This loop walk takes you past a historic lighthouse, castle and has a proper pub stop
With miles of heritage coastline, waymarked trails, ocean views and cosy cafe stops, the Vale of Glamorgan is a brilliant place for short walks. A marked and numbered ‘ Vale Trails ‘series will take you through coastal and countryside routes with the most scenic views and historical features.
The Vale has an abundance of short coastal walks thanks to its unique heritage coast with Jurassic features. Stretching from Aberthaw to Porthcawl, the Glamorgan Heritage Coast offers walkers 14 miles of unspoilt coastline via waymarked trails that wind through small villages, rural farmland and sprawling beaches.
Many of the short treks also include various heritage and maritime points of interest, including the last manned lighthouse in Wales, a Neolithic Tinkinswood Burial Chamber, churches, and castles.
One of my favourite walks is the ‘Vale Trail 2, ‘ which has two interlinked circular routes that follow sections of the Wales Coast Path and cover varying terrain, including boggy fields and narrow, overgrown coastal paths.
Highlights include Nash Point Lighthouse, St Donat’s Castle, and swoon-worthy views of the cliffs on the Glamorgan Heritage Coast.
Route A is 4.5 miles and starts at Nash Point Car Park. Route B is 4 miles and begins at the lovely Plough & Harrow Pub in Monknash.
Details for both are available on the Vale Trails website, and a trail leaflet is available for download.
This coast and lighthouse walk is a mostly gentle hike across windswept clifftops. The route takes you to several historical sites, including the Nash Point Lighthouse, Atlantic College, and Holy Trinity Church, Marcross.
Nash Point is located in the heart of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast. It offers a dramatic, fossil-rich bedrock beach, a Grade II-listed lighthouse, and plenty of picnic spots for a blustery feast by the sea.
It’s also worth a visit in the evening, especially in the Autumn, as the views from the cliff tops of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast make the perfect base for stargazing, which is best experienced in the longer, darker nights.
Make sure to explore the area near Nash Point Lighthouse, built in 1832 as a response to the wreck of the ‘Frolic’ with the loss of 40 lives.
According to the Vale website, there are many local tales of smugglers and wreckers who would lure vessels onto rocks, attack the crew, and loot the cargo.
On stormy nights, wreckers would attach lanterns to the grazing sheep on the cliff tops, giving the illusion that they were sailing in safe waters when, in fact, they were on course to rocky shores.
After the lighthouse was built in 1832, the dependable light meant sailors had a reliable beacon to guide them safely away from the rocks and raiders.
As with all lighthouses in the British Isles, Nash Point is no longer manned, and the last keepers left on 5 August 1998. It was also the last light in Wales to be automated and the penultimate in the UK to be demanned.
Sadly, Nash Point Lighthouse is no longer open to the general public, but you can stay in two former lighthouse keepers’ cottages, Ariel and Stella. More information is available on this website.
Depending on your starting point, you can follow the waymarked signs and stomp along the Monknash Coast, a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its sequence of limestone deposits and its eroding, rugged coastline and cliffs.
These deposits have been shaped over thousands of years to form the four-and-a-half-kilometre stretch of coastline between Cwm Nash and St. Donat’s Point.
What will you see on the walk
This two-loop walk will also take you past Holy Trinity Church, a 12th-century Grade I-listed church in Marcross. History nerds will be thrilled to learn the restored church consists of an aisleless nave and chancel with an apparently 14th-century west tower.
You’ll also pass St Donat’s Castle on your trek. The 12th-century medieval castle is Wales’s longest continually inhabited castle. It’s home to The United World College (UWC) of the Atlantic, a boarding school where international royals and intellectual bohemians send their children. It was once called “Hogwarts for hippies.”
Atlantic College has educated several foreign royals, including King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Princess Raiyah of Jordan.
If you want to peek inside, time your walk for when the college is open to the public. UWC Atlantic offers various community events and activities throughout the year, which require pre-booking. These include tours of St Donat’s Castle and opportunities to swim in the Lido.
After your long walk, the historic Plough and Harrow Pub in Monknash is perfect for a cosy drink or traditional pub food.
It has a fascinating but grizzly past; dating back to 1383, its backroom was used to store shipwrecked bodies who had been killed at the hands of the Wreckers of Wick and Dunraven, criminals who looted stricken vessels and lured sailors to their doom.
The rustic pub is said to be home to these ghostly victims, and staff and customers have reported dozens of strange incidents, including seeing a man in a cloak walking through the pub. Spooky happenings aside, this is an excellent spot for a pint in historic surroundings. From superstar gigs to cosy pubs, find out What’s On in Wales by signing up to our newsletter here