Well this is one of the shortest chunks of coastal path at just 61.4 miles, and 5 sections, but it also contains the 2 hilliest sections on the whole coastal path at 620 metres and 600 metres of climb. Here are all the walks of this section in order:
Llanbedr to Penrhyndeudraeth – 12.9 miles completed
Llanbedr to Fairbourne – 15.0 miles completed
Fairbourne to Tywyn – 16.0 miles completed
Tywyn to Aberdyfi – 4.5 miles completed
Aberdyfi to Machynnleth – 13.0 miles completed
20th September 2020
The third and final day of our weekend and again last night the wind picked up from nowhere and kept us awake most of the night. Today there are no trains so we are going to get the bus from outside the campsite to Fairbourne where we left off yesterday.
But the early part of today’s walk is not along the coast as there is no path between the sea and the cliff edge so it is inland we have to head and on one serious climb. In fact today is the 2nd biggest climb on the whole coastal path apart from Aberdyfi to Machynlleth (and we can still remember how hard that one was). That day was 620m of climb over a 12 mile walk and today is due to be 600 metres of climb but a 16 mile total walk.
The path crosses the main road and heads up a lane, which starts off innocent enough.
And we climb, then turn right, climb again, then left and climb again and so on, weaving up and up.
Within about 25 minutes we had this view….
And there is Barmouth.
Even at this height there are still bridges to cross.
And here is where we stopped for our coffee break, on a convenient bench right next to someone’s house.
And the climb isn’t finished yet, as we now hit a woodland area with a single track road, and down below is Fairbourne where we started out.
Sharon leads the way along the road.
Still getting higher, we would be in the clouds if there were clouds today.
Just past this gate we could wait no longer and stopped on a slope for lunch. Straight afterwards we had a steep decline down to sea level and the village of Llwyngwril which had a pub (closed till 2.30pm) and a train station. After 100 metres of walking through the village the path turned off to the left past a cemetery and back up another steep hill for the 2nd large climb of the day.
At the top of the hill the path turned right and through a farm.
Then past a house which Sharon fancied “doing up” as a holiday home.
Finally the sea, but still a way to go.
We crossed some very well signposted fields where the farmer was rounding up his sheep using a quad bike – very friendly chap.
And then we started a descent again.
And along a path which probably doubles as a river bed and was very very muddy.
Before we crossed the main road and turned left to go through some more fields,
After walking along some further muddy paths the path then crossed another farm. Sharon asked some locals where the path went, and I think it was at this point we first went wrong – they directed us left and slightly uphill, but I think this was a different path. But on we ploughed -never turn back!!
This path was not well used.
This path took us into the quarry, where we again found a coastal path sign, but unfortunately it was for the optional longer loop which used to be the main path before the bridge was build over the estuary.
By now Bonnie had had enough, and we took turns to carry her for a while, she didn’t seem to mind!!
And we cut down through the quarry
To get to their main gate, and walking around the edge of it took to the main road and a short walk back on ourselves to get to the new bridge – Pont Tonfanau
The new raised path on the way to the bridge, it crossed what would otherwise be a very marshy area.
Once over the bridge the end was almost in sight.
Along a road beside the top end of Tywyn beach.
And through a caravan park where we found a shop selling ice cream.
Finally we had made it back to the beach and to our starting point 2 days ago – just the small matter of the 1 mile walk back to the caravan now.
So with the sun setting we had completed the whole weekend with a day to spare – still, we can collect some shells and do some shopping tomorrow now.
The total walk today was over 17 miles and 16 miles of coastal path, making 35.5 miles over the 3 days, and our total is now to 621.2 miles completed and 254.4 miles to go. Time for some dinner and a well earned rest.
19th September 2020
Day two of our weekend and this is going to be a longer one. Due to timings of buses and trains we had to first of all start further away that we wanted (Llanbedr station was closed so we had to go to Pensarn and walk back), and at the other end we were planning to stop in Barmouth …..more about that later.
