Look out for: There are plenty of woodland birds such as wrens, bluetits and chaffinches to see.
Overlooking the Three Rivers estuaries (directly over the river is Llansteffan), the parish contains three main settlements today - one lost village below the sand dunes, one old village and one new village. There is a lost village partly exposed along the foreshore beneath the railway line at Salmon Scar. It is believed that the village was St Ishmael itself, with only the parish church remaining. The most likely culprit for its dissapearance is the colossal storms and floods of 1606. Shifting sand-dunes and changes to the foreshore flooded and buried the village, most of which must still lie beneath the stabilised sand-dunes now crossed by the railway.Then there is the old hilltop village of Llansaint. It probably grew up around an early Christian cemetery, within which a church was later built.
And finally there is the present day village of Ferryside. This has grown up around an ancient route - and a new one. The old route is the Ferry across to Llansteffan, from which the settlement takes its name. The new one is the Great Western railway built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in 1852. At first the rails were laid directly onto the shingle, to Brunel's broad gauge. A sea defence had to be constructed to protect the line and it was rebuilt upon an embankment.
The fertile red soil which overlies the Old Red Sandstone rocks in this area gives rise to good grazing for dairy and beef cattle, and the hedgerows and woodlands are rich in wildlife. In early Spring the woods are full of bluebells and later in the year you may see the yellow-flowered herb bennett and enchanter's nightshade with its small white flowers and hooked seeds. Male fern, hart's tongue fern and buckler fern are abundant in the woods and hedgebanks, and you will see many woodland birds such as wrens, bluetits and chaffinches.
On the saltmarshes and mudflats look out for birds such as shelduck and herons and in the winter months the numerous waders which migrate from colder climates to find plentiful food in the mud and sand here.
Click here to download a PDF map of the walk with more details, from the Carmarthenshire Council website.
Alternatively if you're heading to the other side of the estuary, you can try our Llansteffan walk - click here to find out more.
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Characteristics:
Moderate, best suited for clear weather
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Walks provided by Carmarthenshire County Council.
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Have you been on this walk, or one like it? Are there other walks in the region we should cover? Why not have Your Say
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There's lots of places worth seeing year-round in our places to go section!
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