Friday 26 August 2005
Trevor Fishlock's Cistercian Way (Programme 1)
BBC Radio Wales
6.00pm
This is a stunning walk which takes in some of the most beautiful stretches of the Welsh coast. Starting at Penally, just outside Tenby, the route passes several holy wells (one in Penally, alongside Penally Abbey Hotel, and three more in Gumfreston). The water of these wells is rich in iron deposits. Perhaps this is why they are believed to have healing properties - they certainly taste distinctly metallic!
Gumfreston is now deserted, although before the Ritec Valley silted up, it was once a bustling sea port. Gumfreston church dates from the twelfth-century and is dedicated to St Lawrence. It is loved and still used by the local community, and contains a valuable medieval wall painting. This is quite faded now, but you can still see images of craft implements, including scissors and a fishing net. The painting was designed to remind parishioners that by breaking the Sabbath they would, in effect, be recrucifying Christ.
Tenby is an excellent place to stop for refreshment, and from there the walker joins the Pembrokeshire Coastal Park. The new lifeboat station is an impressive structure and has been built to facilitate the very latest Tamar class of lifeboat.
At the final destination of Amroth an ancient, submerged forest can be seen at low tide. The inter-tidal zone here is sometimes excavated by archaeologists, who only have a narrow window of opportunity to dig for artefacts, such as flint scatters, which tell us something about the area's Metholithic past.
This is not a difficult walk, although the path from Tenby to Amroth, via Saundersfoot can be rather 'up and down'. Why not do this walk in shorter stretches, perhaps over a weekend, staying in the area? You won't be disappointed.
Cistercian Way: Penally to Amroth
