and this may not be the case during the longer days of high summer. (We also assume that the car park is not staffed/charged in the winter, although whether or not this is true - and if so, for what months - is also a matter of conjecture, given the lack of information...)
The car park has public toilets - now with a 20p turnstile at each entrance, so make sure you have change. There is also a pleasant beach cafe with inside and outside seating and helpful staff. Hot food stops at 7.30pm. Buckets and spades (etc) are available at a little shop in the same building, if you decide to build sand castles instead of taking the walk ... or decide to do both.
The Walk Itself
The National Trust walk says that the route starts thus:From Whitesands car park, go through a gap in the wall on passing the site of St Patrick's Chapel. Climb a sandy slope up on to the cliff path. After about ½ mile (0.8km) you reach a kissing gate and National Trust sign. Continue to the crest of the hill.
The gap in the wall is fairly obvious, but the mentioned Chapel has no obvious ruin, so don't look for that. The site is just marked by a sign to the side of the gap.
The path climbs a grassy ridge at the northern end of Whitesands Bay and gives a pleasant seaward view of the beach with Ynys Dewi (Ramsey Island) in the distance.
The BBC Breakfast weather forecast had been for overcast conditions in the early part of the day, but with cloud breaking up at about lunch-time - so we had killed time exploring the grounds of our hotel on the Western Cleddau river (as it starts to widen into tidal mudflats, having exited Haverfordwest.) We'd then stopped in St David's city for a more intensive look at the Cathedral than we'd had time for the previous evening.
There'd been some sun over the Cathedral and this had encouraged us to move on towards the coast, but - even though we arrived after 2pm - the weather had become overcast again and was showing little sign of clearing. The air was also heavy with humidity, resulting in a grey haze over distant landscapes that was flat rather than moody.
PERSONAL BRITAIN
View over Whitesands Beach - looking flat and dreary under unbroken cloud and hazeEven at this angle Whitesands Beach affords a pleasant view. However, if you want to shoot back towards the mainland, youll need to walk out to the end of the little peninsula (known locally as Trwynhwrddyn) which separates Whitesands Bay (Porth Mawr) from Porth Lleuog. This is best done from beach level before you start to climb up to the coastal path.
A more dramatic view of Whitesands Beach can be had from the southern end, and - had the weather been better, we would almost certainly have walked southwards along the coastal path to the headland (marked as Brown Dot A on our map,) which offers a nice view/photo across the beach with the full spine Carn Llidi rearing up in the background [as shown in this Scrapbook Album image from Ruth Livingstone, who has walked the whole of the Pembrokeshire coastal path and documented it on coastalwalker.co.uk.]
As with all of our Scrapbook Album pictures, click the image inside the photo edges to go to the larger (in this case, panoramic) shot on Ruth's site.
Arguably the best view of Whitesands Bay is from the south, with Carn Llidi beyondThe view of Trwynhwrddyn towards Ramsey Island should also be a nice one in stronger (or evening) light. As it is we had to fight hard to get even a slight amount of drama from it ... and to get any kind of detail from the clouds.
For some reason I'd always assumed (from time spend in South Wales in my childhood) that the bright green seaweed that you can see in the left bottom of this picture was the type that they used to make so called Laver Bread (although it's not a bread at all) and was toying with the idea of collecting some on the way back. Lucky that I didn't! Laver Bread is actually made from an unappetising-looking grey-brown seaweed that looks as if it has died! [There's a bushcraft video about it on Youtube, if you're interested.]
1 - Peninsula separating Porth Lleuog and Whitesands Bay - Ramsey Island distantThe headland on the northern side of Porth Lleuog beach is entirely unremarkable, and was made more so by the light-flattening haze.
Curious bands of rock and misty headland on the northern side of Porth Lleuog bay
View south across Porth Lleuog beach showing the dimetrodon-like rock at its centre
It's only when you see them in close-up, from an angle close to perpendicular, that the idiosyncratic structure of the rock formations becomes fully apparent.
Closer view of wall-like bands of rock crossing Porth Lleuog beach towards the seaIn the right lighting conditions, the curious rock formations are inherently photogenic, as in the Scrapbook shot below, uploaded by an unknown photographer (Hayley?) to the blog.superbreak.com site.
Further up the lake there is sometimes fewer trees at the edge of the beaches and he extent of the meadows can be appreciated (q.v. photographic location 6 below.)
2 - Fully zoomed shot of seal and pup in a sheer-sided cove north of Porth LleuogOn a practical level, this made for a lot or problems with photographic exposure, since the light sweeping across the land and water was contrasty and constantly changing. The unlit mountains were a dark hazy blue, while the lens had to be stopped down to prevent ugly digital burn-out on the darkest part of the clouds.
Nice shot from
On balance, however, we'd rather have had exposure problems than lose the magnificent cumulus clouds in the vast panorama of the sky!
Looking back down the path to narrow Porthmelgan beach, with Carn Llidi distant
The Langdale Pikes were the most identifiable peaks in the North-Western part of the scene - as we looked up the length of the lake. Most of the time the cloud-cover was high enough to leave these clear, although at other times the cloud poured over them like a viscous liquid.
The gathering wind made the water look a lot choppier than it actually was. There was hardly any roll on our boat - and, anyway, a totally calm lake wouldn't have been much appreciated by the many yachtspeople and sail-boarders!
Feral horses of nearly every colour rest from playing - Whitesands Beach to the rear
Trout Beck (or Trout Stream in less dialectical parlance) is one of a number of streams and small rivers that feed down into Windermere from the surrounding highlands. If you followed its erratic course 3-4 km upstream you would reach the village of Troutbeck, which is a popular stop or starting point for walks up Wansfell Pike (among others.) [There's more detail about this walk in our Other Attractions and Walks section - below.]
Curiously, despite its flow - or perhaps because of it - the stream has created a small island of beach-pebbles like a sand-bar at its mouth, which sometimes appears to block it. If you compare satellite pictures to the way it looks now, you can see that the shape of this "pebble-bar" is continually morphing its shape - despite the plants that grow on it and which you'd think would stabilise it.
Not fettered by saddlery, the horses play like joyous children in the stoney meadow
The area of shore between Trout Beck and the marina in White Cross Bay has fewer trees and the extent of the meadows that border the north-eastern side of the lake becomes readily apparent, changing the character of the shore and making it more open/ less clastrophobic.
It's difficult to recognise the mountain ridge in the picture, but it's probably the tongue of a ridge that leads up to Sour Howes.
Between bouts of play, horses can stand totally still - as if they're rooted to the spot
The White Cross Bay Holiday Park is well packed with holiday lodges and caravans. It's also - like the one close to Bowness Bay - well screened by trees, with only the busy marina jetties giving any hint of the number of people who are staying there.
The area around Troutbeck (beyond the holiday park) is actually a gateway to some quite rugged walks across the fells and peaks such as Troutbeck Tongue, Wansfell, Sallows, Sour Howes and Yoke. But you would hardly know that from the water, where the uplands to the east of the lake all seemed rather green and unchallenging
It was still only the north-west that betrayed the kind of cragginess that exists in the Lake District and the dangers that exist for walkers in old sneakers and without compasses, who are unprepared for sudden shifts in the weather.
The Palamino coloured horse was esp. pretty (tho' true Palaminos have white manes)
By this time the limitations of taking photographs from a cruise boat were beginning to manifest themselves. Besides the problem of the constantly shifting perpective on shore-based buildings and objects (that may give you only a few seconds to compensate for exposure hot-spots and get the framing you want,) there was also a marked absence of foreground that frequently left an ugly and featureless band of grey lake, as a kind of off-centre border along the picture-bottom.
Docking at the Brockhole jetty provided only a short relief from this, as it provided a bit of foreground only long enough to pick up three passengers, before moving again into open water.
The cruise boats also seemed to follow the same anti-clockwise path, so there wasn't even a chance of another boat "filling in" the bland grey-blue band with something more interesting.
Wild horses in context: view from the Iron Age hill fort across rocks to Carn Llidi
http://northstoke.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/warriors-dyke-stdavids-head.html. http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=5994. Brockhole Jetty was the only place we docked during our cruise "loop," other than at Waterhead (Ambleside.) Having no knowedge, at that time, as to what was on shore, it looked to us that the jetty was in the middle of the countyside and that you just got off here to perambulate amongst the trees.
But in fact, Brockhole has a large late Victorian mansion which now houses the National Park Visitor Centre and its 30 acre grounds were landscaped by the famous (and, in terms of the large houses around the lake, almost omnipresent) Thomas Mawson into a mixture of formal garden and natural woodland that still provide an attractive place to relax.
There are also a wide variety of places - including the most recent "Tree-top" adventure playground attraction - where kids can burn off spare energy and youthful valour.
A more extensive description of Brockhole can be found in our Other Attractions and Walks section at the bottom of this article.
Collapsed walls from the hill fort have become subsumed into the rocky landscape
The sparse commentary that had been coming from the boats crackly loudspeakers during the early part of the cruise became more empassioned around this point, as the commentator expounded the wonders of Brockhole and (shortly afterwards) the Langdale Chase Hotel (which also has a Mawson garden, of course, although I'm not sure if he mentioned that.)
Unfortunately the commentator was from the Spanish part of Cumbria and spoke in a strange, rather sing-song manner, so it was rather hard to get much in the way of useful content from what he said!
A little patch of distant sun on the flank of Carn Llidi
More than any other building we saw on the lake, Langdale Chase was build close to the shoreline, in a haughty attempt to dominate it.
