D160: RHOOSE to PORTHCAWL
Wednesday 4th June 2025
Today miles: 20.3 Total miles: 2621.1
The plan today is to walk either twenty or twenty three miles, depending on whether I can safely cross the River Ogmore near to Porthcawl. I’m starting today on my own but later plan to meet Gemma and Alfie and then walk together for a couple of hours. The usual early morning dew and the overhanging weeds meant that my shoes got wet pretty quickly after leaving Rhoose. For some unknown reason the little toe on my right foot is swollen and currently has about three blisters in various places. I’ve worn these trail runners previously for several long days but they’ve never caused me any problems. I left Rhoose around 9am and moved along the cliff edge of Ffontgari Bay and Watch House beach. The pebble beach at Watch House is protected by dozens of unusually high groynes spread across the beach. There’s a huge, now decommissioned power station at Aberthaw. There’s a narrow fenced path around the perimeter of the power station. I spoke briefly to a local dog walker about the power station. It’s been closed down for several years and the demolition is going very slow. The next stretch of the coastal path is around a mile through low sand dunes. I could see that dark clouds were gathering in front of me and so decided to duck into an old concrete bunker. Minutes later the heavens opened up. The bunker was reasonably clean and unusually didn’t smell strongly of urine. Around fifteen minutes after the rain started it had stopped and I was on my way again. After an easy couple of miles across fields of grass I arrived on the edge of Boverton. There’s a notice informing me of a path closure due to cliff erosion a little further down the route. Half a mile later there’s a small (maybe two foot) collapse of the cliff around a metre from the edge of the coast path. I’m not going to get on my high horse because I’ve previously given my opinion on path closures, several times.
I bumped into a nice lady who was section hiking the Wales Coastal Path. She told me a heart warming story about how she had until a few months ago been walking the path with her pet dog, Meg. Unfortunately Meg had died earlier this year and the lady was now carrying small bags containing Meg’s ashes and she would spread them out across each beach she walked over. Apparently Meg loved visiting the beach and enjoyed jumping into the sea. Soon after I contacted Gemma and we arranged to meet close to St Donat’s. I wandered slightly away from the coastal path and met Gemma close to St Donat’s Castle. Back on the path we climbed down the cliff edge onto a small concrete promenade. We encountered two young males smoking a cannabis joint and playing loud music, this was a big surprise in such a beautiful and otherwise peaceful location. After climbing back onto the cliff top we continued along the coast path passing across grassy meadows full of sheep. At Nash Point lighthouse there’s a small shop where we each grabbed ourselves a can of fizzy pop and a snack bar. The path down from Nash Point and then up again was very steep and Gemma went slowly, very slowly. There were several more descents over the next couple of miles but these were far less steep. Gemma had walked around seven miles when she decided she’d had enough and chose to leave the path as we arrived on the outskirts of Ogmore-by-Sea. She was going to catch the next bus back to Porthcawl.
I stopped in Ogmore for a short break before approaching River Ogmore with some slight trepidation. The low tide wasn’t due for a further two hours but I wasn’t going to wait around and had expected to walk the additional three miles up and down the side of the river. On arrival at the rivers edge I saw that the water was fairly low. I decided to try and cross the water so I removed my shoes and rolled up my trousers. Using my walking pole for balance I managed to cross safely, the water never reaching far above my knees. I sat on the opposite bank and had another short snack break whilst waiting for my feet to dry. I now only had the two miles across Merthyr-Mawr-Warren beach to cross.
I arrived in Porthcawl and left the coastal path shortly after Trecco Bay caravan park. There was a nice hot meal and cold beer waiting for me when I turned up at the caravan. I also enjoyed several additional pints later in the Caravan Park entertainment complex and staggered back to the caravan.
Werewolfandflump UK Coast Path 