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St Dogmaels to Poppit Sands Walk

1.86 miles (3 km)

Ordnance Survey Map Open Streetmap This Welsh village sits in a lovely location on the River Teifi estuary near Cardigan.
The village is notable for its historic abbey and pretty beach. It is also the start point for the epic Pembrokeshire Coast Path National Trail.
This walk in the village takes you north along the opening section of the path to Poppit Sands. It's about a 2 mile walk with a moderate climb along the way.
The walk starts off from St Dogmaels Abbey, one of the major local attractions. The Grade I listed abbey dates back to the 12th century and sits in a splendid locations on the banks of the river. You can explore the substantial ruins before picking up the coast path and following it north along the estuary to the beach at Poppit Sands. Here you will find a lovely sandy Blue Flag with views across the estuary and bay towards Gwbert and Cardigan Island.
You can extend the walk by continuing along the coast path to Cemaes Head. See the video below for a longer circular walk taking in this wonderful viewpoint.

St Dogmaels OS Map Ordnance survey map - Mobile GPS OS Map with Location tracking

St Dogmaels Open Street Map Open Streetmap - Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking

Walks near St Dogmaels

Photos

Ruins of St. Dogmaels Abbey, Pembrokeshire - geograph.org.uk - 1878680

Ruins of St. Dogmaels Abbey, Pembrokeshire. The abbey is now in ruins, but substantial parts of the abbey remain, including the western end wall, the north wall, the north transept, and eastern walls of the crypt. There are also several monastic buildings which survive to the south of the abbey and a detached 13th century building, most likely an infirmary, which is located to the south east

Part of the Teifi estuary at St. Dogmaels - geograph.org.uk - 2394859

Part of the Teifi estuary at St. Dogmaels

High Street, St Dogmaels - geograph.org.uk - 743676

High Street. By a curious boundary quirk, St Dogmaels is in Pembrokeshire whereas the rest of the Teifi estuary is in Ceredigion.

Netpool, Llandudoch-St Dogmaels - geograph.org.uk - 328497

Netpool, Llandudoch/St Dogmaels. This is the name for the Afon Teifi here as it flows down from Cardigan to the sea a few kilometres further north. "The waterway was the main source of employment for the village of St.Dogmaels. Herring fishing was very important from the Middle Ages to the mid-18th century and continued until 1914, salted herrings being exported to Ireland and Spain. In summer, salmon fishing took place using Seine nets. Circa 1884 there were 21 fishing boats operating. Numbered stones were drawn at the Netpool before each tide to establish the order which the pools were to be fished. There were a number of well-known salmon pools, but because of silting, most have virtually disappeared. There are four licences now available but only one boat actually fishing. It was early in the 20th century that the last Seine fishing boats were built in St. Dogmaels."

The environs of Poppit, St Dogmaels - geograph.org.uk - 1741948

The environs of Poppit, St Dogmaels

Poppit Sands from the coast path towards Cemaes Head - geograph.org.uk - 2066891

Poppit Sands from the coast path towards Cemaes Head

Poppit Sands - geograph.org.uk - 1184671

Poppit Sands

View of Mallard House across the River Teifi - geograph.org.uk - 196717

View of Mallard House across the River Teifi

Video

GPS Files

GPX File

St Dogmaels.gpx (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold>Download Linked File)