A pier was built in Penarth in 1894, and a regular steamship service was established between Clevedon in Somerset and the town. The pier was used for steamship sailings, including the Waverley — the last seagoing paddle steamer in the world, which still operates around the British coast. Penarth Pier also provides the starting point for the walk, which soon climbs the hill behind the Esplanade into Windsor Gardens, a strip of lawns and shrubbery complete with a bandstand laid out in 1884 that retains an air of quiet gentility.
A clifftop path running first through wide lawns and then along a gravel track between hedges and fields gives fine views across the Severn Estuary. Beyond the islands of Flat Holm and Steep Holm lie Clevedon, Sand Bay, and Brean Down, with the Mendips rising behind and Brent Knoll and the Quantocks further south.
The coastal path ends somewhat abruptly at Lavernock. If the tide allows, you may like to go down to the beach and scramble across the stones to Lavernock Point; from the pavement of limestone beneath the cliffs there are splendid views across the Bristol Channel to Exmoor.
Lavernock today consists of a few ruined farm buildings and a small church. In the farm on 11 May 1897, Guglielmo Marconi received the first radio message ever transmitted across water when his colleague on Flat Holm prosaically asked, "Are you ready?" A plaque on the churchyard wall commemorates this historic event.
A lane leads past the chalets of Lavernock Point Holiday Estate to Cosmeston. This is the site of a village deserted in the 14th century and rediscovered only in 1982; excavations were made, and the village has now been reconstructed on the original foundations using medieval tools, methods, and materials. Appropriately named the Cosmeston Medieval Village, it functions as a museum open to the public.
The village is within the boundaries of Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, created on the site of old limestone quarries. The route leads along an old lane between the lakes — the one on the right is used for windsurfing and sailing, while the one on the left is a conservation area whose islands of reeds and sedges provide nesting places for water birds.
The route goes around the pleasure lake and past the visitor centre, which has displays on the park's wildlife and provides guided tours of the medieval village.
At the main entrance you cross the main Penarth to Sully road into a modern housing estate built on the site of an old limeworks. A road leads gently uphill to what was once a railway branch line and is now a footpath leading back into Penarth through the extensive modern development south of the town.
The walk ends with a stroll along the seafront back to the pier. On the way you pass the ornate Victorian iron verandahs of the Yacht Club and the formal Italian Gardens, which were laid out in 1926.
Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.
