New Quay 8.5m (Carmarthen Ramblers)

This eight and a half mile circular walk that took in a three mile section of Ceredigion’s sixty-mile coastal path in the New Quay area.
The walk started from the car park in Church Road near the coast guard station at the top of Newquay from where they walked down hill towards the harbour then turned left into Mason’s Square. They followed the road into Water Street then Lewis Terrace before leaving the residential area on a footpath that joined with the coast path and rose steeply onto the headland of Pencastell where they stopped to take in the views looking back over New Quay and the harbour.

The coast path continued in a westerly direction for about a mile to reach a lookout point where they stopped for a break and were able to see the tourist boats and the dolphins in the bay below. The group walked on along the cliff tops with magnificent views over Cardigan Bay and passed above Carreg Draenog, Birds Rock and the steep slopes of Craig Grogal to Craig yr Adar Nature Reserve as the path dropped and rose steeply in places as it crossed the streams that headed towards the sea.

After about three miles of coastal path the group left the coast then turned inland to pass the ancient settlement at Castell Bach and continued inland into some cool shady paths for about a mile that passed up through the tranquil and delightful woodland in Cwm Soden to reach a country road at Pontnanternis where they stopped for lunch on the bridge over the Afon Soden.

In the afternoon they turned eastwards and followed a footpath briefly through woodland then up onto a hillside onto freshly mown fields to reach a lane near Llwynhelig and then a country road just after. There was about a mile of road walking as they followed the country road into Cross Inn to meet the A486 Synod Inn to Newquay road. Here they turned left and headed northwards towards Newquay along a busy stretch of road until they reached a bridleway just before a caravan park in Maen-y-groes. As they walked the bridleway - passing the private brewery (closed at the time the thirsty ramblers passed by) they also passed the highest point of the day at one hundred and seventy three metres before circling around to the top of Pen Rhiw Pistyll to meet a road on the edge of New Quay. From this point it was an easy half-mile stroll back across the top of the village back to the start.

Points of Interest.

New Quay is one of the oldest ports in Ceredigion, its harbour embraced between headlands providing safe anchorage for boats. Henry Tudor is said to have rested in New Quay on his way to the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, which after victory over Richard III was to put him on the throne of England. Until the early 19th century, New Quay consisted of a few thatched cottages surrounded by agricultural land, the natural harbour providing a safe mooring for fishing boats and a few small trading vessels. The New Quay Harbour Act was passed in 1834 and a stone pier was constructed at a cost of £4,700. Trading activity increased and new houses were built as economic migrants arrived. Shipbuilding began to take place and the town increased in size with the construction of terraced housing up the slopes of the sheltered bay.

By the 1840s, more than three hundred workmen were being employed in shipbuilding in three centres, New Quay itself, Traethgwyn, a bay just to the north, and Cei-bach, a pebble beach further north below a wooded cliff. Here were constructed not only smacks and schooners for sailing along the coast, but also larger vessels for sailing to the Americas and Australia. At that time, as well as shipwrights, New Quay had half a dozen blacksmith shops, three sail makers, three ropewalks and a foundry. Most of the male inhabitants of the town were mariners or employed in occupations linked with the sea.

By 1870, shipbuilding had ceased at New Quay but most of the men living there still went to sea. There were navigation schools in the town and many of the last square riggers that sailed the world were captained by New Quay men. The observant tourist can still see the old warehouses, now put to new uses, lengths of chain, metal rings and capstans, and a list of tolls for exports and imports can still be seen outside the harbourmaster's office.

Today it is a popular seaside holiday destination well known for dolphin spotting boat trips, as well as its Blue Flag and Seaside Award winning beaches and water sports. New Quay has a heritage centre and marine wildlife centre, as well as shops and restaurants. Nearby New Quay Honey Farm is the largest bee farm in Wales with a live bee exhibition and shop for honey, mead and bees wax.

New Quay’s harbour is a sheltered, safe haven for pleasure craft and fishing boats. The annual Cardigan Bay Regatta takes place usually in August, and dates back to the 1870s with sailing and dinghy competitions as well as inshore swimming and rowing events. The area is also renowned for frequent sightings of bottlenose dolphins and boat trips sail from the little harbour to explore the Ceredigion Marine Heritage Coast.

New Quay has a strong link with writer Dylan Thomas, who wintered in the area in 1944-5 when he composed ‘Quite Early One Morning’. Thomas had several relatives living in the area and New Quay is often cited as inspiration for the fictitious village of Llareggub (try reading it backwards!), the fictional small Welsh fishing village setting in his most famous work Under Milk Wood. The feature film The Edge of Love (2008) about Dylan Thomas’s life, was filmed locally and included stars Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller and Matthew Rhys as Dylan Thomas.

Dylan Thomas' principal patron in the area was Thomas Scott-Ellis, 8th Baron Howard de Walden, whose summer residence was Plas Llanina, an historic manor house perched atop the cliffs at Cei Bach next to the tiny church dedicated to St Ina. His lordship allowed Thomas to use the old apple house at the bottom of the house's walled garden as a quiet place in which to write