Walk 381 -- Nolton Haven to Little Haven

Ages:  Colin was 75 years and 95 days.  Rosemary was 72 years and 237 days. 

Weather:  Slate-grey sky, some rain, windy. 

Location:  Nolton Haven to Little Haven. 

Distance:  4½ miles. 

Total distance:  3898 miles. 

Terrain:  A little bit of road, a flat sandy beach at the end, but mostly undulating cliff path — a bit kinder than last time, only one chasm! 

Tide:  Going out. 

Rivers:  None. 

Ferries:  None. 

Piers:  None. 

Kissing gates:  Nos.926, 927, 928 and 929 near the start of the Walk, and no. 930 as we approached Broad Haven. 

Pubs:  St Bride’s Inn in Little Haven where Colin drank Bluestone “Rock Hopper” and Tenby Harbour “MV Enterprise”.  I didn’t feel like beer, so I sipped a bit of his! 

‘Cadw’ properties:  None. 

Ferris wheels:  None. 

Diversions:  None. 

How we got there and back:  We were caravanning near Whitesands Beach.  This morning we drove to Little Haven where we drove all round but had no choice but to pay £5 to park in the one and only car park.  We caught a bus to Nolton Haven. 

At the end we came to the car park in Little Haven.  We deposited our gear in the car, then went to the pub which was opposite.  (Wouldn’t like to eat there — very expensive!)  We then drove back to the caravan where again we had tea and cream cakes. 

The next day we returned home to Malvern.

We had to walk steeply uphill on the narrow road out of Nolton Haven, but it wasn’t long before we were able to turn on to the cliff path.  We met a lot of hikers again today despite the inclement weather, many were German or French.  The popularity of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path is very marked — they should try some of the other coast paths around the country where we have been entirely on our own for miles and miles. 

We had good views of rocks, caves, etc, but it started to rain so we had to don wet-weather gear and put the camera away.  Colin slipped his small camera in his pocket so we could whip it out quickly and use it without it getting very wet.  Then it stopped raining!  But it did start again later.  He took several pictures of this dramatic coastline using his camera at my behest.

We came to a little sheltered nook where there was a bank we could sit on, so we sat there and ate our pasties. 

It was a good path and fairly level until we approached Druidston Haven — where we were confronted with a chasm!  There were numerous steps down, some of which were huge.  Oh, my knees!  We took photos of an eco-house from a distance.

Some people we passed asked us if we knew anything about it.  When we said we didn’t they said they’d look it up on the internet, and moved on.

I managed the steps all the way down to beach level where we were surprised to find the wooden footbridge across the stream was labelled  NOT A PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY.  We were passed by a local man, so we asked him about the legality of this.  He said the land belonged to the Druidston Hotel and that the bridge was for the use of patrons only, But he added that he had seen many hikers use it and no-one had been confronted.

But we decided to be ‘good’ and went up the ‘proper’ path to the road where we crossed the stream on the road bridge.  Colin popped back along the road to photograph the eco-house from the front. 

We continued along the road to the Druidston Hotel entrance where there was a history board about the Roundhouse.  It was an essay, far too much to read — so we didn’t.  The path turned off the road, much to our relief, far sooner than was indicated on the map — but then this map is probably thirty plus years old so we couldn’t blame the Ordnance Survey for this one!  It led us behind a hedge to keep us off the road.

We came across a group of people miserably eating their lunch in the rain, wind and cold.  It looked very like the English ‘enjoying’ their summer holiday, but it turned out they were French.  They told us the Grandmama was 81 and out walking with her children and grandchildren.  A lovely family, and the 81 year old looked very robust and healthy.  (Mind you, she wasn’t all that much older than us!) 

The access from the road to there was a wheelchair-friendly path which led to a fantastic viewpoint.  It was a pity the rain and mist spoilt it for us today, but it was still a marvellous view.  I held the umbrella so that Colin could take the picture, but it was so windy the brolly kept blowing inside out. 

We next passed an area where the whole cliff had collapsed to a lower level some years past.  It was a good path as we carried on, not too undulating so my knees coped brilliantly.  We came to a choice of paths —  either follow the cliff top and go down and up a bit, or take a short cut across the top.  We chose the clifftop route, but saw the Frenchies take the short cut.  We began to have views of Broad Haven — and it actually stopped raining. 

We came to a plaque commemorating Glyn Charles, an Olympic yachtsman who was lost at sea in 1998.  Sad — he was only 33. 

Colin noticed that the tide had gone out far enough to allow us to walk from Broad Haven to Little Haven on the flat sandy beach instead of climbing the hill between them.  I was dubious at first because it looked like rocks at the end of the cliff head we had to walk round.  But looking at the map, I saw it is marked as sandy at low tide.  And so it proved to be. 

We descended towards Broad haven gently (hooray!  my knees can cope with gently!)  and where the map said we exited on to the road, we didn’t.  The path continued behind a bank which was next to the road.  We came to a seat which was quite sheltered, so we sat on it to eat our chocolate. 

We used the loos in Broad Haven, and when I came out I found Colin trying to take a photograph through the river bridge.  He was photographing oil tankers waiting to get into Milford Haven.  We went straight on to the beach and made towards the cliff head to the south.  We rounded it easily on the sand — a lovely walk! 

There are lots of caves in the cliffs at several different levels.  And the geology looked interesting too, a lot has happened to those rocks over geological time.

We were mighty glad we didn’t have to climb up to the top of those cliffs.  I wouldn’t like to live in those houses at the top of the cliffs either — they might have wonderful views but I don’t think that cliffs are a very safe environment. 

We rounded another smaller headland (oh! it was so wonderful to be walking on flat sand!) and came immediately to Little Haven where we walked up the slipway. 

 That ended Walk no.381, we shall pick up Walk no.382 next time on Little Haven beach.  It was ten past three, so the Walk had taken us three hours and fifty minutes.  We walked to the car park where we deposited our gear in the car, then went to the pub which was opposite.  (Wouldn’t like to eat there — very expensive!)  We then drove back to the caravan where again we had tea and cream cakes.