St David's Head to Ynys Dewi taken by a Pro in good light
There are, of course, good shots to be had from near the end of St David's Head in clear weather at the right time of day. The Scrapbook reference image above (click it for the original full-size image) was taken by Drew Buckley, a professional photographer who has taken many beautiful landscape shots of Pembrokeshire, which can be seen on his own site. Drew also runs workshops in the county to help aspiring photographers.
Presumably 1890 didn't sound old enough so they quickly conjured up some Charles II antiques to satisfy the spin-doctors ;-)
Unabashed, the site continues with: "Blessed with so many architectural and decorative examples of our heritage, not to mention hidden treasures..." [does this mean you can't actually see them?] "...such as the original mosaic floors in the porch, laid by craftsman brought over from Italy, the house is listed as one of national and historic interest. The Hotel's outstanding interior and location, made it a natural choice for the classic English country house in Alfred Hitchcock's production of TheParadine Case, starring Gregory Peck..." [1947] "...and more recently..." [66 years later!] "...in the BBC's portrayal of the life of Donald Campbell."
How could anyone possibly resist staying there once they've read that??
Actually, the building and gardens really don't need the hype - they are probably the most imposing on the east side of the lake.
Never mind the Head and the Iron Age hill fort, let's get back to the cute horses!
After sweeping smoothly yet by another marina and watersports centre (at Low Wood Bay,) the boat passes a tiny wooded peninsula to reveal our first view of the Waterhead jetty.
Close to here are the National Trust's Stagshaw Gardens and the viewpoint of Jenkin Crag - which we also cover in our Other Attractions and Walks section, below.
More horses among the Iron Age hut foundation circles
Waterhead is, unsurprisingly, at the head (north) of Windermere (the lake) and is backed by an arc of famous mountains - from Red Screes, Fairfield Park and Helvellyn (between the Kirkstone Pass, which links Troutbeck to Ullswater, and the Grasmere valley) through to High Raise and the Pike of Bisco - "to name but a few."
At the time, this was all new to us and we had little idea as to what the countryside was like beyond this arc - although we would now say that the mountains from that point north and west are more like the kind of full-blooded Wordsworthian landscape that we had expected (compared to the cuddlier landscape around Windermere, which provides a only as feint, tantalising taste of that wildness at the tip of your searching tongue.)
That's not to say that Ambleside is devoid of attraction. Windermere as a whole is family-friendly and we have heard parents trying to interest their kids in the epic neolithic stone circle at Castlerigg tiredly promising to take them "for a walk in Ambleside" as a possible panacea to the boring old rocks....
The coastal path climbs up an outcrop, beyond the horses
Waterhead can actually be considered to be the underbelly of Ambleside. It's only about a kilometer's walk through the pleasantly dark dry-stone buldings to attractions like the iconic Bridge House and the Armitt Museum and Library.
The kid-boring foundations of the roman fort of Galava are even closer to the jetty and there are several family friendly walks which can be started in or around Ambleside as well.
Disappointed that these horses won't let you stroke their noses, VB resumes the trek
Suggestions and details about all of these can be found in our Other Attractions and Walks section, at the base of this article.
With this number of alternatives, Ambleside is probably a better base for exploring this part of the Lake District than Windermere (the town) or Bowness - although accomodation is harder to find and less competitive here than in those two centres.
3 - View of the cove on the northern side of the narrow "neck" of St David's Head
Ambleside is a much older settlement than Windermere (the town) and probably Bowness as well. The remains of the Galava roman fort shows that the place was recognised from very early times as a strategic point that needed to have a military presence to protect this trading crossroads. Ambleside's current name dates from Anglo-Saxon times - or possibly the era of the Viking invasions, since it is said to be derived from the Old Norse Á-mel-sǽtr which translates (rather badly!) as river-sandbank-summer pasture.
By 1650 the town had been granted a charter to hold a market, so it became a centre for buying and selling agricultural products - primarily wool, which was the most valuable commodity of the time.
In the reign of James II, a charter was also granted for the town to collect tolls from routes like the old packhorse trail to and from Grasmere. Revenues no doubt increased when a new turnpike road was completed in 1770, leading to the packhorse convoys being superseded by horse-drawn carts - and by stagecoaches running on a regular schedule between the larger towns of Keswick and Kendal.
3 - Mineral staining and lichens add a touch of colour to the rocks around the cove
The poet William Wordsworth also worked in Ambleside. Curiously, even the royalties he gained from the successful publication of his poetry in later life never really gave adequate financial security to his family and - from the time he moved from Grasmere to the nearby village of Rydal in 1813 - he took employment as the government's "Distributor of Stamps for Westmorland" - much to the disgust of the more Bohemian poet Shelley, who expressed his distaste for such a prosaic activity in his sonnet "To Wordsworth."
It was not until 1842, when he gained another income from his new post as poet laureate, that Wordsworth finally resigned his local government job.
Thinking of this today, Shelley was probably right in his intimation that the image of Wordsworth sitting at a desk in front of a large, bureaucratic ledger is hard to reconcile with the more familiar sense of that giant of wild Romanticism, clothes blowing, striding through the rain across boggy moorland, bracketed by bare grey rockfaces and rushing waterfalls!
After a long wait, we finally had a sunny interlude in which to shoot Coetan Arthur
Those on one of the norther-running Windermere Cruises who want to spend time exploring the attractions in and around Ambleside can disembark at Waterhead and take a later boat for the return, without any additional charge or penalty. Just make sure to keep your ticket and make sure you're there for the last sailing!
We chose not to do this since it was already too late to get to key attractions like the Bridge House - and also because we wanted to drive round to Coniston before dark
The couple from Northern California, to whom we'd been chatted during the ride about their recent visit to Scotland, had started their cruise in Waterhead and left the boat with our warm wishes for their continued journey at this point.
Since they had been in the seats right at the front of the boat, it also enabled us to shimmy forward for the optimum view (or so we thought!)
Coetan Arthur is said to be a Neolithic tomb. Looks like a stone piano from here...
Once departed from the Waterhead pier the boat headed closer to the western shore, which gave some slightly nicer views of the Langdale Pikes, with less blue haze and with a more attractive tree and meadow foreground.
We soon found, however, that being at the front of the boat when the sun was getting low over the western horizon was of little advantage. Anything of interest to the south-west, off the closer starboard shoreline, was so strongly backlit that we just gave up trying to photograph interesting buildings like Wray Castle. The contrast between the sky and the shadows was just too great - even to be succesfully resurrected by Camera Raw manipulation and denoise filters!
This was a matter of strong regret! Wray Castle is actually a mock-gothic edifice built in Victorian times, but it has several interesting stories behind it, so we would have liked to have our own photo to show here.
As it is, we've had to draw an image of Wray Castle as a "Scrapbook" thumbnail from Wikimedia and tell the stories as part of our Other Attractions and Walks Around Windermere section. (Look for the Brown Dot locator marked a "G" - below!)
The megalith is on a wide grassy, area - visible from the path above Porth Lleuog
Frustrated by the lack of photographic potential over the bow of the boat I soon found myself kneeling down and bending myself into strangely contorted positions, in order to shoot back down the lake.
The results were not impressive ... although they no doubt provided light entertainment for other people on the deck ...
The angle of the quoit is thought by some to emulate the slope rising to Carn Llidi
It was not until we got closer to Bowness, and the largest island in the lake that screens Bowness Bay from the north-west, that I took a shot that I didn't later delete - and even then the shot sticks out like a sore thumb in its appearance!
Post-production attempts to raise blacks while stopping highlights from burning entirely failed and I was left with a sort've half-acceptible silhouette of the island - and the many yachts that congregate near the island's shore.
4 - Returning to the Northern coast, the path climbs steeply on to the headland
Belle Isle is by far the largest of the islands in Windermere (the lake) and the only one to bear a name that doesn't end in the word "Holme." It's roughly a kilometer in length and 40 acres in area (sorry to mix measurements - we don't speak hectares!) It's the only island in Windermere ever to have been settled - although its settlement has given it a delightfully colourful and eccentric history!
The Roman governor at Ambleside is thought to have built a villa on the island not long after the time of Jesus. From that time and the Anglo-Saxon era little is known about it, although it was important enough to gain the name Lang (Great) Holme ("holme" being derived from Old Norse, and meaning small island.)
In Norman times it was the centre of the manor of Windermere, which - from 1247 - became a de facto moiety of the Barony of Kendal (that also included Bowness, Troutbeck and Ambleside!) Then during the English Civil War it was used as a highly defensible Royalist stronghold.
In 1774 the island's old manor house was replaced by the unusually circular Belle Isle House. It was built of brick, was three floors high and had a four column portico - yet was sold (along with the island) only 9 years later.
The new buyers were the wealthy Curwen family, who paid a princely £1,720 and renamed the island - calling it "Bella Island" after daughter Isabella. The Curwens retained ownership until 1993, by which time the name "Bella Island" had become shortened by use into the less cumbersome "Bell Isle." This was wrongly marked on a 1925 Ordnance Survey map as "Belle Isle" - which name it has retained until today.
Unhappily, the circular Belle Isle House was rendered unihabitable by a large fire in 1996 and needed substantial repairs before it could be occupied again. The house and island are still privately owned (currently by millionaires Harold and Janet Lefton, who hit the headlines in 2007, when they were jailed for 6 weeks for trying toto help their son avoid a speeding conviction by "lying" to the authorities ... )
5 - The path is often hard to discern here, as it traverses rocks and large boulders
Passing the silhouetted Belle Isle and two, by now sunless, "holmes" near Felbarrow Park, the MV Cumbria nosed its way into the overcast Bowness pier - which from this angle looks like a private jetty extending from the lawns and gardens of the Belsfield Hotel.
