Lead: Linda
On a glorious Monday morning, we were delighted to be joined by two new walkers as nine of us set off for a local walk to the coast.
We picked up the footpath from Broughton Road and headed towards Monk’s Wood – planted in 1999 as a Wick Community Millennium Wood Project – crossed the road and then followed the footpath to the coast. The track took us through farmland and long grass with a few of us wishing we hadn’t worn shorts! The final stile was overgrown with nettles so we decided to squeeze through a gap in the fence which fortunately wasn’t filmed! Our efforts were rewarded with our first view of the famous heritage coastline and a water stop.
Refreshed we followed the cliff top coastal path towards the steep side of Cwm Nash where we had the obligatory photo! Unfortunately, the tide was in so the true beauty of Traeth Mawr with its vast expanse of sand would have to be experienced on another day.
Turning inland we followed the stream along the valley path which, despite the dry weather recently, still provided us with some picturesque cascades. For the artists in the group the remains of the old mill provided inspiration for a future painting. Following the stream we climbed over a stile into open meadow land with wild flowers and swallows. A succession of stiles followed taking us over a bridge and up a gentle gradient past the remains of the Monastic Grange of Neath Abbey before reaching Monknash. We crossed the road and headed for Broughton and the last leg of our walk back to Wick.
Although most of us had completed this walk many times, we all benefited from experiencing it again through the eyes of those newer members who had not completed it before. We all agreed that we were very fortunate to live in such a naturally beautiful place.
Wick Wanderers 