Porthclais

I continued along the coast until I got to a gash in the coastline. Looking down into the cove, a small harbour wall came into view. My map informed me that that this was Porthclais. There seemed hardly any room between the end of the harbour wall and the cliff face for a boat to enter or exit. I did see a very small fishing boat further up the ravine. The footpath followed the cove inland and other little quay areas became apparent. Near to the end of the harbour I could see a number of old lime kilns. An information plaque said that limekilns were built at any points on the coastline where boats could make safe harbour. These were in use between 1650 and 1900. The lime would be taken by horse and cart for spreading on the fields. A smaller proportion was used for mortar. 

Ramsey

I followed the coastline westwards. At Porthlysgi Bay the path went down to the stone beach. There is a feeling of wildness along this coastline that reminded me of western Scotland. Maybe it is the view of the islands, both large and small. I'd noticed one or two natural arches on yesterday's and today's walk, but there was a fine example of one on the island of Carreg Yr Esgob, not far offshore. At least I think it was an arch, and not some optical illusion. It wasn't marked as one on the OS map, so maybe I'd been deceived.

I'd seen a hill further along my route and I initially thought that I was going to have to climb and traverse it. It seemed quite large as I got closer, and I thought that I'd maybe been a bit over optimistic in my route planning. I was relieved when I summitted a rocky knoll and saw that it was in fact Carnllundain on the large island of Ramsey. Unless I wanted to swim across to the island, the hill would not be on my itinerary today. And there was no way that I was going to swim across Ramsey Sound since the sea was a maelstrom. It looked like a sea version of white water rapids with large standing waves and broiling water. I figured it must be some tidal feature since looking at the surface of the sea, some water seemed to be going north and some south. Closer to shore I could see that some whirlpools were trying to form, but then never quite materialised. Crikey, never mind swimming, I wouldn't even fancy going across that in a boat. I was watching this natural wonder with half a dozen ponies, although they were more interested in eating the grass. One was so close to a cliff edge that I deduced that ponies don't suffer from vertigo. I looked behind me and saw a rather plump walker making his way back along the path on which I'd just arrived. He'd taken a shortcut on the coastal path and missed this amazing view. Maybe he was a local and had seen it all before. 

I remembered having seen an item on BBC's Springwatch about Ramsey Island. There is a large grey seal colony on there. Later research informed me that its the largest one in southern Britain and around 600-700 pups are born every year.

RNLI

I started heading northwards along the coast. The water seemed to get less turbulent the further north I got. At Ogef Felen I saw some fishermen out on what looked like a fishing platform. They were moored up along two parallel lines of buoys. I'd seen a similar line of buoys in the nearby Porth Henllys bay. I puzzled over what type of fish they were catching. The buoys looked too close for lobster pots, and I couldn't see any mesh that might indicate a fish farm. Further out in the bay I could see a small orange speed boat with three yellow jacketed people in it. It zoomed about in large circles. I assumed it was the RNLI doing a practice session, since I could see what looked like RNLI launch ramps further up the coastline. As I approached the buildings, I could see their boat being dragged up the largest ramp. The site turned out to be quite impressive with the large buildings perched on the cliff face. It must have been quite an interesting building project to put them there. An information sign indicated that they provided rescue services close to shore. There must be a larger RNLI station that support rescues further out to sea. I was tempted to go down and ask if they'd ever taken their little boat through those standing waves further down Ramsey Sound. I guess they must have done at some point. 

Whitesands Bay

The path made its way around the coast to the start of Whitesands Bay. The aesthetically pleasing craggy hill of Carn Llidi loomed over the far end of the bay. I was hoping to climb that in a couple of day's time. It was time to leave the coast and head inland. A muddy path delivered me on to a farm track, and then on to a single track road. This was the road that led from St Davids to the RNLI station. I started heading along it towards St Davids. The land in the area seemed to be an odd mixture of fields, heathland and rocky knolls, with a farm house scattered here and there. The cathedral at St Davids was visible and the road headed straight for it. Just before entering St Davids I met a couple of jolly women who asked me where the road went. We were at a junction and I told them that the one I had come along went to the RNLI station and the other one to the little harbour at Porthclais. They thought it was funny that somebody from Sheffield was telling two welsh women where places were in Wales. Although they were hardly local; one was from Cardiff and the other from Barry Island. They decided to head off towards the RNLI station and I continued onwards to St Davids. 

St Davids

The cathedral isn't the largest one I've ever seen, but it is a beautiful structure. The significant remnants of the original building is situated near to it. I climbed up the hillside towards the town and got a wonderful view of the cathedral with the craggy lump of Carn Llidi beyond it. What an amazing view. I had a wander around the centre of St Davids, but neary every shop was shut. Even the pasty one, much to my disappointment. It is obviously a very seasonal location. I bet its buzzing in summer.

Today had turned out to be a really enjoyable coastal walk. Apart from the two ladies near St Davids, I'd met only two people during the whole walk, and neither of those were near enough to strike a conversation. It is hard to believe that a coastline of such beauty could be effectively mine for the day. I've a feeling I'm going to have some nightmares tonight involving those turbulent waters of Ramsey Sound.