221. Porthcawl to Magram

Tuesday 14^th February 2023

We set off today having already made the decision not to walk the streets of Margam past the steelworks – the Wales Coast Path is long enough not to need to include bits that we wouldn’t dream of doing for any reason other than continuity.

Our route yesterday meant that we had not seen the coastal part of Porthcawl so rather than taking the shortest route from the Rose and Crown to the sea we went down the main street of Porthcawl to reach the sea near the harbour pier (GR817766).

John Street, Porthcawl (GR818769)

The weather was not too good so everything looked murky along the promenade.

Porthcawl Point (GR814766)

Irongate Point, Porthcawl (GR814766)

We set off past Irongate Point and Hutchwns Point which were low outcrops of rocks and not on the scale of points in Devon and Cornwall.

Hutchwns Point, Porthcawl

Still following the road but now on a footpath rather than the promenade we crossed Lock’s Common towards a prominent building which turned out to be a Victorian rest home now converted into apartments (GR804784).

On Lock’s Common (GR805779)

The Royal Porthcawl Golf Club lay beyond the apartments and the path followed the sea wall along the edge of the course above the rocky beach of Rest Bay.

Ffynnon-wen Rocks at Rest Bay (GR802783)

Sker Point (GR786797) and Sker House (GR795799) marked the beginning Kenfig Burrows, another extensive area of vegetated sand dunes.

Sker Point (GR801784)

Informal beach art near Sker Point (GR797791)

Yesterday we avoided the rigours of Merthyr-mawr Warren but these dunes do not have the same reputation  so the plan is to follow the official coast path across the area. A clear track runs just above the high water level above Kenfig Sands.

Approaching Kenfig Burrows (GR791799)

At start of Kenfig Sands (high tide) (GR789801)

The Coast Path across Kenfig Burrows (788806)

This was easy walking with the sea often obscured by dunes but occasionally visible. Somewhat unnecessarily regular footpath posts marked the way and these seem to have become a focus for rubbish. A charitable view was that perhaps people had collected rubbish off the beach and left it for collection by persons unknown. However, this could not explain bags of dog poo (why do people collect it in a plastic bags and then dump it) and especially could not explain a waste bag full of about fifteen soiled disposable nappies. It would have been quite a trek for someone to bring them all the way here for dumping and a prodigious achievement even for triplets on a single day out on the beach.

Flotsam and jetsam on Kenfig Sands (GR785812)

Towards the end of track across Kenfig Burrows an idea of the extent of the dunes can be got by looking back.

Back across Kenfig Pool & Dunes National Nature Reserve (GR781833)

The end of the dunes and nature reserve was marked by the footbridge over Afon Cynffig (GR781833).

Footbridge over Afon Cynffig from Kenfig to Margam Burrows

Afon Cynffig footbridge

A barrier to coastal progress more significant than the river was the four miles or so occupied by the steelworks and associated railways, so at this point The Wales Coast Path deviates from the coast and heads inland to the M4 and the residential area of Margam.

Initially (GR 784833) the path ran at the base of a huge and steep-sided dune that may actually have been a waste pile from the works as along the path there are many lumps of steel embedded in the sand (scrap steel that never made the furnace?), but soon reached a wide track alongside railway sidings hidden behind trees.

Track alongside railway sidings (GR789837)

Margam Moors lay to the left as the steelworks got ever closer.

Tata Steelworks, Port Talbot (GR789841)

Footbridge near Eglwys Nunydd Reservoir (GR789841)

A mile and a quarter along the track turned right at a T-junction to walk across the railway tracks, the first half dozen of which were from the steelworks to the sidings but the last two were the passenger mainline (GR788854). At the level crossing gates to the mainline tracks was a very extensive and ornate memorial, a sadly frequent sight at such places.

Longlands Lane now ran through woodland that hid Eglwys Nunydd Reservoir on the right. The entrance to the reservoir (GR793858) was festooned with signs warning of the dire consequences of even touching the water and yet it was the base for a sailing club.

After passing a large British Oxygen factory on the left we had another close encounter with the motorway on reaching the roundabout at junction 38 (GR795861). This was by the crematorium which seemed like a totally appropriate place to stop for the day and was a good place to call a taxi for our return to Porthcawl.

Being February 14^th it was of course Valentine’s Day and an opportunity to reprise our celebrations of the previous year in Weston-Super-Mare. We had not booked but the Rose and Crown managed to squeeze us in amongst the other couples and we had the Steak Night offer of £36 for two steaks and a bottle of wine. No red roses and champagne though.

Days from Chepstow 221

Miles today 9.5

Miles from Chepstow 2536.9