Newsletter - Porthcawl and Pembrokeshire

Hi folks,

The days are getting shorter and colder, but don't go into hibernation mode just yet! Remember the Trekkers have walks on all year round, and here's two events not to be missed.

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Walk on Sunday 19th Nov - Porthcawl

Marie will be leading a varied walk around Porthcawl area and the Merthyr Mawr dune complex. There are also three ancient wells for the historians amongst us! It's a long-un at 14 miles, but no steep hills you'll be glad to hear.

Meeting at Swansea County Hall Car Park at 0930 or if you want to meet us at the start of the walk...
Start Point: OS Explorer 151, Grid Ref: SS 83597/77487

To get to the start aim for Newton which is at the Eastern end of Porthcawl. We can park in the carpark of the Ancient Briton Pub and Marie has secured permission for us to do so.

Dogs are welcome, and although it is a long walk and may be getting dark towards the end, the final stretch is lit so we should be able to find our way back without walking into any ditches.

For detailed directions or for any other info on the walk you can give Marie a call on 07867833464.

P.S. Unfortunately the funfair won't be open, so you'll have to bring your own candyfloss.

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Pembrokeshire and St.Davids Weekend - 24th to 26th Nov

For those that are coming to Pembrokeshire, here's some info that should help things along. This is a joint walk with our old friends the Black Country Group, so we can look forward to seeing a few of them there too.

If you haven't yet put your name down but have now decided that you'd like to come, then please get back to me or Rob as soon as possible as there are a few spaces left.
We have booked a whole building for ourselves at the hostel and the more we fill it, the cheaper it is for everyone! At the moment we have 12.5 people on the list which works out at about £24 each.

There are also 2 - 4 people who are staying in B&B accomodation (because they don't want to slum it with us scabby hostel dwellers), so we should have quite a good crowd out on the walks.

Accomodation

St.Davids YHA is about 2 miles north east of St.Davids itself in Llaethdy. To get to it leave the A487 (Fishguard Road) just outside St. Davids, turn left onto the B4583 and Whitesands Bay. Turn right by the golf club, then left and follow the YHA sign.

For detailed directions, go to http://www.theaa.com/travelwatch/planner_main.jsp and type in your starting point and the hostel post code which is SA62 6PR. From Swansea it gives the travel time as 1hr 44mins. Sorry Black Country guys, but it's going to be a bit further for you!

Travel Arrangements

There are 5.5 people going from TT, so we should fit everyone into two cars. I'm taking mine as I owe Roberto a lift, and we'll probably need another volunteer to drive from Swansea. Get back to me if you need a lift or are able to drive and I'll do my best to coordinate lifts. (Btw, my number's 07766652837).
We'll have access to the hostel from 4pm onwards on the Friday. If you get there first and can't find the manager (Paul) anywhere, his number's 07908090036.

Food

People have the option of using the hostel's cooking facilities, or eating out in St.Davids. After talking to people on the Llanwonno walk, we thought we'd do a group meal in the hostel on the Friday night between the TTs. I'll get the ingredients and then those who take me up on the offer can chuck a couple of quid my way.
On the Saturday the idea is to go a bit more upmarket and eat out...

There's not a great deal to choose from in St. Davids, with it being so small. Morgan's Brasserie, 20 Nun St (01437 720508) is good for locally-caught fish, while The Cartref, Cross Square (01437 720422), has reasonably-priced local dishes. The Farmers Arms, Goat St (01437 720328), does decent pub grub, with last orders for food at 9pm.
I rang the Farmers Arms and asked them if they could take a crowd of 14 or so, and they said yes as they are quite big.
Please get back to me soon with any thoughts as we'd be best off booking places if there's going to be a lot of us.

Remember also to bring stuff for packed lunch and breakfast.

Walks

My current proposals are a 9 miler from St. Davids on the Saturday and a short 3.5 miler on the Sunday.

Saturday's walk would be fine coastal walk heading down to the coast from St. Davids and then following a wild and lonely stretch of coastline from St. Non's Bay to Porthstinian. It will consist of relatively easy paths with only a few modest ascents.

Sunday's route is a short jaunt to St.David's Head and Carn Llidi, and is right on the doorstep of or hostel.

If there are any queries about the trip whatsoever, please give me a call. If you're umm-ing and aar-ing over whether to come, I can assure you the coastal walking in this part of Wales is not to be missed, and a good time will be had by all.

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That's it for this week, but before I go we've pencilled in the 2nd December for the Christmas meal and are thinking of Miah's Restaurant. More on that coming up in later installments.

All the best,

Doug