Spring is here and my day out mojo is back (as far as time permits anyway!). We decided to spend the day at a local natural beauty spot, Cenarth Falls in Ceredigion. It’s a lovely place to enjoy a riverside walk, views of the falls, visit a museum and have a picnic or meal in the pub. Read on to find out more and see our snapshots of Cenarth Falls.
Cenarth Falls, Ceredigion
Cenarth lies on the border between Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire and close to the border of Pembrokeshire (Sat Nav Postcode: SA38 9JL). There is a car park right next to the falls with a small charge of £2.50 per day. In season this is manned and out of season collected by means of an honesty box.
We parked over the opposite side of the bridge in the free car park (this does fill up at peak times). It’s closer to our preferred picnic spot and there are toilets! Unfortunately the toilets are only open between April to October (as people don’t go to the toilet during Winter months! Ha!). There are also toilets over the other side of the bridge, but you’ve guessed it they also close during the winter months. Thankfully the Nisa Local, Siop Y Ffrydiau Garage has public toilets open all year around or you could always pop to the pub!
St Llawddog’s Spring Picnic Area
Just across from the car park is St Llawddog’s (Ffynnon Llawddog) Spring picnic area.
We decided to eat our picnic before exploring the area.
Ffynnon Llawddog Spring used to be regarded as a holy well. The namesake of the well, St Llawddog ( St Ludoc) lived in the 7th century. A son of the King of Usk he was, according to tradition, responsible for many miracles. There are a number of churches dedicated to him in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire including Cenarth and Cilgerran.
We ate our picnic and the kids had fun playing (carefully!) by the riverside.
Izzy gave me a beautiful buttercup- after testing if I like butter of course.
In the Village
We walked through the village of Cenarth to get to the falls. Every time the kids have to all squeeze into the red phone box, just as we used to when we were young. I’m so glad it’s still there to this day. We also passed The White Hart Inn, a family and dog friendly pub and The National Coracle Centre.
Facilities
As I mentioned earlier all the village toilets were closed so we had to pay a couple of visits to the garage. I’m glad these were available but I always feel that you can’t just walk into a “shop” and use the facilities without buying something (especially when there’s so many of us) so each time I also made a small purchase, the kids did well in drinks and sweets!
On our way back from the garage to the falls we found this lovely gate once more – we love Y Ddraig Goch, The Red Dragon.
Cenarth Bridge
Cenarth Bridge which was built in 1788 by architect David Edwards, son of William Edwards the designer of the old bridge at Pontypridd. The bridge is fairly narrow by today’s standards with no pavement. Cars must give way to oncoming traffic over the bridge and pedestrians need to keep within the yellow line. It’s best for pedestrians to give way to each other too, we always wait on the last part of the pavement until we can see our walkway is free.
The kids enjoyed exploring the tunnel holes in the bridge. The hole in the bridge is designed to ease the load on the main arches but has provided fun and photo opportunities for many families over the years-I’m sure I could find a photo of me in the tunnel as a child too!
Cenarth Falls and River Teifi Walk
Then we made our way to the falls and the riverside walk.
It’s such a pretty and peaceful place (as peaceful as it can be when you have kids with you). There’s a beautiful light and the sound of the water flowing is memorising.
Across the river you can see the old Cenarth Watermill. The mill is still in working condition and runs when the water is high.
There were picturesque daffodils on our typical Welsh walk.
I found a heart shaped slate. As you can see the path is quite uneven. For most of the way it slopes towards the river. Unfortunately it’s not suitable for pushchairs, wheelchairs and those with mobility problems. You can observe the falls from the car park or the viewing platform.
You can complete a circular walk. The path follows the edge of River Teifi for a few hundred metres before turning up the hill at the gorge’s entrance.
The footpath meets a small road that can be followed to the left, returning to Cenarth along the top of the gorge. The loop is around 2km (1 ¼ miles) and allows for lovely views of the bridge and river.
After our walk we returned the car park and tunnels.
Although on paper there’s not a lot for kids to actually “do” at Cenarth, when it was time to make a move the kids didn’t want to leave. It’s just such a lovely place to “be”.
We retraced our steps back to the car, back past the red phone box and the pub…
The noble river Teivi flows here, and abounds with the finest salmon, more than any other river of Wales; it has a productive fishery, which is situated on the summit of a rock, at a place called Canarch Mawr, the ancient residence of St Ludoc, where the river, falling from a great height, forms a cataract, which the salmon ascend, by leaping from the bottom to the top of a rock…. The church dedicated to St Ludoc, the mill, bridge, salmon leap, an orchard with a delightful garden, all stand together on a small plot of ground.
The Itinerary Through Wales and The Description of Wales by Giraldus Cambrensis (1188)
“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”
― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
Our last few visits to Cenarth have been during March. We need to visit in the Summer and go to the museum. I’d also like a walk here in Autumn to see if we spot any salmon leaping!
Have you ever visited Cenarth Falls? If you have seen the salmon leaping let me know!
Cenarth Falls March 2015: https://www.evans-crittens.com/2015/03/cenarth-falls-ceredigion-for-mothers-day.html
Cenarth Falls a short video: https://www.evans-crittens.com/2015/03/cenarth-falls-ceredigion-video.html
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How fabulous. You’ve got me dreaming about visiting Wales again. Spring and early summer are particularly lovely seasons.
Absolutely beautiful photos, we have so many amazing places to visit in Wales which are truly breath taking, and all on our doorstep, we live in south Wales and have lots of beautiful coastline and mountains xxx
Such a beautiful place – wished it was nearer to where I live