It was a gentle introduction to the Lakes for my wife and a gentle re-introduction to one of the gentlest areas of the park for me. I hadn't visited the National Park since my early student days, when my father and I made a spontaneous decision to pop up there from Oxfordshire. I remember it being overcast and cold, making Coniston Water look bleak, choppy and foreboding - a suitable place for the ghost of Donald Campbell, who'd died attempting the water speed record only a few years earlier. For some reason - I can't remember why - we also found ourself sleeping in the car ... and that was really cold..!
It was a long way from my expections of Westmoreland, which I'd long known through the warm prism of Wordsworth and the striking images of National Geographic...
5 - Vegetation here is a world away from the grassy fort
The evening shadows were already long when we disembarked the boat, although the air was still warm.
Walking back along Glebe Road to pick up the car, we passed a small beach where a healthy population of swans, wild geese and ducks were luxuriating in the evening light of early autumn.
It was a vivid lesson in how the weather can change the look and atmosphere of a landscape - and with it our very perception and psychology of the moment.
Wordsworth always credited Nature as his greatest teacher - although Nature can teach deeply sombre lessons as well as the euphoric ones.
Yet tonight we were like the basking swans - peaceful and content ... and ready to swim deeper into pax natura.
Recklessly we decided to take a drive around the bottom of Windermere and on to Coniston. If we'd stopped to think more, it was obvious that it was too late for to complete this before nightfall. But we didn't stop to think and we rewarded for our spontaneity by one of the most beautiful sunsets we've ever seen...
5 - From here, Carn Llidi looks like it is a tor on wild Scottish or Yorkshire moorland
But that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
6 - With the green valley down to Porthmelgan out of view, colours are all autumnal
But that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
Cairn seen on a high-point on the coastal path (on a rocky area above Porth Llong)
But that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
Grass surrounding the cairn soon gives way to heather
But that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
7 - The high slopes of Carn Llidi also have a rough covering of stone, heather & fern
But that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
8 - Yellow flowers give a dash of colour to dry bracken
But that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
9 - Just a few hundred yards from cultivated fields, the path looks rocky and wild
But that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
10 - The path here is wide, but rock-strewn and rugged
But that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
10 - A spell of sunshine ... was soon followed by drizzle
But that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
11 - View of Pen Beri and distant Abereiddy from the point at which we turned back
But that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
11 - Less than 4 Km away, Pen Beri was softened by haze
But that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
But that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
Carn Llidi summit gives a nicer view of Porth Mawr/Ynys Dewi than St David's Head
But that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
Solva to Porthgain Coastal Walk
This is a walk of about 23 miles, so even at a fairly brisk walking pace by fit backpackers it would be about 8 hours of continuous walking - so you are unlikely to want to do it in a day: a two day walk, breaking the journey and restarting it again at Whitesands Beach car park is more achievable, and would give time to take photographs and generally absorb the beauty of the ancient Pembrokeshire coast. During the summer, there are two regular and frequent bus services from St David's (the city) that interface with the coastal path at six places on its route - allowing the walk to be split into manageable sections.
Solva is on the year-round 411 route between St Davids and Haverfordwest. There are also three 400 Puffin Shuttle buses per day (May-Sept) that travel from St Davids through Solva and travel down the scenic coastal route through Newgale to Marloes village.
The 403 Celtic Coaster service runs March to September and connects St Davids to Porthclais, St Justinian and Whitesands Bay. Abereiddy and Porthgain are served by the 404 Strumbles Shuttle service. This is most frequent in summer, with a reduced winter service. Note, however, that the tourist-oriented services tend to run only between about 9am to 6pm, so make sure you can reach the end of your walk for that day on time, to avoid being stranded.
Maps and timetables for the coastal services can be viewed/downloaded from the Pembrokeshire County Council website, as can maps and timetables for the 411 service. Those pages also have advice on disabled access.
There are a number of sites that have a descriptive and/or pictorial record of the whole of this Pembrokeshire coastal walk. We mentioned Ruth Livingstone and her epic, personalised account of several coastal walks on her coastalwalker.co.uk site earlier - and this remains a very impressive resource.
For those who prefer moving images Paul Manorbier has created many video shorts about his walks along the Welsh coastal paths. Some of the early ones have a few rough edges, but the later ones are beautifully shot and look fully professional. They are also low key and make no attempt to be an ego trip, so they deserve far more views than they have got so far. The Solva To St Davids leg can be found here. One video doesn't necessarily link to the next, so go to the list of Paul's videos if you get stuck.
The walk is uphill, but is said to be suitable for small children and so can probably be rated as Easy-Moderate. It's said to return an excellent panorama for a relatively small input.
Good descriptions of the walk, with photos, can be found on the Walks In The Lake District website and on the Where2Walk website. Or if you don't like those, try Googling "Orrest Head Walk" - there's bound to be others!
Traeth Llyfn beach is one of many accessible only from the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path
One of those websites gives the start point as being close to LA23 1WY - which is near the Windermere Tourist Information Centre [.] That website continues: "There is a lot of parking nearby in Windermere, then just walk back up
the road to the start of the walk at the junction of the A591 and A5074, just opposite the entrance to the station."
The other website sets the start of the walk at the station (which Parkopedia says has Pay 'n' Display parking,) with the additional comment that "There is some free parking on the main road above the Windermere hotel but you have to return in 2 hours..."
2 hours sounds possible, but...
Solva
Beatrix Potter, and her little books of children's fables featuring animal characters like Peter Rabbit, Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, Squirrel Nutkin, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Samuel Whiskers, Johnny Town-Mouse and many more, has strong associations with the area around Windermere, and there are many "attractions" which are devoted to various aspects of her legacy and talent.
The World of Beatrix Potter is probably the most commercial of these and is firmly aimed at children - or adults who still have strong childhood memories of her stories (which she both wrote and beautifully illustrated.)
The attraction can be found near the centre of Bowness-on-Windermere, at postcode LA23 3BX. This is not far from the Rayrigg Road car park at LA23 3BZ.
It features rooms and full-size dioramas with models of many of the favourite Beatrix Potter characters, which (from what we've seen on the web) children can enter for photos. Parents on TripAdvisor give it a pretty good rating and say that their kids really liked it, although comments like "overpriced" and "too small" are also quite common.
Admission is £6.95 for adults and £3.65 for kids or there's a family pass (2 adults and 2 kids) for £18.50 [so if you have 1 or 3 kids you'll have to either quickly create another one or temporarily lose one..!] There's also a shop selling toys and memorabilia, so you'll need to add a few pounds more to the budget if your kids notice it ;-)
Details about the attraction can be found on their own World of Beatrix Potter website, although there are surprisingly few photographs of the dioramas, so you may also want to check out independent sites like kiddieholidays and theexhibitionlist as well.
Solva Harbour and the promontory topped by Gribin Iron Age Hill Fort in evening sun
Of course, it's good to remember Beatrix Potter for her celebrated childen's books, but to isolate the books as her only achievement would be to unjustly limit the admiration we should have for her. She was also a talented natural scientist, natural history illustrator, farmer and conservationist, who is largely responsible for the large tracts of beautiful scenery that are protected by the Natural Trust on behalf of the Nation - for us and generations yet to come.
In many ways, it's the Lake District itself that is Beatrix Potter's gift to our children, and not her little books (although it was probably the little books that made it all possible.)
This "other side" of Beatrix Potter is better represented at other sites around the area, such as the Armitt Museum in Ambleside (mentioned in more detail below) and Beatix's home - Hill Top - on the other side of the Lake at Near Sawrey [LA22 0LF,] which has been frozen as a "time-capsule of her life" by the National Trust (and which we cover in our Windermere and Coniston Drive article.)
Caerfai Beach
A bit further up Rayrigg Road from the World of Beatrix Potter is another family friendly location, with the option of a short family walk up to a viewpoint on Adelaide Hill.
The picnic site has its own council-run Pay 'n' Display car park [satnav: LA23 1BP] and has a variety of activities for burning off energy: like a water sports centre, full size football pitch, children's play area and lake frontage with piers for short-term mooring - as well as picnic and barbecue areas.
From the picnic ground you can also take a short walk (estimated at between 20 minutes to an hour for the round-trip) via Millerground Cottage to Adelaide Hill. The viewpoint was named after Queen Victoria's aunt Adelaide, who is supposed to have landed on the shore below it during her visit in 1840.
The Scrapbook image above was taken by Ross Jones in 2012 and appears on on britishbeaches.info - a useful site that lists all the beaches in the UK, with a plethora of information about toilets, parking and even the weather and tides! There are also maps from Google, Bing and Ordnance Survey.
Clicking the image above will link to the Photos tab for Caerfai Beach on that site. Click the fourth rather unrepresentative thumbnail for the full-sized picture.
More detail about the walk can be found on websites like windermere-walks and lakedistrictgems. (The photograph above is a thumbnail version of one by Richard Ainsworth on found on picturesofengland.com, which - as the name suggests - is a nice site that has a lot of pretty images from around England. Click the thumbnail to go to the original, large version.)
Porthclais Harbour
Accessible by road (it has its own car park at satnav LA23 1LJ: £2 for the first hour then 40p for every 20 minutes - pay on exit) or from the jetty served by some of the Windermere cruises, Brockhole is the National Park Visitor centre and has a wide range of facilities which will appeal to everyone from small children to garden- and scenery-loving pernsioners.
