Walk report: Ramble at Porthkerry Country Park

A group of nineteen walkers plus the delightful rescue dog Buddy joined Joy on a sunlit evening at the ruins of Barry Castle, originally a ringwork with ditches around it which was the home of the Norman/French de Barri family in the 12th century.

They set off through Coed yr Odyn with sunshine streaming through the trees following a narrow pathway down Lover’s Lane where a large tree that had been cleared had toppled onto the remains of Cliffwood Cottage. Originally built by Owen William in 1538 the present foundations are of a two-storey cottage which housed the infamous Anne Jenkin, referred to as ‘the witch of Porthkerry.’

Legend has it that she concocted potions and after being approached for a love potion by a young man and his deformed servant who refused to pay her, she cast a spell and they turned into trees never to leave the woodland.

Continuing through Cliffwood walking beside the trickling Barry Brook which meanders its way to the Bristol Channel where the woodland floor contained bluebells, they passed the overgrown remains of Cliffwood Mill, built during the 13th century to mill corn for local farmers and which was driven by a waterwheel.

Heading across open land at Porthkerry Bay where the pebble beach stretches towards Cold Knap, a footbridge led them across a ditch where the old pitch and putt course used to be and into Viaduct Wood.

A short climb on a rough path and a deviation led them below the Porthkerry Viaduct which was opened in 1897 to carry the Vale of Glamorgan Railway. It is 110 feet high and unfortunately in January 1898 subsidence caused one of the pillars to sink on two occasions buckling the lines on top, so a temporary railway line was built to the north as a diversion and engineers decided that shifting sand under the bedrock, along with occasional high tides reaching the foundations had caused the problem, which was rectified.

A field at the rear of the viaduct brought them onto the cycle path, along Robin’s Walk and back under the viaduct and by steps up into Knockmandown Wood which lies to the west of the main meadow in Porthkerry.

On past Nightingale Cottage which originally was built by the Romilly Estate to house two workers and their families, but which is now the Rangers office, then under the railway bridge and past Derwen the fierce dragon who guards the car park at the bottom of Fishpond Hill.

Somewhere near this spot stood the medieval village of Cwmcidi, meaning ‘the valley of the black dog’ and in 1622 it contained five houses plus a few scattered dwellings. During the 1840’s when the Romilly family were landscaping the parkland the remnants of the cottages were removed and no trace can be found of them now.

The Romilly family bought the area way back in 1412 and worked the land using many modern farming methods such as crop rotation and drainage of the woodlands and fields, as well as providing living accommodation for its workers.

The Millwood was used for around 150 years for timber production and its name derives from the old sawmill, which had twin leats above it that fed an overshot wheel and it was built and used by the Romilly Estate from around 1835. The woodland is half a mile in length and steeply wooded on both sides with the Nant Talwg Brook running through its centre and contains many walkable woodland paths.  

Following the main track through the woodland where many trees have been felled because of ash dieback, they crossed the Nant Talwg Book and climbed via steps up the hillside to enter part of the Four Fields; farmed since the 17th century and across the top of Cwm Barri to Salisbury Road, where pavements led them back to their start.

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