Ceridigion Coastal Walk

 It has been a very busy few days,  but I'm travelling today, so time to catch up on posts.

Ceridigion Coastal path runs through Aberystwyth and I chose the northern section beyond the town. Originally I  planned to walk out then catch the train/bus back but I realised that I would be walking into the wind all the way, and I would also have to watch my time to connect with the transport. 

So I took the bus up to Borth then do the northern loop to Ynyslas and back, then the cliff path to Aberystwyth.

The loop took me into marshy land, following a viaduct.

I arrived at a road and took the wrong turning, which I realised after about 10 minutes! I Had been walking along a road with farmland on each side when I arrived at a house with some very noisy dogs. A young woman cam out to quiet them and I called out to her. She helped me show where I had gone wrong, and I set off to retrace my steps.

The next time I lost the path was because I was too bust taking pictures of cute lambs

I finally got back to the coast where the tide was completely out and there was planty of sand to wlak along

Check out the lovely blue sky - black clouds came over later but not a drop landed on me.

I was walking close to the water and hadn't realised that a stream had been flowing parallel further up the beach and was making its way to the sea through quite a deep channel. 

I chose discretion and retraced my steps until I could safely cross it.

There were almost no
rocks but s few groups were visible with a green algae?  on them.

No signs of sea creatures though.

There was a golf course above the beach for much of this section and some lovely dunes

As I traced my way back to Borth, there were all these groynes  .
I lost count but there would have probably been about 25 

I spoke to a local at Borth who explained that they were there to stop the sand blowing northwards - the south westerly being the prevailing wind. (It was a northerly wind - being spring) They also built 2 artificial islands to slow the tidal effect. It did have an unexpected effect though - there is a section of petrified forest which is now much more visible because it is being scoured by the wind.

The trees have been radiocarbon dated to about 1500BC

There's a legend that there was an ancient Kingdom called Cantre'r Gwaeland which was defended by the sea by a series of dykes. One night when a feat was being held, the man trusted with the job of staying sober to close the dyke gates, got drunk instead, forgot to close them, and the sea poured in. Apparently in 1770 some traces of human habitation were found, but there it is every reason to suggest that there was habitation further out before the sea levels rose.

Borth is clearly a summer holiday town - it was very quiet and every cafe I passed was closed!

There were a couple of cool buildings though: one Japanese inspired

and the other pirate inspired

At the far end of the bay I found a lovely cafe open and treated myself to lunch

Then it was up the cliffs and on to Aberystwyth. This view is looking back on the Borth beach. The two raised sections in the middle are the artificial islands. Apparently the project was funded by the EU (before Brexit)

Onwards 

This strange structure was sitting on the beachfront next to a protuding bank which could have been a pier?

A lovely bridge also funded by the EU

Looking down into Aberystwyth from Centennial Hill.

And the top of Constitution Hill

with a panorama from the top.  

Since 1896 the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway has been running and at the summit, there is a Camera Obscura, which is an 1980s rebuild of a Victorian era building which was part of a 'Luna Park' complex.

 

As I was heading down, I didn't choose to travel the Railway. 

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