For kids and families there are adventure and sports activities like the Treetop Trek, Treetop Nets, watersports, mini-golf, bike-hire, boat-hire, orienteering, exhibitions, indoor soft play and creativity space, adventure playground ... and so on.
For non-families there are walks around the house, the extensive gardens and the lakeshore ... and to other scenic viewpoints in the grounds.
Entry is free, although you can expect to shed some money for the car park (up to £8 for the whole day,) or for the shop and restaurant/tea room (which has terraced seating outside.)
The house itself is of architectural interest, since it was built in 1895 by wealthy Manchester silk merchant William Henry Aldolphus Gaddum,
who bought four plots of farm land and had the house constructed according to plans designed by architect Dan Gibson. Beatrix Potter was a cousin of Mrs Gaddum's and was a frequent visitor to the house (as she records in her journals.)
The remaining 30 acres were designed by the local and internationally famous landscape gardener Thomas Mawson. Five acres were made into magnificent terraced gardens stretching down to the shore of Windermere, while the rest was adapted to provide spectacular views of the lake and fells.
Thomas Mawson designed most of the gardens for the large houses around Windermere including Rydal Hall, Langdale Chase and Blackwell. He later became known internationally as a key influence in the design of gardens in the so-called Arts and Crafts movement and went on to design gardens in other countries - including the Peace Palace Gardens of the Hague as well as sites in Athens and North American.
Mawson was a teetotaller workaholic with a passion for detail and had firm opinions about garden design. He recorded his design philosophies and some examples of his work in his book The Art and Craft of Garden Making.
The Brockhole garden was built as a series of South and West facing terraces, sloping gently down to the shores of Lake Windermere, moving from formal to informal planting through flowerbeds, meadow and woodland to the lakeshore. A system of underground water tanks collected rainwater from gutters to irrigate the flower beds. The terrace was created for the mountain view at the Northern end, towards the Langdale Pikes, Bowfell and Crinkle Crags. There are also views of the Pike of Stickle and Harrison Stickle.
Shrubs include Rhododendrons, Wisteria and Magnolias and the wide variety of herbaceous plantings mean that there's something colourful at most times of year. There is also a busy schedule of events and concerts (which are available at additional cost.) Full details about Brockhole can be found on the brockhole.co.uk website.
Porthlysgi Bay
400 meters' walk southwards down the A591, from the Pay 'n' Display car park at the Waterhead pier [LA22 0EY,] are the National Trust's Stagshaw Gardens [LA22 0HE.] Or there is a small car park at the gardens themselves (presumably free to members, although the National Trust site doesn't say what charges are for non-members, if any.]
Entry to the gardens for a non-member adult is £2.50, or £1 for a child.
The gardens are described by the Trust as "an informal woodland garden which in the spring and summer bursts into life with an absolute blaze of colour and wonderful scents. The rambling paths and unusual combination of shrubs, trees and plants give this garden an enchanted feel, with a different delight around each corner."
There are also many native woodland flowers, such as native daffodils and bluebells, which form a colourful carpet amongst the trees in springtime.
St Justinian
A few hundred metres inland from Windermere (the lake) - and on a hillside above Stagshaw Gardens (described above) - is a much-vaunted viewpoint called Jenkin Crag. According to the Ordnance Survey map there seems to be a fairly direct path between the two along the gloriously named Stencher Beck - although we haven't seen this path described on walks published by local ramblers.
Several people have published other walks to the Jenkin viewpoint on their websites, although most of them "bundle" the viewpoint with a longer walk to Wansfell (below.)
The nearest I've seen to a Stagshaw-Jenkin (or sometimes "Jenkin's") Crag loop is a walk described on the lakedistrictcottage site. This has a walk that passes through both of them, although it actually starts in Ambleside, incorporates other local sites (like the Galava Roman Fort - see below) and descends in a wide loop from the Crag down to the Gardens, rather than being a simple walk up and back. However, with a little ingenuity you may be able to deconstruct the description and map of the walk on the lakedistrictcottage pdf file to make it a straight "up and back" from the Gardens, if that's what you wish.
The website starts its walk at the Low Fold Pay 'n' Display car park in Ambleside [LA22 0DN - it has toilets and is roughly opposite the Garden Centre] and describes it as a "short but quite energetic walk" - although I didn't notice any estimated disances or durations in their text.
From their pdf map I would guess about 4 km for their whole loop, or about 1.5 km if you go up from Stagshaw and then back the same way. Longer walks, which pass through Jenkin Crag on the way to or from Wansfell Pike are covered immediately below.
Porthselau
From the number of people on the net who refer to it, this is a very popular walk - although it's uphill over rough terrain for a lot of the way, so you'll need to be reasonable fit and used to fell-walking (if the weather is threatening) in order to attempt it safely.
The Ambleside-Wansfell-Troutbeck-Skelgyll-Jenkin Crag walk described by the excellently detailed and organised www.walklakes.co.uk website is 11 kilometers and about "3 hours 6 mins" (we said they were detailed!)- so it should clearly be treated seriously, although the payoffs in natural beauty promise to amply repay the effort.
The National Trust has a similar walk, which they put at 9.5 km and 4-5 hours. Presumably the are catering to people who are less fit that the walklakes folks ;-)
Walkingbritain put start their Wansfell Pike-Skelgyll Force-Troutbeck walk at LA22 9BW and put the distance at over 12 km. There seems to be no mention of Jenkin Crag here, so it looks like they believe the view from the Wansfell Summit to make it unnecessary.
There are also good Ambleside-Skelgyll-Wansfell-Jenkin walk descriptions (with maps) available from where2walk.co.uk, golakes.co.uk and ambleside-walks (who have two different length choices,) as well as a walk up Wansfell Pike from Troutbeck (they say in less than two hours!) by wainwrightroutes (also has a map.)
With that level of guidance, there's really no need for us to "gild the lily" any further!
Ynys Dewi (Ramsey Island)
Less than 200 metres from the Pay 'n' Display car park by the Waterhead jetty [LA22 0EY] are the remains of the Roman Fort of Galava. From the car park follow Borrans Road (A5095) north-east. The road is the nearest one to the lakeshore, from which it is separated from it by the lawns of Borrans Park, which leads on to the site of the fort.
The fort exists only as low foundations, which make a poor photographic subject, although they are important archeologically.
The visitcumbria website says that "The fort is on land owned by the National Trust, and maintained by English Heritage" while the English Heritage website lists the fort on their website, but says it's "managed" by National Trust. But in any case entry to the site is free, so ho cares whose membership cards you are carrying ;-)
A small timber fort was built in AD79 to house a
garrison of 200 men protecting vital trade routes during the Roman army’s conquest of Northern Britain towards the end of the first Century. It was later abandoned, but was redeveloped early in the 2nd Century AD to house an even larger garrison of 500 infantrymen. The location was chosen because it's protected on two sides by water.
Archaeological excavations fromn 1914 to 1920 uncovered the remains of the fort’s defences including the main gate, the south gate - as well as parts of the internal building arrangement, such as the commanding officer’s house, the headquarters building and the granaries. These lines of foundations can still be seen today.
Porth Y Dwfr
Porth Y Dwfr is a narrow, steep sided rocky inlet about 1km west of Pen Beri tor, along the coastal path. Surprisingly, although there are some shots from the landward side on the Geograph website, I have not been able to find a good photograph of it from the seaward side, from which it should be possible (according to a walk From Gesail Fawr To Castell Coch described on the Walking With Emily website) to see a waterfall dropping over the cliff into the waves. It's the waterfall that lead us to mark Porth Y Dwfr on our map - expecting that there would be nice sunny shot of it somewhere, that we could reference. As it is, the only shot we have seen is the flat, burnt out and lifeless one taken for the Walking With Emily site on a white-sky'd and overcast day, which we don't want to reference visually (!), although you can find it here.
The Gesail Fawr To Castell Coch walk seems to be an interesting one, although I have tried to decode the site's rather vague directions with the aid of maps and satellite photographs without success. The walk description mentions a deserted and ruined Quaker village called Maes y Mynydd, which we have also been unable to locate. A blog page called In Search Of Maes Y Mynydd has a lot more in the way of photography of the village ruins, but is is equally devoid of directions - as is an article in the Telegraph, which warns that The ruined village stands on private land owned by Mrs Iris James of Llaethyr Farm, St Davids, and permission must be sought from her to visit the site. If anyone has done this walk using public rights of way, please let us know .....!
One nice thing that did come out of this somewhat dead-end research was that we stumbled upon an interesting. semi-abstract watercolour of Porth Y Dwfr by an artist (born in Solva, although he went to university in England) and member of the Royal Watercolour Society called Mark Raggett. We have a healthy admiration of watercolour artists: watercolour is a very demanding medium and you can't "paint over" anything you don't think is quite right! It has to be right first time...
The artist's page on the Royal Watercolour Society website has a selection of his other works, although only two of them are from Pembrokeshire: of cliffs near Caerfai and the Abereiddy Blue Lagoon. (You may be able to access some more via Pinterest.)
Since that time it has been used as a counting house for the mills of Rattle Ghyll, a tea-room, a weaving shop, a cobbler's, a chair maker's and, at one time, a two-room home for a family of two parents and six children.
During the tourist boom of the 1850s, the building became a well-known attraction. Guidebooks made the building famous as the most "curious relic in Ambleside of the olden time ... which every artist sketches as he [should that not be "they" now] passes by." A lot of oil and watercolour paintings of the Bridge House can still be found in local museums and galleries.
