Manorbier-Swanlake Bay
This is a short walk, around an hour or so, but it can be quite steep in places. The walk takes us from Manorbier along to the beach at Swanlake Bay, and then back along the coast path to Manorbier. I'm afraid I didn't choose a great day, it was cloudy all the way, so it isn't looking its best. I have chosen the car park just outside the village, near the beach, as the place to start this walk. However, if like me you resent paying parking charges, it may be possible to park further up the hill, which is the way you will walk anyway.
Leave the car park and go left and follow the road up the hill, and keep going until you reach the top. You will see a bungalow on it's own on the right, carry on past there and at the end of the field on the left you'll come across a style. Go over the style, and keeping close to the hedge, walk to the end of the field where there is a stone style. Climb over that and carry straight on until you come to the farm. There are a couple of new style gates there, go through those and walk to the end of that field where there is another similar gate. Once through that, turn left and go down the hill until you see the beach.
You can either spend some time there, or carry on walking, whichever you prefer! The path to the right of the beach will take you further along the coast path to Freshwater East, or at the top of the hill the far side of the beach, you could cut across to West Moor Farm and walk back to Manorbier along the lanes. It's a much flatter walk, but much less interesting in my opinion. These routes are shown on the maps in red if you are in any doubt. There is also a tea room at West Moor Farm.
Having had your fill of the beach, you'll need to climb to the top of the hill on the left of the beach. Until very recently this meant climbing up a lot of steps starting right on the left hand side of the beach, but when you came down the last field to the beach, you would have past a new gate on the left which now cuts up across the hill in a much gentler fashion! It's still the same height of course, but it's an easier climb, and the last steep bit is the same as it was before.
Once at the top, you have some fine views of Swanlake Bay,
and once you have gone on a bit further, you'll see the path winding right back to Manorbier.
There is a steep bit in the middle of this, but I watched this elderly couple, and they managed it without any problems, but they were going in the reverse direction!
Looking back towards the beach at Manorbier you'll see this strange rock formation.
Just follow the path along, and you come to a house called the Dak, and you have to walk through their drive and join the road at the top. Turning right will bring you back to the car park. The following photo is taken from the far side of the beach, from a point called the Devil's Quoit. If you click on it to enlarge it, it gives you some idea of the route. At the top you can just make out the bungalow mentioned at the beginning of the walk, and the house, the Dak, is the building towards the bottom right. You can also see the path winding around the top of cliffs.
If you haven't seen Manorbier Castle before, and have the time, it's well worth a visit. From the car park, just go up the hill towards the village a short way, and there is a gate in the wall which takes you up to the castle. I'll include a few photos here of the castle so you can see what it's like.
