The Bay to The Docks

On home ground! A walk with bits and pieces I knew well, linked by bits I’d always wanted to visit (and some I could have done without!). Alec and I met up at the Pierhead Building and set off past the Norwegian Church and the Dr Who Experience to cross the Cardiff Bay Barrage and climb Penarth Headlands. From the top you have this great view across St George’s Channel (aka Severn Estuary).
Penarth-1

The 10.6 mile walk (shown on a Google Map here) continued along the promenade, briefly taking in the refurbished and revitalised Pier Pavilion, stopping for an ice cream at Cioni Bistro before heading off along the cliff top towards Lavernock.

This bit of the walk, through scrubby land with the cliff edge hidden from us, and no sight of the fields inland, was a bit boring to be honest, but occasionally a view opened up, like this one which allowed a view of the Liassic cliffs, and Cardiff.
Penarth-2
Near Lavernock Point we were able to look across the channel to Flat Holm and Steep Holm and I was able to tell Alec about Marconi and the first over the water telegraph, and he was able to tell me about his adventures – bird ringing on Flat Holm.
Penarth-3

We passed the gun emplacements at the Point and walked on then towards St Marys Well Bay and Sully Island where we stopped for a while at The Captain’s Wife for lunch and a drink. We have to report that the service was appalling with only one member of staff on the bar and also taking food orders. This led to my meal being nearly cold when I returned after “popping off to the bar” to get a refill of our pints and returning 20mins later!! Not good.

On from Swanbridge, we followed the path along the cliff until it headed inland. The rest of the walk can be briefly described as a drudge. Walking along roads and past industrial complexes and outlets until we reached Barry Docks Railway Station and our train home.

The Google Map of the walk is shown below …

To Sully from Cosmeston Lakes

To Sully from Cosmeston Lakes at EveryTrail

A gentle stroll from Cosmeston Lakes Country Park – somewhere I’d never been before – with Jenny. We started following the Cardiff Ramblers walk, but made a mistake early on which meant we had to do a slight retracing of our steps. Jenny had said she wasn’t walking through any field with cows in it; we had to … once, and it was amusing for me to turn round as we left the field to see all the cows following closely behind her. We agreed it would have been good to have had the camera handy, but I didn’t!

We then decided to cut the walk short and drop down to Swanbridge and have tea at The Captain’s Wife. The walk back along the road and track to the car was easy, allowed a couple of photo opportunities and ended amusingly when we were asked in the car park how to use a SatNav (programmed by her partner). We left her having difficulty finding her way out of the car park – so I gestured wildly the direction she should head in. Hope she got home 🙂