The house's purchase by local residents in 1926 was triggered by the need to make repairs to a building that was recognised to be a valuable tourist asset. The cost of the purchase and refurbishment was a little over £1,244.
Rough Opening Times: March to September, 11.00am-4.00pm. (Check the National Trust webpage for any changes.)
Pen Beri (Penberry)
Quite close to the Bridge House, and also in Rydal Road [satnav: LA22 9BL] is the Armitt Museum and Library (open 10am - 5pm Monday - Saturday: last admission 4.30pm.) There is a charge for entry, although the Armitt museum website does not specify how much, which is incredibly remiss!
The museum obviously has a great deal of valuable material relating to a variety of famous figures associated with the Lake District, but it's unclear from the website what is on permanent display and what is only available in transient exhibitions. It's pretty clear that there is a lot more in their vaults than can be shown at any one time, so it seems to be pot luck as to what you can see at any particular visit.
The website does give some information about parking, which is stated to be "a public (pay and display) car park adjacent to the Armitt and another immediately over the road."
The introduction to the museum on their own website states that: "For over a century it has been the aim of the Armitt, through its combination of Gallery, Museum and Library, holding a diverse collection of art, photographs, documents and objects to encapsulate and articulate this great heritage [of the Lake District's natural beauty and its vibrant cultural history.]
The Armitt was founded in 1912 and in many respects is a typical local museum, quirky, unruly, chaotic and surprising, the product of the rapacious Victorian passion for collecting the eclectic and eccentric, from the mundane to the marvellous with everything in between ... Later came the intriguing Ruskin letters address to Dr. Parsons, and Beatrix Potter’s watercolours of fungi, mosses and lichens, which incorporate her artistic and intellectual passions to create scientific studies of exquisite beauty. In more recent years the list has included ... a 17th century child’s leather boot found concealed within a cottage wall to ward off witches, and 17,000 portraits in the form of glass plate photographic negatives, the remarkable life’s work of one man."
Collections also include painting by the Dada artist Kurt Schwitters, and many of his papers - although its the Beatrix Potter collection that will probably interest to most people.
Born in London to wealthy parents in 1866, Beatrix had interests in natural history, mycology, archaeology, fossils and farming - all of which she liked to draw from an early age. She and her brother kept animals in their nursery - from newts, frogs, bats and a snake to a rabbit called Peter Piper. As Beatrix grew older, her early interest in the natural world were widened to include plants and creatures in their natural settings, which she sketched during family holidays.
From 1882 these holidays were mainly the Lake District, although her long-running interest in fungi started earlier - in Scotland, from a knowledgable local postman! She went on to study obscure species of fungi and their propagation - making 250 highly accurate drawings of fungi, over 40 of different mosses and many microscope studies of the process of germination. Some of these were presented as a paper to the prestigious Linnean Society and her knowledge was seen by later scientists to be well ahead of its time. She also drew animals, archeological artifacts and fossils.
It was not until the turn of the century that her knowledge of natural history was turned to the anthropomorphic children's tales that brought her an income from royalties and which enabled her to buy Hilltop Farm in Near Sawrey in 1905. This purchase was followed by the acquisition of more Lake District farms, land and cottages as time progressed. Many of these were left to the National Trust.
Her husband William Heelis introduced her to the Armitt Library (of which he was a member) during her lifetime. Then, on her death, her fungi paintings, drawings of Roman artefacts and many papers and photographs from her own and her father's past were bequeathed to the Library for the benefit of the Public.
The Armitt has also cquired early editions of Beatrix's own books, including a first edition of "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" - although this is not to say that you will be able to see them when you visit...
Blue Lagoon (Abereiddy)
Another walk within range of Ambleside that has received a lot of "wow" reviews (people on TripAdvisor have given it 5 stars) is the walk up Loughrigg Fell, which one TripAdvisor contributor described as a "steep but rewarding walk up mainly stone steps to incredible views of surrounding mountains and lakes."
The well-presented walklakes, golakes, where2walk, wainwrightroutes, walkingenglishman, trekkingbritain and walkthefells websites all have good walk descriptions - most with maps and photos - so it's just a case of choosing which one you want to follow. Start points vary between Ambleside, Grasmere and Rydal.
There's another good image by David Smith (Wiffsmiff23) on Flickr. For sure there will be other walks from the towns and villages around Windermere as well, but the ones above are the walks that we've found to be well-rated by a lot of people and which range from easy to moderate, but which repay the effort with breath-taking beauty - and, in good weather, stunning photographs!
Traeth Llyfn
Looking at a nice "plain vanilla" sunlight shot of Traeth Llyfn bay - like the one we have shown in the Scrapbook reference in the Solva To Porthgain Coastal Walk section (above) - it's hard to think of the beach as more than just one of the many beauty spots along this part of the Pembrokeshire coast. In fact, there are other beaches that are inherently more attractive.
But if you put "Traeth Llyfn" into a Google search, or into a photo-oriented website like Flickr or Flickriver and you'll come up with many beautiful "magic hour" shots taken at or from this location: many more than for other bays along the coastal path, and very many of them taken by professional landscape photographers!
Traeth Llyfn isn't directly accessible from the road - so ease of reaching the bay isn't the reason. Perhaps it's because it's West facing and can pick up the interesting shadows and colours from the declining sun. Perhaps it's the shadowy outline of St David's head in the distance. But whatever the reason it's one of those quiet locations that the creative eye of photographers has made famous through their ability to capture a unique moment of time in the beauty of their work.
The flickriver page devoted to Traeth Llyfn carries many examples of this (although you will probably have to scroll though many holiday snaps of kids on the beach to reach them!) Look for shots by Steve Mallett, moody scenes by Opobs (Mike Stokes,) and Wiffsmiff23, Drew Buckley, Marcus Reeves, Max Hawkins, K_D_B (Keith Barnett,) Digital Diary, Mikerob_s (Michael Roberts) and many others, then click on their names to go to pages showing a wider portfolio of landscape photography to die for!
Of course, Flickriver doesn't have a monopoly on these. The photo below is from the dphotographer.co.uk site and is by Mari Owen, for example. [As always, clicking this much reduced Scrapbook image takes you to the original photo.]
Traeth Llyfn beach, looking towards St David's head Since you have to take the coastal path to Traeth Llyfn, you will not be able to end your walk here. You will need either to return to Abereiddy or walk another 25 mins to Porthgain.
Both of those places are served by public transport in the form of the 404 Strumbles Shuttle (mentioned at the start of this Other Attractions And Walks section, but with the last bus back to St Davids leaving at 5.22pm, you'll definitely need to have driven (or arranged to be picked up) to one of those places, if you want to attempt a "magic hour" shot in the evening.
Enjoy!
-dikb
Looking back down the path to narrow Porthmelgan beach, with Carn Llidi distantThe gathering wind made the water look a lot choppier than it actually was. There was hardly any roll on our boat - and, anyway, a totally calm lake wouldn't have been much appreciated by the many yachtspeople and sail-boarders!
Feral horses of nearly every colour rest from playing - Whitesands Beach to the rearCuriously, despite its flow - or perhaps because of it - the stream has created a small island of beach-pebbles like a sand-bar at its mouth, which sometimes appears to block it. If you compare satellite pictures to the way it looks now, you can see that the shape of this "pebble-bar" is continually morphing its shape - despite the plants that grow on it and which you'd think would stabilise it.
Not fettered by saddlery, the horses play like joyous children in the stoney meadowIt's difficult to recognise the mountain ridge in the picture, but it's probably the tongue of a ridge that leads up to Sour Howes.
Between bouts of play, horses can stand totally still - as if they're rooted to the spotThe area around Troutbeck (beyond the holiday park) is actually a gateway to some quite rugged walks across the fells and peaks such as Troutbeck Tongue, Wansfell, Sallows, Sour Howes and Yoke. But you would hardly know that from the water, where the uplands to the east of the lake all seemed rather green and unchallenging
It was still only the north-west that betrayed the kind of cragginess that exists in the Lake District and the dangers that exist for walkers in old sneakers and without compasses, who are unprepared for sudden shifts in the weather.
The Palamino coloured horse was esp. pretty (tho' true Palaminos have white manes)Docking at the Brockhole jetty provided only a short relief from this, as it provided a bit of foreground only long enough to pick up three passengers, before moving again into open water.
The cruise boats also seemed to follow the same anti-clockwise path, so there wasn't even a chance of another boat "filling in" the bland grey-blue band with something more interesting.
Wild horses in context: view from the Iron Age hill fort across rocks to Carn LlidiBut in fact, Brockhole has a large late Victorian mansion which now houses the National Park Visitor Centre and its 30 acre grounds were landscaped by the famous (and, in terms of the large houses around the lake, almost omnipresent) Thomas Mawson into a mixture of formal garden and natural woodland that still provide an attractive place to relax.
There are also a wide variety of places - including the most recent "Tree-top" adventure playground attraction - where kids can burn off spare energy and youthful valour.
A more extensive description of Brockhole can be found in our Other Attractions and Walks section at the bottom of this article.
Collapsed walls from the hill fort have become subsumed into the rocky landscapeUnfortunately the commentator was from the Spanish part of Cumbria and spoke in a strange, rather sing-song manner, so it was rather hard to get much in the way of useful content from what he said!
