Barafundle Bay (Welsh : Bae Barafundle) [1] is a remote, slightly curved, east-facing sandy beach, near Stackpole Quay in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is part of the Stackpole Estate, managed by The National Trust. The beach was once owned by the Cawdor family of Stackpole Court. On the northern approach to the beach are steps and a wall, which were built by the owners to ease their access to what was then their private beach. [2]
There is no road access to the beach. The nearest car park is at Stackpole Quay, costing six pounds per day between March and October and free to park after 5:30 p.m. Access to the beach is via the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, either from Stackpole Quay or from Broad Haven South. The walk from Stackpole Quay is 0.5 miles (0.80 km) and 1.3 miles (2.1 km) from Broad Haven South. Both approaches are unsuitable for pushchairs or wheelchairs because of the uneven terrain and sand.
Barafundle Bay is set between cliffs to the north and south. It marks the end of the carboniferous limestone cliffs of the Castlemartin Peninsula to the southwest and the beginning of the old red sandstone of the Devonian era at Stackpole Quay to the northeast. [2]
In 2004 Barafundle Bay was included in a list of the Top 12 beaches in the world. The Good Holiday Guide also called it "the best beach in Britain". In 2006 the magazine Country Life called it the best place in the United Kingdom for a picnic. [3] In 2019 it received both the Seaside and the Green Coast awards in the Wales Coast Awards. [4]
In 1997, Welsh band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci named their fourth album, Barafundle after the bay.
Barafundle Bay was the location for some scenes in the film Third Star , shot in October 2009. [5]
The Pembrokeshire Coast Path, often called the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, is a designated National Trail in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales. Established in 1970, it is a 186-mile (299 km) long-distance walking route, mostly at cliff-top level, with a total of 35,000 feet (11,000 m) of ascent and descent. At its highest point – Pen yr afr, on Cemaes Head – it reaches a height of 574 feet (175 m), and at its lowest point – Sandy Haven crossing, near Milford Haven – it is just 6 feet (2 m) above low water. Whilst most of the coastline faces west, it offers – at varying points – coastal views in every direction of the compass.
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and is otherwise surrounded by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and administrative headquarters of Pembrokeshire County Council.
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales and South West England. It extends from the smaller Severn Estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean. It takes its name from the English city and port of Bristol.
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park is a national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales.
St Brides Bay is a bay in western Pembrokeshire, West Wales.
The Stackpole Estate is located between the villages of Stackpole and Bosherston in Pembrokeshire, Wales, within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. It is situated within the community of Stackpole and Castlemartin.
Marloes is a village and parish in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the Marloes Peninsula 7 miles (11 km) west of Milford Haven and forms the western tip of the southern shore of St Brides Bay. It is within part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The parish has 6 miles (9.7 km) of mainland coastline accessible throughout by the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and, together with St Brides, constitutes the community of Marloes and St Brides. In 2001, the population was 323.
Bosherston is a village and parish in Pembrokeshire, Wales, within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.
Castlemartin is a village and parish in the community of Stackpole and Castlemartin, Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.
Nolton and Roch is a community in the Hundred of Roose, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The community consists essentially of the villages of Nolton and Roch and a number of hamlets including Cuffern and Druidston. The western part of the community is in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Its population (2001) was 746, increasing to 825 at the 2011 census.
Whitesands Bay is a Blue Flag beach situated on the St David's peninsula in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Wales. Whitesand Bay, on some maps, located 2 miles (3.2 km) west of St. Davids and 1 mile (1.6 km) south of St Davids Head, has been described as the best surfing beach in Pembrokeshire.
Broad Haven South is a beach located 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of Bosherston on the edge of the Stackpole Estate in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Ceibwr Bay is a bay opening into the Irish Sea in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. It is about 7 km west of Cardigan, and 3 km south of the headland of Cemaes Head. It is owned by the National Trust, and lies within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path.
Marloes Sands is an approx. 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) long remote sandy beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales, near the village of Marloes. It's broadly curved and surrounded by cliffs. Walking on the beach gives great views of Skokholm Island and Gateholm Island.
The Gower and Swansea Bay Coast Path (Welsh: Llwybr arfordir Penrhyn Gŵyr a Bae Abertawe is part of the Wales Coast Path, an 1,400-kilometre long-distance walking route around the whole coast of Wales that opened in 2012. The Gower and Swansea Bay stretch is 156 kilometres in length, running along the coast of the Gower Peninsula from Loughor, Swansea to Kenfig Dunes near Port Talbot, South Wales. The number of people using the Wales Coast Path in the Swansea local authority area was 349,333.
Little Haven is a village at the south-east corner of St Bride's Bay, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Together with Broad Haven to the north, Little Haven forms The Havens community for which the 2001 census recorded a population of 1,328.
Cemaes Head is a headland and nature reserve in north Pembrokeshire. It lies in the community of St Dogmaels, within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. To the west and north it overlooks Cardigan Bay, and to the east Cardigan Island and the estuary of the River Teifi.
The coastline of Wales extends from the English border at Chepstow westwards to Pembrokeshire then north to Anglesey and back eastwards to the English border once again near Flint. Its character is determined by multiple factors, including the local geology and geological processes active during and subsequent to the last ice age, its relative exposure to or shelter from waves, tidal variation and the history of human settlement and development which varies considerably from one place to another. The majority of the coast east of Cardiff in the south, and of Llandudno in the north, is flat whilst that to the west is more typically backed by cliffs. The cliffs are a mix of sandstones, shales and limestones, the erosion of which provides material for beach deposits. Of the twenty-two principal areas which deliver local government in Wales, sixteen have a coastline, though that of Powys consists only of a short section of tidal river some distance from the open sea. Its length has been estimated at 1,680 miles (2,700 km).