| Country | United Kingdom |
| Continent | Europe |
| City/Area | South Wales |
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| Season and Time | As with any hilly area in Britain, you have to take the variable weather as you find it, so be prepared for showers. Early autumn is as reliable as it ever gets. |
| In My Bag | Most of the sites here involve walking or trekking, so I generally pack a camera body and three lenses, possibly a tripod, in a backpack. Boots, anorak, water, and I’m off. |
South Wales
St. Govan’s Chapel
- Perched precariously on the cliff at St Govan’s Head, the tiny 13th-century St Govan’s Chapel is a spectacular sight. Huddled among the rocks, almost at sea level, it’s only accessible by climbing down 52 steps. It was built on the site of a holy well that once attracted pilgrims. Inside the sandy-floored chapel is a simple stone altar and a small cell hewn from the rock which contains a fissure. Legend has it that this first opened to hide St. Govan when he was being pursued by hoodlums. Outside the chapel there is a large rock boulder known as the Bell Rock, with more legends attached to it (Wales has many legends everywhere), involving angels placing a retrieved silver bell inside it. The simplest way to reach the chapel is from Pembroke: drive six miles south, following the B4319 road and a local minor road to the cliff edge, where there is a car park. From there you climb down the steep rock steps. Depending on the tide, you can continue down to the mouth of a cave below fro a view back upwards. Alternatively, instead of taking the steps down, follow the path to the right further along the cliff top where a projection of the cliffs gives a good view back and down to the chapel. On sunny days, the chapel is lit in the morning (the shot here was taken a little too late in the day).
.Carreg Samson
- Carreg Samson (a modern name) is a 5,000 year old Neolithic burial chamber, situated high on a cliff overlooking Abercastle harbour and the Irish Sea. Or rather, the stones around which the original chamber was constructed from earth. The massive capstone – some 15 feet long and 9 feet wide – is supported by three remaining upright stones. Excavations in 1968 found artificial post-holes that would have housed a further four stones – three of which would have supported the capstone, and another that would have supported an additional chamber stone. When constructed, it is likely that Carreg Samson would have been covered by an earth mound, making it one of a handful of Britain’s surviving portal tombs. The tomb is constructed around a central pit, filled with clay and stone. In recent times, the gaps between the uprights were filled with stone, and the chamber was used as a makeshift sheep shelter. The name Carreg Samson comes from a local legend that the Celtic Saint Samson created the monument by flicking stones from the island in Abercastle harbour with his little finger. Carreg Samson stands isolated in a field, offering stunning views out over the harbour to the north – a dramatic panorama of rugged and beautiful coastline. It is a striking monument, visually impressive and strikingly evocative, particularly early and late in the day. Although well documented in various literature and tourist guides, its location lends it a solitude that protects it from the hordes of visitors that flock to the more accessible ancient monuments. Follow the A487 south from Fishguard. There is a crossroads at Mathry, with Abercastle signposted. Park at the harbour in Abercastle, and follow the coastal footpath on the south side of the bay.
Brecon Beacons
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- The Brecon Beacons is a mountain range – and escarpment – a few miles to the south of the town of Brecon (Aberhonddu in Welsh). Formed from Old Red Sandstone, the bare escarpment, facing north, was carved out by glaciers during the last Ice Age, and offers fabulous views over the surrounding country, including to the sea far to the south. The highest peak, shown in the photograph here, is Pen y Fan, South Wales’ highest mountain, flanked by two other peaks, Corn Du and Crybin. In fine weather, this is a fantastic hike, though the weather is unpredictable. Being open and with a low treeline, it’s safe to follow any route up, as long as visibility is good, but there are signposted trails – follow the signs south from the town. In fact, the range forms the central section of the Brecon Beacons National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog), which extends to the west and east. The area has its own special history and heritage, and its own cuisine, traditions, myths and culture. Simply driving along any of the narrow country roads brings you to small villages and lovely landscapes of hedged fields, so using your own car is a definite advantage. It’s also worth buying an Ordnance Survey map of the National Park for all the small roads.
- Taf Estuary
- The Taf Estuary is famous equally for its saltmarsh vegetation and rare plants, and for Laugharne Castle, and for the great Welsh writer and poet, Dylan Thomas. It is an extensive area of intertidal mud, sand and river channel, flowing into Carmarthen Bay. The romantic ruins of Laugharne Castle, overlooking the estuary and shown here, have been the inspiration for painters like Turner, and its photogenic location overlooking the tidal marsh makes it a great subject for photography also. It started out as a Norman ringwork constructed in the early 12th century, and for a long time it had only a tenuous hold on the area. The castle was repeatedly captured during Welsh uprisings against the Norman invaders. Walk further along the path past the castle, heading away from the small town and up the bluff, and you come to the cottage and writing shed of Dylan Thomas. He ‘Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog’ in the gazebo in the castle garden, and the entire area was the inspiration for his most famous work, ‘Under Milk Wood’. His writing shed is as he left it, quite atmospheric, and makes an evocative interior shot. The views over th estuary from here are excellent.
St. David’s Head
This headland in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, in the far southwest of the region, is considered the southern limit of the Irish Sea in Wales. Northwest of the cathedral city of St David’s and jutting into the Irish Sea, St Davids Head marks the southern extremity of the large Cardigan Bay. To the south are Whitesands Bay, Ramsey Sound and St Brides Bay. The headland and its immediate hinterland are owned by the National Trust, and it is part of the Pembrokeshire coast walk, which here switchbacks over rocks and bays, with great coastal landscapes bith from the cliff-tops and from the bays below. Described in a Roman survey of the known world in 140 AD as the ‘Promontory of theEight Perils’ there are magnificent views in all directions. To the north, the wide expanse of the Irish Sea, to the west the Bishops and Clerks rocks, to the south, Whitesands Bay to Ramsey Sound and Ramsey Island and to the east, the slopes of the large rocky outcrop known as Carn Llidi. There are a number of ancient monuments around here, including an iron age cliff fort, prehistoric settlements, a prehistoric defensive wall, signs of various neolithic field systems and Coetan Arthur (Arthur’s Quoit) burial chamber. The headland can be reached only on foot along the coastal path, the earest road ending at Whitesands bay about a mile to the south-east.