A little patch of distant sun on the flank of Carn Llidi
St David's Head to Ynys Dewi taken by a Pro in good lightPresumably 1890 didn't sound old enough so they quickly conjured up some Charles II antiques to satisfy the spin-doctors ;-)
Unabashed, the site continues with: "Blessed with so many architectural and decorative examples of our heritage, not to mention hidden treasures..." [does this mean you can't actually see them?] "...such as the original mosaic floors in the porch, laid by craftsman brought over from Italy, the house is listed as one of national and historic interest. The Hotel's outstanding interior and location, made it a natural choice for the classic English country house in Alfred Hitchcock's production of TheParadine Case, starring Gregory Peck..." [1947] "...and more recently..." [66 years later!] "...in the BBC's portrayal of the life of Donald Campbell."
How could anyone possibly resist staying there once they've read that??
Actually, the building and gardens really don't need the hype - they are probably the most imposing on the east side of the lake.
Never mind the Head and the Iron Age hill fort, let's get back to the cute horses!Close to here are the National Trust's Stagshaw Gardens and the viewpoint of Jenkin Crag - which we also cover in our Other Attractions and Walks section, below.
More horses among the Iron Age hut foundation circlesAt the time, this was all new to us and we had little idea as to what the countryside was like beyond this arc - although we would now say that the mountains from that point north and west are more like the kind of full-blooded Wordsworthian landscape that we had expected (compared to the cuddlier landscape around Windermere, which provides a only as feint, tantalising taste of that wildness at the tip of your searching tongue.)
That's not to say that Ambleside is devoid of attraction. Windermere as a whole is family-friendly and we have heard parents trying to interest their kids in the epic neolithic stone circle at Castlerigg tiredly promising to take them "for a walk in Ambleside" as a possible panacea to the boring old rocks....
The coastal path climbs up an outcrop, beyond the horsesThe kid-boring foundations of the roman fort of Galava are even closer to the jetty and there are several family friendly walks which can be started in or around Ambleside as well.
Disappointed that these horses won't let you stroke their noses, VB resumes the trekWith this number of alternatives, Ambleside is probably a better base for exploring this part of the Lake District than Windermere (the town) or Bowness - although accomodation is harder to find and less competitive here than in those two centres.
3 - View of the cove on the northern side of the narrow "neck" of St David's HeadBy 1650 the town had been granted a charter to hold a market, so it became a centre for buying and selling agricultural products - primarily wool, which was the most valuable commodity of the time.
In the reign of James II, a charter was also granted for the town to collect tolls from routes like the old packhorse trail to and from Grasmere. Revenues no doubt increased when a new turnpike road was completed in 1770, leading to the packhorse convoys being superseded by horse-drawn carts - and by stagecoaches running on a regular schedule between the larger towns of Keswick and Kendal.
3 - Mineral staining and lichens add a touch of colour to the rocks around the coveIt was not until 1842, when he gained another income from his new post as poet laureate, that Wordsworth finally resigned his local government job.
Thinking of this today, Shelley was probably right in his intimation that the image of Wordsworth sitting at a desk in front of a large, bureaucratic ledger is hard to reconcile with the more familiar sense of that giant of wild Romanticism, clothes blowing, striding through the rain across boggy moorland, bracketed by bare grey rockfaces and rushing waterfalls!
After a long wait, we finally had a sunny interlude in which to shoot Coetan ArthurThose on one of the norther-running Windermere Cruises who want to spend time exploring the attractions in and around Ambleside can disembark at Waterhead and take a later boat for the return, without any additional charge or penalty. Just make sure to keep your ticket and make sure you're there for the last sailing!
We chose not to do this since it was already too late to get to key attractions like the Bridge House - and also because we wanted to drive round to Coniston before dark
The couple from Northern California, to whom we'd been chatted during the ride about their recent visit to Scotland, had started their cruise in Waterhead and left the boat with our warm wishes for their continued journey at this point.
Since they had been in the seats right at the front of the boat, it also enabled us to shimmy forward for the optimum view (or so we thought!)
Coetan Arthur is said to be a Neolithic tomb. Looks like a stone piano from here...We soon found, however, that being at the front of the boat when the sun was getting low over the western horizon was of little advantage. Anything of interest to the south-west, off the closer starboard shoreline, was so strongly backlit that we just gave up trying to photograph interesting buildings like Wray Castle. The contrast between the sky and the shadows was just too great - even to be succesfully resurrected by Camera Raw manipulation and denoise filters!
This was a matter of strong regret! Wray Castle is actually a mock-gothic edifice built in Victorian times, but it has several interesting stories behind it, so we would have liked to have our own photo to show here.
As it is, we've had to draw an image of Wray Castle as a "Scrapbook" thumbnail from Wikimedia and tell the stories as part of our Other Attractions and Walks Around Windermere section. (Look for the Brown Dot locator marked a "G" - below!)
The megalith is on a wide grassy, area - visible from the path above Porth LleuogThe results were not impressive ... although they no doubt provided light entertainment for other people on the deck ...
The angle of the quoit is thought by some to emulate the slope rising to Carn LlidiPost-production attempts to raise blacks while stopping highlights from burning entirely failed and I was left with a sort've half-acceptible silhouette of the island - and the many yachts that congregate near the island's shore.
4 - Returning to the Northern coast, the path climbs steeply on to the headlandThe Roman governor at Ambleside is thought to have built a villa on the island not long after the time of Jesus. From that time and the Anglo-Saxon era little is known about it, although it was important enough to gain the name Lang (Great) Holme ("holme" being derived from Old Norse, and meaning small island.)
In Norman times it was the centre of the manor of Windermere, which - from 1247 - became a de facto moiety of the Barony of Kendal (that also included Bowness, Troutbeck and Ambleside!) Then during the English Civil War it was used as a highly defensible Royalist stronghold.
In 1774 the island's old manor house was replaced by the unusually circular Belle Isle House. It was built of brick, was three floors high and had a four column portico - yet was sold (along with the island) only 9 years later.
The new buyers were the wealthy Curwen family, who paid a princely £1,720 and renamed the island - calling it "Bella Island" after daughter Isabella. The Curwens retained ownership until 1993, by which time the name "Bella Island" had become shortened by use into the less cumbersome "Bell Isle." This was wrongly marked on a 1925 Ordnance Survey map as "Belle Isle" - which name it has retained until today.
Unhappily, the circular Belle Isle House was rendered unihabitable by a large fire in 1996 and needed substantial repairs before it could be occupied again. The house and island are still privately owned (currently by millionaires Harold and Janet Lefton, who hit the headlines in 2007, when they were jailed for 6 weeks for trying toto help their son avoid a speeding conviction by "lying" to the authorities ... )
5 - The path is often hard to discern here, as it traverses rocks and large bouldersIt was a gentle introduction to the Lakes for my wife and a gentle re-introduction to one of the gentlest areas of the park for me. I hadn't visited the National Park since my early student days, when my father and I made a spontaneous decision to pop up there from Oxfordshire. I remember it being overcast and cold, making Coniston Water look bleak, choppy and foreboding - a suitable place for the ghost of Donald Campbell, who'd died attempting the water speed record only a few years earlier. For some reason - I can't remember why - we also found ourself sleeping in the car ... and that was really cold..!
It was a long way from my expections of Westmoreland, which I'd long known through the warm prism of Wordsworth and the striking images of National Geographic...
5 - Vegetation here is a world away from the grassy fortThe evening shadows were already long when we disembarked the boat, although the air was still warm.
Walking back along Glebe Road to pick up the car, we passed a small beach where a healthy population of swans, wild geese and ducks were luxuriating in the evening light of early autumn.
It was a vivid lesson in how the weather can change the look and atmosphere of a landscape - and with it our very perception and psychology of the moment.
Wordsworth always credited Nature as his greatest teacher - although Nature can teach deeply sombre lessons as well as the euphoric ones.
Yet tonight we were like the basking swans - peaceful and content ... and ready to swim deeper into pax natura.
Recklessly we decided to take a drive around the bottom of Windermere and on to Coniston. If we'd stopped to think more, it was obvious that it was too late for to complete this before nightfall. But we didn't stop to think and we rewarded for our spontaneity by one of the most beautiful sunsets we've ever seen...
5 - From here, Carn Llidi looks like it is a tor on wild Scottish or Yorkshire moorlandBut that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
6 - With the green valley down to Porthmelgan out of view, colours are all autumnalBut that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
Cairn seen on a high-point on the coastal path (on a rocky area above Porth Llong)But that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
Grass surrounding the cairn soon gives way to heatherBut that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
7 - The high slopes of Carn Llidi also have a rough covering of stone, heather & fernBut that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
8 - Yellow flowers give a dash of colour to dry brackenBut that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
9 - Just a few hundred yards from cultivated fields, the path looks rocky and wildBut that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
10 - The path here is wide, but rock-strewn and ruggedBut that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
10 - A spell of sunshine ... was soon followed by drizzleBut that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
11 - View of Pen Beri and distant Abereiddy from the point at which we turned backBut that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
11 - Less than 4 Km away, Pen Beri was softened by hazeBut that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
But that's another story - which you can pick up in our article about our- although it your main focus is Windermere, please read on and find out all the things around the lake that we have - so far - missed!
Carn Llidi summit gives a nicer view of Porth Mawr/Ynys Dewi than St David's HeadMore Attractions and Walks On St David's Peninsula
Solva to Porthgain Coastal WalkThis is a walk of about 23 miles, so even at a fairly brisk walking pace by fit backpackers it would be about 8 hours of continuous walking - so you are unlikely to want to do it in a day: a two day walk, breaking the journey and restarting it again at Whitesands Beach car park is more achievable, and would give time to take photographs and generally absorb the beauty of the ancient Pembrokeshire coast. During the summer, there are two regular and frequent bus services from St David's (the city) that interface with the coastal path at six places on its route - allowing the walk to be split into manageable sections.
