Walk 22: St Clears to Pendine

After a traumatising en-cow-nter (sorry!) on the way into St Clears, we were hoping to avoid the livestock on our final Taf Estuary walk, from St Clears to Pendine. This wasn’t the most scenic of Wales Coast Path walks – we enjoyed some lovely views in Laugharne, but there was also a fair bit of road walking – but we were delighted to finally make it back to the sea!

We were dropped off on the A-road where we’d finished our previous walk, where we had views across the River Taf to the fields of cows that we’d not-so-gracefully navigated our way through a couple of days prior. The path immediately took us off the road, along a fenced off path with a field to our left. We didn’t have the best start to our walk, as there were a couple of dogs in the field who were very unhappy to see us. I love dogs, but when they’re really territorial, even from the other side of a fence, they can be pretty intimidating.

We walked through a couple of fields, one with cows in – although, thankfully, they were grazing a good distance away from us, so we didn’t feel in any danger – and another with a lovely sunflower patch. After a bit of road walking, the path took us across a couple of fields, onto a track and through the grounds of a house, towards Laugharne.

The walk through Laugharne was the most enjoyable section of the day. Laugharne is most famous for its links to Dylan Thomas, who lived there from 1949 until his death in 1953, and it’s generally accepted that Laugharne inspired the fictional town of Llareggub in Thomas’ 1954 radio drama Under Milk Wood.

The path passes Dylan Thomas’ Laugharne residence, a sweet little boathouse set in a cliff which overlooks the Taf Estuary. We stopped for a rest and a cup of tea at the boathouse, and took a look around his home and writing shed before continuing onwards.

The pretty views continued as we passed Laugharne Castle and took to Dylan Thomas’ Birthday Walk, the subject of his 1944 ‘Poem in October’, which describes the walk he took on his 30th birthday. It’s clear why he was inspired by the walk, which had yet more lovely views on a pretty woodland path.

The remainder of the walk wasn’t massively inspiring. We passed a couple of fields tentatively, because we could see a big group of cows – thankfully, they were on the other side of the fence to us! Once we reached the road, the heavens opened, so we had a brief stop underneath a tree while it poured down. The path then took us along the road, interspersed with short sections where we dipped onto fields to the left of the road to avoid the traffic. The field walking wasn’t very enjoyable, as we were forced to trudge through long, wet grass, and we did skip a couple of the fields to avoid cows and keep our feet dry.

We were finally nearing Pendine Sands, a stunning seven-mile-long sandy beach. In the early 1900s, it was used as a venue for car and motorcycle races, with several land speed records made on the beach. Nowadays, it’s owned by the Ministry of Defence, which unfortunately means that from Monday to Friday, much of the beach is closed off. Because of this, the last section of the walk was a bit underwhelming – along the road with fence to our left, as we diverted around the MOD site.

We walked into Pendine and through the car park to meet my sister, who was picking us up, and get our first glimpse of the sea at Pendine Sands, having finally made it back to the coast proper! We finished off the day with a dip in the sea and an ice cream before heading back to our holiday cottage, pleased to have got the Taf Estuary section of the Wales Coast Path done and dusted!

🥾 Distance: Ten miles.

⭐ Highlight: Laugharne was lovely.

👎 Less Good: The road walking was pretty tedious.

🚗 Transport: We were dropped off and picked up by my sister, who was staying in Wales with us.

🛏️ Accommodation: We stayed in a lovely cottage in St Clears – Y Bwthyn – which had stunning interiors and was the perfect base for our walks!

🌱 Food: We cooked at the cottage in the evening, but we did dine at Lotus at Pendine Sands on one evening of our stay, which was delicious!

🗺️ Map: This route is featured in the official Carmarthen Bay and Gower guide.

Still not convinced? Read my ten reasons to walk the Wales Coast Path. If you’re ready to start planning your walk, you can find lots of resources to help you on your way here. Please note, I collect a share of the sales from the links on this page.