Lawrenny Quay, Pembrokeshire. The Guardian's Top Ten UK Winter Walks

Crocus Bank, Lawrenny Quay.

 Hi Everyone

Last weekend Daisy and I thought we would do the circular route around Lawrenny Quay and round Garron Pill along the Daugleddau estuary.  I was amazed to find that the Guardian had rated it as one of the top ten winter walks in the UK.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/dec/22/national-trust-uk-winter-walks-lawrenny.

I had never done this walk so we set of with the dogs minus a picnic as I half thought that the excellent Lawrenny Quay Tearoom may have opened, sadly we will have to wait a few more months.   You start off from the boat yard and then enter the four hundred year old ancient broad- leafed, mostly oak woodland.   It must look spectacular when the bluebells come out, or in the autumn when the rare service trees become a russet/red colour. A  service tree may also be called a chequer tree or a maple tree and apparently the berries were used as a treatment for dysentery hundreds of years ago. The views across the estuary are fantastic allow this stretch of the path.

Ancient Oak Woods, Lawrenny

You have walk for about a mile and a half and then join the walk along the estuary at Garron Pill.  The tide was out but there were plenty of curlew, oystercatcher's and shelduck on the water.  You get an excellent view across to Llangwym from  the Pill.  The dogs had an excellent time running across the mud but both Daisy and I did not share their enthusiasm in case we had to rescue one of them and we might have sunk into the mud which would have been no joke. Our combined outward bound skills would have been put to the test  and neither of us had retractable leads or rope.  Anyhow none of them got stuck so that was a big relief!

Garron Pill

Once you have returned to Lawrenny village you can then have different estuary views from the old site of Lawrenny Castle which was demolished in 1952.  During the second world war Lawrenny Quay was the home of 764 Squadron and its fleet of seaplanes.  These were moored on the river between Lawrenny and Coedcanlas and the officers stayed at Lawrenny Castle.

View from the site of Lawrenny Castle towards Coedcanlas and Cresselly

View from the site of Lawrenny Castle

Talking of ancient topics the debate is still going on as to whether the bluestone at Stonehenge came from the Presceli mountains or further north towards Cardigan.  It seems an incredible achievement to have somehow created various forms of  transport to take these huge stones to Salisbury and create Stonehenge.  Most people driving by on the A303 would have no idea these stones had travelled all the way from Pembrokeshire/Cardiganshire.   When they tried to recreate this journey many years ago the bluestone sank in the estuary I seem to remember.

http://www.culture24.org.uk/history+%26+heritage/archaeology/megaliths+and+prehistoric+archaeology/art348594