Solva is on the year-round 411 route between St Davids and Haverfordwest. There are also three 400 Puffin Shuttle buses per day (May-Sept) that travel from St Davids through Solva and travel down the scenic coastal route through Newgale to Marloes village.
The 403 Celtic Coaster service runs March to September and connects St Davids to Porthclais, St Justinian and Whitesands Bay. Abereiddy and Porthgain are served by the 404 Strumbles Shuttle service. This is most frequent in summer, with a reduced winter service. Note, however, that the tourist-oriented services tend to run only between about 9am to 6pm, so make sure you can reach the end of your walk for that day on time, to avoid being stranded.
Maps and timetables for the coastal services can be viewed/downloaded from the Pembrokeshire County Council website, as can maps and timetables for the 411 service. Those pages also have advice on disabled access.
There are a number of sites that have a descriptive and/or pictorial record of the whole of this Pembrokeshire coastal walk. We mentioned Ruth Livingstone and her epic, personalised account of several coastal walks on her coastalwalker.co.uk site earlier - and this remains a very impressive resource.
For those who prefer moving images Paul Manorbier has created many video shorts about his walks along the Welsh coastal paths. Some of the early ones have a few rough edges, but the later ones are beautifully shot and look fully professional. They are also low key and make no attempt to be an ego trip, so they deserve far more views than they have got so far. The Solva To St Davids leg can be found here. One video doesn't necessarily link to the next, so go to the list of Paul's videos if you get stuck.
The walk is uphill, but is said to be suitable for small children and so can probably be rated as Easy-Moderate. It's said to return an excellent panorama for a relatively small input.
Good descriptions of the walk, with photos, can be found on the Walks In The Lake District website and on the Where2Walk website. Or if you don't like those, try Googling "Orrest Head Walk" - there's bound to be others!
Traeth Llyfn beach is one of many accessible only from the Pembrokeshire Coastal PathThe other website sets the start of the walk at the station (which Parkopedia says has Pay 'n' Display parking,) with the additional comment that "There is some free parking on the main road above the Windermere hotel but you have to return in 2 hours..."
2 hours sounds possible, but...
SolvaBeatrix Potter, and her little books of children's fables featuring animal characters like Peter Rabbit, Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, Squirrel Nutkin, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Samuel Whiskers, Johnny Town-Mouse and many more, has strong associations with the area around Windermere, and there are many "attractions" which are devoted to various aspects of her legacy and talent.
The World of Beatrix Potter is probably the most commercial of these and is firmly aimed at children - or adults who still have strong childhood memories of her stories (which she both wrote and beautifully illustrated.)
The attraction can be found near the centre of Bowness-on-Windermere, at postcode LA23 3BX. This is not far from the Rayrigg Road car park at LA23 3BZ.
It features rooms and full-size dioramas with models of many of the favourite Beatrix Potter characters, which (from what we've seen on the web) children can enter for photos. Parents on TripAdvisor give it a pretty good rating and say that their kids really liked it, although comments like "overpriced" and "too small" are also quite common.
Admission is £6.95 for adults and £3.65 for kids or there's a family pass (2 adults and 2 kids) for £18.50 [so if you have 1 or 3 kids you'll have to either quickly create another one or temporarily lose one..!] There's also a shop selling toys and memorabilia, so you'll need to add a few pounds more to the budget if your kids notice it ;-)
Details about the attraction can be found on their own World of Beatrix Potter website, although there are surprisingly few photographs of the dioramas, so you may also want to check out independent sites like kiddieholidays and theexhibitionlist as well.
Solva Harbour and the promontory topped by Gribin Iron Age Hill Fort in evening sunIn many ways, it's the Lake District itself that is Beatrix Potter's gift to our children, and not her little books (although it was probably the little books that made it all possible.)
This "other side" of Beatrix Potter is better represented at other sites around the area, such as the Armitt Museum in Ambleside (mentioned in more detail below) and Beatix's home - Hill Top - on the other side of the Lake at Near Sawrey [LA22 0LF,] which has been frozen as a "time-capsule of her life" by the National Trust (and which we cover in our Windermere and Coniston Drive article.)
Caerfai BeachA bit further up Rayrigg Road from the World of Beatrix Potter is another family friendly location, with the option of a short family walk up to a viewpoint on Adelaide Hill.
The picnic site has its own council-run Pay 'n' Display car park [satnav: LA23 1BP] and has a variety of activities for burning off energy: like a water sports centre, full size football pitch, children's play area and lake frontage with piers for short-term mooring - as well as picnic and barbecue areas.
From the picnic ground you can also take a short walk (estimated at between 20 minutes to an hour for the round-trip) via Millerground Cottage to Adelaide Hill. The viewpoint was named after Queen Victoria's aunt Adelaide, who is supposed to have landed on the shore below it during her visit in 1840.
Clicking the image above will link to the Photos tab for Caerfai Beach on that site. Click the fourth rather unrepresentative thumbnail for the full-sized picture.
More detail about the walk can be found on websites like windermere-walks and lakedistrictgems. (The photograph above is a thumbnail version of one by Richard Ainsworth on found on picturesofengland.com, which - as the name suggests - is a nice site that has a lot of pretty images from around England. Click the thumbnail to go to the original, large version.)
Porthclais HarbourAccessible by road (it has its own car park at satnav LA23 1LJ: £2 for the first hour then 40p for every 20 minutes - pay on exit) or from the jetty served by some of the Windermere cruises, Brockhole is the National Park Visitor centre and has a wide range of facilities which will appeal to everyone from small children to garden- and scenery-loving pernsioners.
For kids and families there are adventure and sports activities like the Treetop Trek, Treetop Nets, watersports, mini-golf, bike-hire, boat-hire, orienteering, exhibitions, indoor soft play and creativity space, adventure playground ... and so on.
For non-families there are walks around the house, the extensive gardens and the lakeshore ... and to other scenic viewpoints in the grounds.
Entry is free, although you can expect to shed some money for the car park (up to £8 for the whole day,) or for the shop and restaurant/tea room (which has terraced seating outside.)
The remaining 30 acres were designed by the local and internationally famous landscape gardener Thomas Mawson. Five acres were made into magnificent terraced gardens stretching down to the shore of Windermere, while the rest was adapted to provide spectacular views of the lake and fells.
Thomas Mawson designed most of the gardens for the large houses around Windermere including Rydal Hall, Langdale Chase and Blackwell. He later became known internationally as a key influence in the design of gardens in the so-called Arts and Crafts movement and went on to design gardens in other countries - including the Peace Palace Gardens of the Hague as well as sites in Athens and North American.
Mawson was a teetotaller workaholic with a passion for detail and had firm opinions about garden design. He recorded his design philosophies and some examples of his work in his book The Art and Craft of Garden Making.
The Brockhole garden was built as a series of South and West facing terraces, sloping gently down to the shores of Lake Windermere, moving from formal to informal planting through flowerbeds, meadow and woodland to the lakeshore. A system of underground water tanks collected rainwater from gutters to irrigate the flower beds. The terrace was created for the mountain view at the Northern end, towards the Langdale Pikes, Bowfell and Crinkle Crags. There are also views of the Pike of Stickle and Harrison Stickle.
Shrubs include Rhododendrons, Wisteria and Magnolias and the wide variety of herbaceous plantings mean that there's something colourful at most times of year. There is also a busy schedule of events and concerts (which are available at additional cost.) Full details about Brockhole can be found on the brockhole.co.uk website.
Porthlysgi Bay400 meters' walk southwards down the A591, from the Pay 'n' Display car park at the Waterhead pier [LA22 0EY,] are the National Trust's Stagshaw Gardens [LA22 0HE.] Or there is a small car park at the gardens themselves (presumably free to members, although the National Trust site doesn't say what charges are for non-members, if any.]
Entry to the gardens for a non-member adult is £2.50, or £1 for a child.
The gardens are described by the Trust as "an informal woodland garden which in the spring and summer bursts into life with an absolute blaze of colour and wonderful scents. The rambling paths and unusual combination of shrubs, trees and plants give this garden an enchanted feel, with a different delight around each corner."
St JustinianA few hundred metres inland from Windermere (the lake) - and on a hillside above Stagshaw Gardens (described above) - is a much-vaunted viewpoint called Jenkin Crag. According to the Ordnance Survey map there seems to be a fairly direct path between the two along the gloriously named Stencher Beck - although we haven't seen this path described on walks published by local ramblers.
Several people have published other walks to the Jenkin viewpoint on their websites, although most of them "bundle" the viewpoint with a longer walk to Wansfell (below.)
The website starts its walk at the Low Fold Pay 'n' Display car park in Ambleside [LA22 0DN - it has toilets and is roughly opposite the Garden Centre] and describes it as a "short but quite energetic walk" - although I didn't notice any estimated disances or durations in their text.
From their pdf map I would guess about 4 km for their whole loop, or about 1.5 km if you go up from Stagshaw and then back the same way. Longer walks, which pass through Jenkin Crag on the way to or from Wansfell Pike are covered immediately below.
PorthselauFrom the number of people on the net who refer to it, this is a very popular walk - although it's uphill over rough terrain for a lot of the way, so you'll need to be reasonable fit and used to fell-walking (if the weather is threatening) in order to attempt it safely.
The Ambleside-Wansfell-Troutbeck-Skelgyll-Jenkin Crag walk described by the excellently detailed and organised www.walklakes.co.uk website is 11 kilometers and about "3 hours 6 mins" (we said they were detailed!)- so it should clearly be treated seriously, although the payoffs in natural beauty promise to amply repay the effort.
