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The above OS reference is a general one for Margam Park so it made sense
to start the walk at Margam Abbey and the Margam Stones Museum. Knowing
the area very well, I didn't look for a start sign and didn't ask either
so I'm not sure if one exists or not. I assumed that the walk started at
the Abbey ? Leaving the Abbey I headed out onto the
road and behind Margam Castle. Using an OS map to navigate I followed
what I thought was the correct route for the walk. Unfortunately the map
was either an old one or wrongly marked because the signposted route I
realised on my way back follows the same route as the Ogwr Ridgeway.
Confused ? Let me show you what I mean.
The map clearly shows St. Illtyd's and the Coed
Morgannwg Way splitting from the Ogwr Ridgeway Walk, however, the St
Illtyd's route is signposted to follow the Ogwr Ridgeway Walk. This is
how this junction looks on the ground, you get to the top of the hill
and there is a path to the left that the map shows as the St Illtyds
Walk.
But if you travel a little further alon yu'll see that
the waymarked route is the next track
along on the left, this has a small sign on it.
Back to the my walk, as I trundled along I thought it
slightly odd that the walk was not marked and then a right turn was
either overgrown or moved and I realised that I'd have to carry on and
make up the route myself and before you know it I was following a
motorbike scramble track that got me to exactly where I needed to be.
All those hours orienteering finally paid off and that's the first time
I'd ever been thankful for a motorbike track. On reaching the far point
of the walk at the junction with the Ogwr Ridgeway the heavens opened
and I was robbed of superb views of the Gower and West Wales coast. The
walk headed back towards the park on a nice grassy track and I suddenly realised that I was
following the actual St Illtyd's Walk route as it is marked on the
ground and not the one on my
map.
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The track back down into the park was nice and grassy but it was quite a
climb over the wall.
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Once into the park it was time to get the camera out for some
photos of the deer. The long distance photos were taken from the large stone
overlooking the park. Seeing the large stags with antlers brought back memories
of the time I was orienteering in the park and I rounded a corner to become face
to face with a large stag, I turned around and went the other way.
Following the trail back down to
the junction I could see the route of the Wales Coast Path in the
distance that Hayley and I had followed earlier this year. The two
paths, St Illtyd's and the Wales Coast Path almost touch near the Abbey.
.. ..
my walk on Garmin
(post blog note - I've checked a couple of websites
such as GPS routes and the Long Distance Walkers Association and they
all show the same route so its not an old map.) |
