This walk starts from the village of East Aberthaw, following the Wales Coast Path as far as Col Huw Beach, then detours inland to finish at the historic town of Llantwit Major.

Parking is available opposite the Blue Anchor Inn, a convenient spot as it’s a short distance to path through the Aberthaw Nature Reserve which leads onto the Wales Coast Path at Leys Beach.

The coast path follows the sea defence wall towards Limpert Bay at West Aberthaw. There was once a thriving port situated here for a few centuries and local history has interesting tales of daring smuggling activities, however no trace remains of the old harbour now.

In recent decades the area has been dominated by the Aberthaw Power Stations . The original power station was demolished in the late 1990’s. The remaining Aberthaw B plant was decommissioned and now stands silent awaiting a similar fate.

The path follows the long perimeter of the power station and is a bit grim with high security fencing on the landward side whilst a high concrete sea wall obscures any view of the coastline. Perhaps future redevelopment plans will hopefully include a more pleasant and scenic walkway above the sea defences to give views of the coast!

The sea wall ends at a small car park at West Aberthaw and the path continues along the back of a pebbled storm bank at Penry Bay. A feature here are a series of large concrete blocks, ‘Dragons teeth’, which were installed as anti-landing defences in World War 2.

We walked along field edges until a gap in a hedgerow leads onto a rocky pebbled bank at Summerhouse Bay.

After crossing the pebbled bay the path meanders up through woodland followed by a welcome change of scenery along the edge of some wide, lush green crop fields.

Towards Stout Point the views are spectacular, sunlight catching the golden hues of the rock strata cliffs and patterns in the terraces of bedrock below.

The cliffs here are notorious for erosion and rock falls, and occasionally there are fence lines suspended in mid air across gaps where the cliff has collapsed.

Llantwit Major (Col-Huw) Beach

The path zig-zags down to the car park at Col-Huw beach. It’s a very popular place and there’s a beach cafe with picnic benches and public conveniences nearby, so it’s ideal for a rest stop.

If the weather’s favourable then it’s really worthwhile taking a beach stroll here. Make your way across the pebbles and boulders to look back at the richly coloured limestone cliffs and walk on the level bedrock terraces down to the shore.

We left the Wales Coast Path here, walking inland up Cwm Col-Huw valley into the historic town of Llantwit Major. The place is full of character, narrow winding streets, old stone buildings and quaint cottages, set around the ancient centre of St Illtud’s Church.

The site is thought to be the first major centre of learning in Celtic Christianity and both St.David and St. Patrick are said to have studied here. There’s real historical interest within the church, with impressive stone Celtic crosses dating from the 9th and 10th centuries on display.

After visiting the church we finished the walk in the town. To return to the start point a no. 304 bus will take you back along rural roads to East Aberthaw with a stop outside the Blue Anchor Inn.

Route Stats

Start ~ Blue Anchor Inn, East Aberthaw / End ~ Llantwit Major town