00:00Hello, I'm Clare Dow, Chair of the Friends of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Path,
00:18and today, Friday, September the 15th, 2023, we are going to walk the whole of the Pembrokeshire
00:27Coast Path. I'm now standing at the beginning of the coast path, I've got a plaque on the
00:35floor by my feet, it says it's going to be 186 metres, miles, or 300 kilometres long,
00:48and we're starting at St Dogmiles at the moorings, which is the official start of the Pembrokeshire
00:56Coast Path. In front of me there is a beautiful mosaic map showing exactly where we're going
01:03to go, and I have some of the Friends with me, and we're about to start any second now.
01:12Right, so let's begin. We're just setting off, we've got a road section to do for the
01:19first two or three miles, and then after that, we go up to Poppet Sands Youth Hostel,
01:28and then carry on until the road becomes a lane, and then we'll hit the coast. We're
01:34now down at bay level, and right in front of me, I hope you can see it, is a white egret.
01:41There are other birds flying in, I think that's a pigeon, there are other seagulls, seabirds,
01:48but the egret is fishing right in front of me. We're now coming off the road, and we're
01:56going to have a go at following a footpath along by the estuary. I don't think it's high
02:02tide at the moment. I'm told we can use this path, and that there are stepping stones,
02:09so we're going to find out whether we can get round this way. We're now coming up to
02:16the lifeboat station in Poppet Sands. I'm pointing this out to you because it's hoped
02:22that the Friends will get involved with an initiative with the RNLI in the next few months.
02:30Watch this space, is all I can say about that. I can see that there are lots of people at
02:37the bakery stroke coffee shop, including a lot of people in the orange t-shirts. If you
02:42remember, we interviewed somebody. They've been walking 100 miles in the last five days.
02:48I think they're having a well-deserved break at the moment. I don't know whether we're
02:52going to stop for coffee or not. What's the general view? Carry on? We're carrying on,
02:59we're not stopping for coffee, we've only just started, so we are going to carry on.
03:03Now we're up the hill, we're having a bit of a breather, looking down onto Poppet Sands.
03:09Beautiful day, and a beautiful view.
03:19I can see John picking blackberries.
03:24We're just about to arrive at Poppet Sands Youth Hostel. A bit more about youth hostels
03:32currently. We are very well aware that there are a fair few youth hostels that are now
03:40on the market for sale, and that the YHA are having financial difficulties, and unfortunately.
03:46I bet this was a lifeboat station. Oh, we've got some other ideas now. Possibly where we
03:53stop now, which is just coming up to the youth hostel, might have been a lifeboat station,
03:57because it's certainly an interesting shape. And possibly the youth hostel might have been
04:04where the lifeboat owner lived. Who knows? If you know otherwise, do let us know. You can see,
04:16it's for sale. I hope very much that it will be taken over or bought by someone who will run a
04:25private youth hostel from here. But equally, it could be bought by somebody that wants to use it
04:33as a private residence. They'd have to do quite a bit of renovation to change that. Let's hope
04:40that the youth hostel does stay in use, because it is the first one for the Pembrokeshire Coast
04:45path, where you start from. We've just climbed the hill. We're all a bit out of breath, but amazing
04:54views are coming in front of us. We're just heading now down the road to Kermise Head. We're
05:02just about on time with our walk. And it's a beautiful day still. A few clouds, but basically
05:12sunny. The road's now deteriorated to a track. Seems quite wet. Ahead of us, we seem to have a
05:20field of bell tents, which is interesting. Bell tents everywhere, everywhere you look. Gosh!
05:26Beautiful views of the coast coming out. Oh, and they've got yurts as well. We've just had a lunch
05:38stop, just as we're about to turn on Kermise Head. We're going through the gate, just here,
05:47and back on. You can see Strumbled Head now in the distance, which I think is Section 4. But
05:57we're now hitting the cliffs of Kermise Bay, and the headland around. We're meeting other walkers
06:07going the other way. Yes, I'm walking as a friend of the Pembrokeshire Coast. I'm about to become
06:16the chair. Oh! Friends. Oh wow! And we're commemorating that just by my sort of office,
06:22by actually walking the whole of the coast past, but in bits. Yeah, so that I've got people with
06:27me as well. Yes. You know, members. Yeah. Oh brilliant! We're up on the cliffs now. We've
06:37seen chaffs. We can see a seal down there in the water, and we're continuing along the head. You
06:49can see Strumbled Head in front of us, and a beautiful blue sea below. It's really a gorgeous
07:00day today. Not too hot, not too cold, and hardly any breeze. Perfect day for walking. All around
07:10are cliffs that must be 400 foot high. I have to make sure that we're careful on the path,
07:19but as I said, there's no wind today, so we should be okay.
07:22Quite a lot of butterflies on this stretch. I'll see if I can catch them for you. There's a white
07:40to my left. That was a tortoise shell. Steep section coming up. I'll try and keep the camera
08:25on. Lots of bracken this time of year. It's just starting to die back. I hope there's no ticks
08:33lurking. An amazing view down to the sea, which seems a long way off.
08:55Now, and look at this view coming down the hill. Amazing turquoise sea. Just had a light
09:17aircraft fly overhead. I've got to go carefully, because I'm going downhill with the camera in my
09:24hand, but the view is absolutely amazing. Stepping stones here, probably because it's
09:53wet in the winter, but it's perfectly dry now. No, it isn't. That bit was a bit wet.
09:58And I think they are chaffs on the cliff. We're quite a long way away from them,
10:07but it seems the right habitat. We're now coming down to Khyber Bay. There's a very nice bridge
10:22here. I'm told that the wooden bridge got washed away in a flood and we now have a beautiful slab
10:31bridge, beautiful stone bridge that hopefully won't get swept away again. I think it's here
10:37courtesy of the National Park. And I also believe that the bay is now National Trust property. So
10:45this is the end of our stage one first day walking. You can see a lime kiln to my right.
10:52End of a very nice day. We've had no rain at all. It's been lovely.
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