We had not had a good night’s sleep – from nowhere the wind picked up massively and 3 times in the night I had to go out and peg the awning back down and for the rest of the night things thumped against the side of the van. Anyway, up we got and off we walked to the train station, so that was our first mile (which didn’t count towards the coastal path). At Pensarn we walked back to Llanbedr (another 0.7 mile which didn’t count) and finally we could start the walk.
The path immediately crosses the railway line and the station we would have got off at if it was open, and then it heads down towards Llanbedr airfield.
Then it was on to the tidal marshes where a convenient path cuts it way through the middle.
The path then heads towards our first glimpse of sea of the day as it reaches Morfa Dyffryn, but first there are some sand dunes to climb over.
The next 2 miles of the walk are along the sand, and we stopped here for a coffee break before heading on – we had heard it was a nudist beach but I don’t think that Sharon was quite prepared for all that was flapping around in the wind!!
The beach got busier and busier as we entered the “with clothes” section and then there was an exit to the left with a coastal path sign – someone was holding an ice cream which gave us hope of an ice cream – but could we find the van? Nope not at all 😦
So up the boardwalk we went (not under it).
Through a car park and then along a road, before turning right into a field. We then end up following signs across the field, right, then left and then right which mean we ended up not far from where we started.
Over a wall, and across the bridge and we then met some Alpaca who tried to give us directions but we end up making some funny circles on Strava as we wandered around the fields.
Eventually we found ourselves back on the coastal path and on the main road into Barmouth, which we then followed for a couple of miles.
After the church….
The coastal path turns right and down a steep hill, over the railway line and along a promenade. Sharon tried to get the land train to stop and give us a lift – nice try!
By now we were getting rather hungry so we stopped for a sit down chip dinner. Then we had to take a decision whether to wait a few hours for the only train of the day to get us back home (the train goes over the Barmouth bridge) or to walk over the bridge and catch an earlier bus (the buses don’t go over the bridge and have a 40 minute inland detour). We decided to go for the bus and keep on walking!!!
So through Barmouth we walked and over the old wooden bridge, paying the toll to the troll.
We then decided that it would be easiest to walk along to Fairbourne as we could then get the bus from there if we got a wiggle on and it would be easier to start from there tomorrow. The next part of the walk goes along the other side of the estuary on a cycle path towards the coast again.
You can just make out a miniature railway track beside the road and again Sharon was hopeful of a lift, but the little trains had stopped running for the day, so we pushed on along the promenade.
And the end point of today’s coastal path as well as the starting point for tomorrow.
We just had time to walk into town to the bus stop and get an ice-cream from the passing ice cream van while we wait.
The total walk today was over 17 miles but 15 miles of it counts towards the coastal path total. That takes our total up to 605.2 miles completed and 270.4 miles to go. Hopefully it won’t be as windy tonight and we will sleep well.
18th September 2020
We had this long weekend planned for a while, but ended up having to escape RCT an evening early before lockdown came in. So after a night rough camping on my parents drive we set off for the Meirionnydd section of the path to complete the remaining 3 walks in that section over this weekend.
Our plan was for a shorter walk the first day and then to get to the campsite to set up – but we didn’t realise just how easy and short the walk would be!!
We parked in the Tywyn train station car park and walked to the coast.
The walk today is along the beach to Aberdyfi, joining up to a section of path we last walked back in March 2014 on my birthday weekend. How different the world is now.
When the promenade ends the path takes you down onto the beach and then you can either walk across the sand or along the path running through the grass – we decided on the beach….. well why wouldn’t you on such a glorious day (as usual!!).
The hills are off to the left of us – I still remember those hills 30 months later!!
But today is as flat as can be – and Bonnie leads the way. There isn’t much more to say on this one really – beach, sunshine and coffee at the end of the walk – that’s all you need for an opening walk on the weekend.
