Dozing and picnicking in the sunshine on a glorious sandy beach, in the middle of April, isn’t something I had on my bingo card for Wales.
And yet our National Trusting adventures have done it again in giving us exceptional experiences of places we are unlikely to have otherwise found.
Marloes Sands is a truly magnificent beach – secluded, challenging enough to get to to put the masses off trying, an expanse of golden sand and lapping waves, surrounded by jagged cliffs which protect it from the Irish Sea breeze.
For us it was the reward following a long, but also beautiful, walk around the Marloes Peninsula in the south of Wales. This part of the coastline looks out over Skomer Island – famous for puffins – and then towards Cork in Ireland.
Hilariously, the peninsula was once designated as a deer park – presumably by someone who knew nothing about deer or how punishing the weather can be on a coastal peninsula. Needless to say, this foray into deer keeping in the late 1700s was short lived, and there aren’t any deer there today.
There is, however, a very pretty section of the Wales Coast Path, which weaves its way all the way from Chester to Chepstow, and which I’d highly recommend joining for as long as you can manage if you find yourself in Pembrokeshire.
Plus, as so much of the coastline in Wales is now cared for by the National Trust, there is free parking for NT members. Bonus.
Verdict: Some of the prettiest coastline the UK has to offer. Unsurprising lack of deer.
A Year of Trust 