The first walk I want to share with you is one that I do on a regular basis. Some 2.2 miles from us to the west you come to the mouth of the River Teifi is Patch, the nearest beach to Cardigan. Facing south-west it is a mix of sand and pebbles. The Teifi Boating Club is located at Patch and my eldest two started learning to sail with the club last summer. The tide can be unpredictable here so swimming is not advisable. Next to the Boating Club there is a caravan park and boat trips by A Bay to Remember leave the jetty throughout the year. As you approach Patch from Cardigan there is parking along the road and there is a slipway down onto the stoney part of the beach. Along here boats are also moored. Between the Boat Club and the Caravan Park there is an access road down onto the beach which more recently is where I park.
Parking up before the no access to vehicles sign I usually then walk west past this sign and cut through along a path on the outskirts of the caravan park. This takes you over into the beach known as Gwbert. initially there is a bank of boulders and then more pebbles which you can make your way down with ease. During high-tide access is restricted although there is a path that runs along the boundary of the caravan park with a bench at the end. However during low tide a wide expanse of sand is revealed and you can walk along into little coves which bring you out under The Cliff Hotel. Along the way there are rock pools and a little cave which my children find fascinating.
Patch round to Gwbert is a popular place for dog walkers as well as families and walkers. It’s somewhere that I have enjoyed since childhood and now with the boys sailing and having Pip it is somewhere we spend a lot of time. I love watching it change with the seasons. With every tide Gwbert changes, some days there is lots of sand and other tides leave behind more stones, no two days are the same and I love the fact it’s five minutes from our house. This is also where I choose to bring Pip for his first walk three weeks ago and where we have come regularly since.
Today we decided to head down and park on Patch just before the low tide with the aim as walking as far as we could along Gwbert and returning before the tide turned. There was a slight wind which gave the air a nip but it was bearable. As the sand here is usually wet it means the wind does not blow it into your eyes even in the strongest wind which makes it ideal for dogs.
At the top of the bank of stones we could see the wide expanse of sand with pools of water scattered. Dad of 3 and the boys headed down towards the pools to explore them while Erin, Pip and I stayed close to the rocks. Then as we made our way along we came together to explore the coves.
We found a few little waterfalls coming down the rock face and then a small cave. We stopped to look at the rock formations as we made our way along then skimmed some stones in the channel.
In one of the coves dad of 3 spotted some fossils in the rock face which got the children talking about what had made them and a discussion about where you can find fossils.
We didn’t quite make it all the way to underneath the Cliff hotel this time as the channel cut us off. We quickly realised that had we walked down towards the sea we would have ended up on the other side of the channel and could have walked slightly further along. However this didn’t stop us enjoying our walk. There was rock pool searching, stone skimming, fossil hunting and splashing in water! Pip seemed to have enjoyed having the whole family with him on his walk. As we had walked further than I usually do I had taken Pip’s little bag with me so he could jump in and be carried if he was tired. Pip had enjoyed exploring the rocks and rockpools with us and for the first time had walked through them, something he has refused to do. We also have to be careful Pip doesn’t walk to far while he is growing as it could cause damage to his back, I’ve been advised that half a mile is the limit for him at present and we must have reached that. So he happily jumped in his bag for a ride back to the car.
Dad of 3 was also worried the tide would be turning soon and although the next high tide was some five hours ago, sections we had walked would be under water before that. So we started to make our way back, picking our way through the pools as we went. By this time Rowan was rather soggy because as usual he had managed to go into the deepest parts of the pools despite the warnings!
We passed several other walkers and dog walkers along our walk today and Pip enjoyed saying hello to everyone we met. As we climbed up the rock bank and over the top into Patch the sky was starting to clear and it looked like we were in for a lovely afternoon. Despite it being overcast for the majority of our walk we had all enjoyed and Pip even decided to walk the last 400 yards back to the car.
I hope you’ll join us again for walk with us, discover with us. I’m also joining in with Coombe Mill’s Country Kids this week and you can see more outdoor fun here
Looks like a wonderful place. I love the panoramic shot!
This is a real beach for discovery. I love the excitement of the coves and waterfalls and watching the tide. This really reminds me of some of the less touristy beaches around us, in some ways they are the best ones left to dog walkers and explorers. Sounds like a lovely family walk and I’m glad you weren’t caught out by the tide. thank you for sharing a wonderful adventure on #CountryKids.