Nine Wanderers headed off from the Village Hall and parked in Penarth at the free car park by the marina. Although chilly the weather was dry, and the rain held off for the whole walk. I had double checked online that the barrage would be open after the unexpected problem with its closure on our recce attempt, and we headed in that direction to commence the walk. We made quite slow progress on the first section of the walk across the barrage. Phil, who used to work for the Harbour Authority in the Bay, was so knowledgeable and pointed out many things to us that we would have missed without him in the group. Who knew that what seemed to be random yellow lines painted on concrete were in fact an art installation when you know where to stand?
When we reached the Norwegian Church, we decided to take an early coffee stop to warm ourselves up a bit. We were lucky to get a table to accommodate us all and we sat here for quite a while chatting, before recommencing our hike. We walked fairly briskly past the Senedd building and through the restaurant area of the Bay and then around the wetland reserve commenting that the row of old houses were probably expensive real estate now the bay is so lovely, but before the barrage they would have been on the edge of a stinky, muddy area and would likely have been a lot less desirable.
We continued along the river and across the bridge, then heading through various property developments before discovering that part of the Bay path was closed. We followed a diversion taking us up the slope to walk alongside the fly-over for a short distance. Finding our way through the new developments and sport facilities, we walked past the old ‘Toys R Us’ building which Phil said he thought was now operating as a location for homeless people to sleep indoors – which in recent weather must be a good thing. We stopped again to watch the white-water rafting and canoeing before crossing the bridge over the river back to Penarth Marina.
We decided to call at the Oystercatcher pub for a comfort stop and a quick bite to eat. There was not enough room inside, so we sat outside, before returning to our cars. It was a lovely and very convivial walk – lots of chatting and information shared. Thank you everyone who joined us and especially thank you to Phil for all the expert knowledge of the area.
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