ON A cold but sunny morning eight Valeways walkers met at the Six Bells in Penmark for a morning walk.

Leaving the pub they walked along the road but turned off into a lane just before the Rhoose bypass. Crossing ancient earthworks they passed Blackton Farm, before climbing up a hill to join the A48.

Walking alongside the road for 200 yards brought them to a stile and gate which they crossed into a field to drop down towards Whitelands Brook. Walking through newly cleared footpaths they soon reached a track leading under the viaduct towards Porthkerry Park.

This track was ignored in favour of the monk’s path leading back up the hill to Porthkerry village and church where a stop was made for coffee and wandering around the churchyard.

With two of the group being local residents some of the names on the stones were familiar. An intriguing one was the stone in memory of captain Heinz Karl Lipschutz described as father of the U Plane.

He was a captain with Cambrian Airways but what was a U Plane?

Suitably refreshed the group dropped down to the coast path and walked up the hill to Bulwarks Fort and the through the caravan park to emerge on the coast by Rhoose Point where they watched a heron being chased away by a single gull.

A short walk along the coast brought them to Rhoose railway station and here they headed back inland through Rhoose to the road leading to the Highwayman. Here they passed the western end of the airport runway to go under the bypass, across a couple of fields to return to Penmark having walked all the way round the airport

Thanks to the Six Bells for their hospitality and the used of the car park.

John Treby – Valeways walk leader