Wednesday 7^th October 2015 – 40/52 – Pembroke to St. Peter Port

We rarely start off on this leg of the charity walks at Pembroke Bay without there being quite a strong wind, and today was no exception. Having done the previous leg solo last week it was great to have both Anne and Clive along today for company.

We set off in the general direction of Fort Le Marchant and it was lovely to look back along the bay and appreciate just how attractive Pembroke Bay is, and see why it is such a popular bay with both locals and visitors, even now as we get well into autumn.

We just had to stand and admire a small flower as we headed along the coastal path, despite being just one of its kind, it really was a pretty specimen. Anne, who is quite knowledgeable on local wild flowers said: “It is Common Toadflax. It’s found on dry grassland, footpaths and waste land. It’s on the rare side here as I haven’t seen it very often, and it’s right at the end of its flowering period. I’ve seen quite a bit of it in SE England, mainly on the perimeter of arable land when walking in the countryside. The flowers are rather similar to a miniature ‘snapdragon’ or garden antirrhinum. ”

The coastal path is quite near to the sea until you get to Fort Doyle, and it is always dramatic hearing and seeing the waves smash into the granite rocks and shingle along the shoreline. There are two huge shingle banks along by Fontenelle Bay, the shingle still covering a largish section of the coastal path, due mainly to the really strong storms that battered Guernsey last winter.

From Fort Doyle we headed down towards Beaucette Marina and on to the relative calm and tranquility of the country lanes in this area. We always seem to reach a certain point here where it seems that someone switches the strong wind off: it happens on a regular basis on this leg!

Personally, I just love walking in this area, it has loads of character and once you get up onto the higher ground, the views are just staggering. There is a building project in this area that we observe with great interest as we pass by every month, largely to admire the speed at which it is progressing. It was most impressive this month as they appear to be at the wind- and water-tight stage, with the glaziers very busy installing their products.

The walk along Petils Bay towards Bordeaux Harbour is well used by a multitude of people and is probably so popular due to being a flat track and it has such a fabulous view of the other islands.

Bordeaux Kiosk has now become a regular stop on this leg mainly because of the toilet facility and the fact that the coffee is quite popular. Open throughout the winter season one never ceases to be amazed by the amount of cars that regularly frequent and patronise the facility.

Onwards to The Bridge area and around the North and South Sides; there is always lots happening in this area and the harbour and boats just add to the interest. The weather was improving all of the time and it really was so pleasant as we moved through St Sampson’s and along Bulwer Avenue.

The new garage facility along the Banques appears to be in the finishing stages and very much enhances the area taking into consideration we had to look at a pile of rusty poles sticking up out of the ground for many years! Additionally the waste water project and the housing project are also in their final stages and no doubt the bridge of pipes above the road in the Red Lion area will be removed shortly. The walk around this curving bay is just brilliant in weather conditions like today and we were delighted to see a pair of little egrets feeding on the shoreline opposite the China Red Restaurant. I have never seen them in this area before but have observed them on the island further west. (Picture right courtesy of John Fox, of BirdWatch Ireland.)

We all completed the 7-mile leg in glorious sunshine in St Peter Port, what a very enjoyable walk – and bonus! – it was today, considering recent weather in Guernsey and the rain we had yesterday.