Photo: Simon Mortimer (CC BY-SA 2.0)Newgale to Broad Haven
Along the top of St Brides Bay past the ruins of a colliery that mined coal out under the sea, with four beaches on the way.
- Distance
- 7 miles / 11.3 km
- Time
- 3½–4 hours
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Climbing
- about 400m
- Type
- Coast Path stage
- Dogs
- On a lead
The route
The coast between Newgale and Broad Haven is the northern arc of St Brides Bay: lower and gentler than the cliffs either side of it, and with more beaches per mile than anywhere else in the county.
Newgale is two miles of west-facing sand and shingle, one of the best surf beaches in Wales, and a good place to start because the walking begins immediately with a climb. The bank of pebbles behind the beach was thrown up by storms and the road has been shut by the sea more than once — there are long-term plans to move it inland.
A mile or so on, the path passes the ruins of Trefrane Cliff Colliery: a stone engine-house chimney standing on the clifftop, with spoil tipping down to the shore. Pembrokeshire's coalfield ran along this coast and the workings here went out under the sea. It closed around 1905. The buildings are unfenced and crumbling and the shafts have been capped, but it is still a colliery ruin on a cliff edge — keep to the path.
Nolton Haven comes next, a small cove with a slipway, a stream, a handful of houses and a pub, and a car park you'll be lucky to get into in August. Then Madoc's Haven and Druidston Haven, which is the pick of them: a long strip of sand under crumbling cliffs, reached by a steep path, and empty compared with everywhere else on this bay. The tide comes right up to the cliff at the ends, so check it before you wander.
The final stretch over Haroldston Chins is easy going with the whole of St Brides Bay in front of you — Skomer and the Marloes peninsula on the far side, Ramsey behind you, and if it's clear, the outline of the Bishops and Clerks.
Broad Haven at the finish is a proper family beach: wide, flat, lifeguarded in season, with shops, a car park and rock pools at the southern end.
Where to finish. Broad Haven and Little Haven between them have several pubs and cafés, and Little Haven is another twenty minutes' walk on if you want the prettier one.
With children. Nolton Haven to Druidston and back is about two miles with one good climb, and both ends have a beach.
Getting there
- Start
- Newgale beach
- Finish
- Broad Haven
- Parking
- Pay and display along the road behind Newgale beach, and a car park at Broad Haven. Small parking areas at Nolton Haven and Druidston, both of which fill immediately in summer.
- Buses
- The seasonal Puffin Shuttle links Newgale, Nolton Haven, Druidston and Broad Haven — check the current timetable, and note it is a seasonal service.
Before you go
Steady clifftop walking with steep drops in and out of each haven and an unfenced edge for much of it. The colliery ruins are unstable — look, don't climb. Druidston and Madoc's Haven are unlifeguarded and the tide runs in against the cliffs; don't get caught at the far end of a beach on a rising tide. Newgale's shingle bank is overtopped in winter storms and the road behind it closes.
Where to eat and drink on this walk
The nearest pubs, cafés and restaurants to the start and finish. Check hours before you count on one.
100m away · about 5 min walk
The Ocean Cafe Bar & Restaurant
RestaurantEnfield Road, Broad Haven, SA62 3JG
450m away · about 5 min walk
500m away · about 5 min walk
35A Enfield Road, Broad Haven, SA62 3JW
- Phone
- +44 1437 781 157
- Website
- thegalleoninn.com
- Opening hours
- Today 10:00–22:00
550m away · about 10 min walk
Photo: welshbabe (CC BY-SA 2.0)The Swan Inn
PubPoint Road, Little Haven, SA62 3UL
Sea-wall pub above Little Haven's slipway — evening pints watching the sun drop into St Brides Bay.
1.0km away · about 15 min walk
Photo: Alan Hughes (CC BY-SA 2.0)1.3km away · about 20 min walk
Beaches on the way
Other walks nearby
Solva to Newgale
A relentlessly up-and-down stage between a drowned-valley harbour and a two-mile shingle beach. Short on paper, hard on the legs.
5 miles · 3 hours · Strenuous
Broad Haven to St Brides Haven via Little Haven
A short stage with the best pub stop on the path a mile in, then quiet cliffs to a cove with a church almost on the beach.
5.5 miles · 3 hours · Moderate
Abereiddi to Porthgain and the Blue Lagoon
A short, spectacular cliff walk between two abandoned quarry harbours, past the flooded slate pit everyone photographs.
3 miles · 1½ hours each way · Easy
Distances and times are approximate. Conditions on the Coast Path change with the weather and the season — take a map, and check tide times and firing times where they apply.