And here is AberdyfiSo only 4.5 miles today, and done inside 90 minutes, leaving us plenty of time for the coffee and then a bus back to the car. That takes our total up to 590.2 miles completed and 285.4 miles to go. There will be more challenging days on this weekend, that is for sure. Now off to get basecamp set up.
6th October 2019
As the weather forecast for Monday was terrible we knew that today would be our last walk of the weekend. Unfortunately when we swapped walks yesterday we didn’t realise that there was no Sunday bus for the walk we planned (Llanengan to Llanbedrog) but there was a bus at 9am from Penrhyndeudraeth to Llanbedr, so we decide to do that walk instead.
In the book this was shown as 2 long walks, as the wooded bridge had collapsed, but we had read recently that a new road and rail bridge had opened, and this meant that we could tackle the whole walk in a single day.
So we stood at a bus stop in the rain in Penrhyndeudraeth waiting for a very late bus, wondering why the weather was not as planned. Eventually the bus turned up and we set off, getting off 20 minutes later in the centre of Llanbedr and walked along the river to get to the coastal path.
The first part followed the river on a raised grass bank, and then crossed the river on a new bridge which wasn’t in our book.
The path then cut left through the Pensarn boating centre and by the harbour and then across some very boggy marshland. Rather than head on to the beach the path then cut inland slightly and along the road.
We then joined the main road and the path turned left and dropped steeply down around 100 steps to get on to the beach.
The beach at Harlech was wide and quite busy with visitors.
After about a mile we turned off into the sand dunes, up and over, and along the path towards the famous Harlech Castle.
As we were in less of a rush than yesterday with no rain planned we decided to try to find a cafe for lunch, but there was nowhere around without going up into the town so we sat in the bus stop and had our sandwiches and coffee.
The path then continued on the road out of Harlech and turned through a housing estate, across a few fields of sheep and then along a very long road through a wood.
A few more fields followed and then some steps down and back up before reaching Llanfihangel-y-traethau church.
The path was well sign-posted across some fields and around a farmhouse, and then it dropped down to the estuary edge.
We walked along a raised grass mound, and then dropped down onto the marsh and across a small bridge.
For some reason the coastal path then hugs the top of the sea wall, inside the field and in long grass. With hindsight we could have saved a lot of effort by instead walking just the otherside of the wall nearer the estuary which had a decent track – never-mind but hopefully someone else will learn from our experience. The path then crossed the train track, around a hill and met the main road and the new bridge which cut 8 miles off the total walk.
And that brought us back to the train station in Penrhyndeudraeth and to the car.
The total walk was 12.9 miles of coastal path in 4 hours and 20 minutes, a much slower pace than yesterday. That is almost 40 miles over our 3 day walking weekend and the grand total now stands at 545.7 miles and 329.5 miles to go. There may not be any more walks now till the spring, time for a wedding and the honeymoon, Christmas and celebrations.
24th March 2018
Day 2 of our weekend and the hilliest day with 620 metres of height ahead of us. But first our journey to get there. Today we drove to Machynlleth and got a train from there to Aberdyfi. But not before Sharon discovered the cleanest railway toilets in the country.
Once in Aberdyfi (which is our first walk in the Meirionnydd section of the coastal path) we headed along the coast on the flat and found a nice little cafe for breakfast. Fully recharged we headed off on our walk through the town, but soon we were directed up to the left up a steep slope.
The path started up steps and soon opened up to fields and woodlands, with a stream running through the path….
And a field which included one where the sign had been knocked down, so Sharon was able to make her own directions.
Already the views were magnificent, but today was going to be about estuary views rather than beach.
At this point we caught up some fellow walkers who we had seen setting off while we had breakfast, they were also on day 2 of the weekend and heading the same way as us but at a slower pace.
At times we couldn’t see the estuary but instead could see inland towards Snowdonia National Park and the Happy Valley.
We climbed higher to Tyddynbriddell hill where a slate marks the spot where King Arthur’s horse Llamrai’s hoof scarred the rock according to legend.
Walkies Cleo and Bonnie 