Amroth to Saundersfoot - 2
Posted by Paul Allyn Thu, 02 Feb 2006 20:03:00 GMT
After a while, the trail from Amroth to Saudersfoot wanders a bit from the cliff tops and along a road. Finding the hole through the hedgerow was an exercise in creative map reading and application, but the sighting of another way marker assured us we were on track after all. Long ago there was a lot of coal and lime mining in this area because of abundant resources and being so close to water transportation. There are many artifacts from those days – mostly still open pits, now covered with grates. Even so, the guide books suggest caution if going off trail.
The most obvious artifacts are a couple of tunnels along the path. Small rail lines ran along the coast to get the coal from shallow mines to the port of Saundersfoot. Locomotives weren’t used. The cars were either pushed by hand or drawn by donkey and/or ponies. 
You can tell from the picture the tunnel is just large enough for a man to stand up in. The trail goes right on through. This particular one has a bend in it so you can’t see all the way through and it gets very dark. The owner of Ashdale Guest House warned of this one and of the monster that inhabited it – assuring us that if we made it alive to the bend in the tunnel unscathed, we would, indeed, see the light at the end of the tunnel and make it out alive. Anyway, he couldn’t honestly remember any resent newspaper accounts of large piles of bloody bones found in the tunnel and missing walkers, so it was probably safe that day.
Saundersfoot itself used to be a hustling, bustling coal port, but as rail transportation developed in GB and the coal became more difficult to mine, the importance of Saundersfoot faded. The town, over the years, morphed into a seaside holiday town and that is exactly what it is today. The beach is lovely and after exiting the last tunnel we were down on the beach for a mile (2Km) or so. Even on this more or less dreary day people are out and about on the beach. Very much different from the US beach experience. 
The part of Saundersfoor we saw was mostly seaside shops and parking lots. There is a public facility by the quay – tending to be important on crowded parts of the trail. The trail guide suggested at low tide we could leave Saundersfoot along the beach before heading back up to the cliff tops. Well, the tide looked out to me, but, hey, what do I know, I’m from middle America. At the end of quay we went down on to the beach and couldn’t figure out how to get over the large rock cliff that blocked our way without wading out into the surf. It turns out tides are a very important part of trip planning for the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path. In fact, the guide books say so clearly, but being from middle America, I figured, “How important can the tides be?” Like I said, “Hey, what do I know?”
It took us a while to figure out what to do next. But eventually we found the alternate trail took us up a steep, curvy, busy (read: fairly dangerious) road up out of town. There was a nice restaurant and art gallery at the top of the hill. It was too early for lunch – which we hardly ever take on these trips because of the hugh breakfasts – or for a pint – which it is hardly ever too early for – but not too early for a look about in the gallery. The gallery featured only works of local artists. Some were so-so, but many were very interesting. Still, our rule is, “If you can’t carry it, you can’t buy it.”
A little bit farther up the road and it was through somebody’s back yard and down to the other end of the beach we couldn’t get to because of the tide and then back up again, on to Tenby.