The National Trust has a similar walk, which they put at 9.5 km and 4-5 hours. Presumably the are catering to people who are less fit that the walklakes folks ;-)
Walkingbritain put start their Wansfell Pike-Skelgyll Force-Troutbeck walk at LA22 9BW and put the distance at over 12 km. There seems to be no mention of Jenkin Crag here, so it looks like they believe the view from the Wansfell Summit to make it unnecessary.
With that level of guidance, there's really no need for us to "gild the lily" any further!
Ynys Dewi (Ramsey Island)Less than 200 metres from the Pay 'n' Display car park by the Waterhead jetty [LA22 0EY] are the remains of the Roman Fort of Galava. From the car park follow Borrans Road (A5095) north-east. The road is the nearest one to the lakeshore, from which it is separated from it by the lawns of Borrans Park, which leads on to the site of the fort.
The fort exists only as low foundations, which make a poor photographic subject, although they are important archeologically.
The visitcumbria website says that "The fort is on land owned by the National Trust, and maintained by English Heritage" while the English Heritage website lists the fort on their website, but says it's "managed" by National Trust. But in any case entry to the site is free, so ho cares whose membership cards you are carrying ;-)
 "Sea-cliffs on Ramsey Island")
Porth Y DwfrPorth Y Dwfr is a narrow, steep sided rocky inlet about 1km west of Pen Beri tor, along the coastal path. Surprisingly, although there are some shots from the landward side on the Geograph website, I have not been able to find a good photograph of it from the seaward side, from which it should be possible (according to a walk From Gesail Fawr To Castell Coch described on the Walking With Emily website) to see a waterfall dropping over the cliff into the waves. It's the waterfall that lead us to mark Porth Y Dwfr on our map - expecting that there would be nice sunny shot of it somewhere, that we could reference. As it is, the only shot we have seen is the flat, burnt out and lifeless one taken for the Walking With Emily site on a white-sky'd and overcast day, which we don't want to reference visually (!), although you can find it here.
The Gesail Fawr To Castell Coch walk seems to be an interesting one, although I have tried to decode the site's rather vague directions with the aid of maps and satellite photographs without success. The walk description mentions a deserted and ruined Quaker village called Maes y Mynydd, which we have also been unable to locate. A blog page called In Search Of Maes Y Mynydd has a lot more in the way of photography of the village ruins, but is is equally devoid of directions - as is an article in the Telegraph, which warns that The ruined village stands on private land owned by Mrs Iris James of Llaethyr Farm, St Davids, and permission must be sought from her to visit the site. If anyone has done this walk using public rights of way, please let us know .....!
One nice thing that did come out of this somewhat dead-end research was that we stumbled upon an interesting. semi-abstract watercolour of Porth Y Dwfr by an artist (born in Solva, although he went to university in England) and member of the Royal Watercolour Society called Mark Raggett. We have a healthy admiration of watercolour artists: watercolour is a very demanding medium and you can't "paint over" anything you don't think is quite right! It has to be right first time...
Since that time it has been used as a counting house for the mills of Rattle Ghyll, a tea-room, a weaving shop, a cobbler's, a chair maker's and, at one time, a two-room home for a family of two parents and six children.
During the tourist boom of the 1850s, the building became a well-known attraction. Guidebooks made the building famous as the most "curious relic in Ambleside of the olden time ... which every artist sketches as he [should that not be "they" now] passes by." A lot of oil and watercolour paintings of the Bridge House can still be found in local museums and galleries.
The house's purchase by local residents in 1926 was triggered by the need to make repairs to a building that was recognised to be a valuable tourist asset. The cost of the purchase and refurbishment was a little over £1,244.
Rough Opening Times: March to September, 11.00am-4.00pm. (Check the National Trust webpage for any changes.)
Pen Beri (Penberry)Quite close to the Bridge House, and also in Rydal Road [satnav: LA22 9BL] is the Armitt Museum and Library (open 10am - 5pm Monday - Saturday: last admission 4.30pm.) There is a charge for entry, although the Armitt museum website does not specify how much, which is incredibly remiss!
The museum obviously has a great deal of valuable material relating to a variety of famous figures associated with the Lake District, but it's unclear from the website what is on permanent display and what is only available in transient exhibitions. It's pretty clear that there is a lot more in their vaults than can be shown at any one time, so it seems to be pot luck as to what you can see at any particular visit.
The website does give some information about parking, which is stated to be "a public (pay and display) car park adjacent to the Armitt and another immediately over the road."
The introduction to the museum on their own website states that: "For over a century it has been the aim of the Armitt, through its combination of Gallery, Museum and Library, holding a diverse collection of art, photographs, documents and objects to encapsulate and articulate this great heritage [of the Lake District's natural beauty and its vibrant cultural history.]
The Armitt was founded in 1912 and in many respects is a typical local museum, quirky, unruly, chaotic and surprising, the product of the rapacious Victorian passion for collecting the eclectic and eccentric, from the mundane to the marvellous with everything in between ... Later came the intriguing Ruskin letters address to Dr. Parsons, and Beatrix Potter’s watercolours of fungi, mosses and lichens, which incorporate her artistic and intellectual passions to create scientific studies of exquisite beauty. In more recent years the list has included ... a 17th century child’s leather boot found concealed within a cottage wall to ward off witches, and 17,000 portraits in the form of glass plate photographic negatives, the remarkable life’s work of one man."
Collections also include painting by the Dada artist Kurt Schwitters, and many of his papers - although its the Beatrix Potter collection that will probably interest to most people.
From 1882 these holidays were mainly the Lake District, although her long-running interest in fungi started earlier - in Scotland, from a knowledgable local postman! She went on to study obscure species of fungi and their propagation - making 250 highly accurate drawings of fungi, over 40 of different mosses and many microscope studies of the process of germination. Some of these were presented as a paper to the prestigious Linnean Society and her knowledge was seen by later scientists to be well ahead of its time. She also drew animals, archeological artifacts and fossils.
It was not until the turn of the century that her knowledge of natural history was turned to the anthropomorphic children's tales that brought her an income from royalties and which enabled her to buy Hilltop Farm in Near Sawrey in 1905. This purchase was followed by the acquisition of more Lake District farms, land and cottages as time progressed. Many of these were left to the National Trust.
Her husband William Heelis introduced her to the Armitt Library (of which he was a member) during her lifetime. Then, on her death, her fungi paintings, drawings of Roman artefacts and many papers and photographs from her own and her father's past were bequeathed to the Library for the benefit of the Public.
The Armitt has also cquired early editions of Beatrix's own books, including a first edition of "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" - although this is not to say that you will be able to see them when you visit...
Blue Lagoon (Abereiddy)Another walk within range of Ambleside that has received a lot of "wow" reviews (people on TripAdvisor have given it 5 stars) is the walk up Loughrigg Fell, which one TripAdvisor contributor described as a "steep but rewarding walk up mainly stone steps to incredible views of surrounding mountains and lakes."
The well-presented walklakes, golakes, where2walk, wainwrightroutes, walkingenglishman, trekkingbritain and walkthefells websites all have good walk descriptions - most with maps and photos - so it's just a case of choosing which one you want to follow. Start points vary between Ambleside, Grasmere and Rydal.
Traeth LlyfnLooking at a nice "plain vanilla" sunlight shot of Traeth Llyfn bay - like the one we have shown in the Scrapbook reference in the Solva To Porthgain Coastal Walk section (above) - it's hard to think of the beach as more than just one of the many beauty spots along this part of the Pembrokeshire coast. In fact, there are other beaches that are inherently more attractive.
But if you put "Traeth Llyfn" into a Google search, or into a photo-oriented website like Flickr or Flickriver and you'll come up with many beautiful "magic hour" shots taken at or from this location: many more than for other bays along the coastal path, and very many of them taken by professional landscape photographers!
Traeth Llyfn isn't directly accessible from the road - so ease of reaching the bay isn't the reason. Perhaps it's because it's West facing and can pick up the interesting shadows and colours from the declining sun. Perhaps it's the shadowy outline of St David's head in the distance. But whatever the reason it's one of those quiet locations that the creative eye of photographers has made famous through their ability to capture a unique moment of time in the beauty of their work.
The flickriver page devoted to Traeth Llyfn carries many examples of this (although you will probably have to scroll though many holiday snaps of kids on the beach to reach them!) Look for shots by Steve Mallett, moody scenes by Opobs (Mike Stokes,) and Wiffsmiff23, Drew Buckley, Marcus Reeves, Max Hawkins, K_D_B (Keith Barnett,) Digital Diary, Mikerob_s (Michael Roberts) and many others, then click on their names to go to pages showing a wider portfolio of landscape photography to die for!
Of course, Flickriver doesn't have a monopoly on these. The photo below is from the dphotographer.co.uk site and is by Mari Owen, for example. [As always, clicking this much reduced Scrapbook image takes you to the original photo.]
Traeth Llyfn beach, looking towards St David's head Since you have to take the coastal path to Traeth Llyfn, you will not be able to end your walk here. You will need either to return to Abereiddy or walk another 25 mins to Porthgain.
Both of those places are served by public transport in the form of the 404 Strumbles Shuttle (mentioned at the start of this Other Attractions And Walks section, but with the last bus back to St Davids leaving at 5.22pm, you'll definitely need to have driven (or arranged to be picked up) to one of those places, if you want to attempt a "magic hour" shot in the evening.
Enjoy!
-dikb
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