Freshwater East

Short Walk

DISTANCE/DURATION: 2.6 miles (4.2 km) 1 hour 30 minutes.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: *Coastal Cruiser (*hail & ride).
CHARACTER: Livestock on Trewent Point, paths can be sandy.
LOOK OUT FOR: Dune reclamation at Freshwater East.

Expanses of dunes – what will you see here?

Freshwater East became a popular recreation area in the nineteenth century with the growth of the Naval Yard at Pembroke Dock.

The dune system here was put under severe environmental pressure by plot development between World War One and World War Two and by mass tourism.

The development was halted after Pembrokeshire was designated a National Park in 1952 and since then the Park Authority has worked in partnership with local groups to conserve the local landscape and wildlife.

Much work has been done here to reclaim the sand dunes which can be seen today.

In dune systems plants like sea rocket, prickly saltwort and sea beet colonise the fore-dunes behind the tide-line using rotting seaweed as humus, whilst sea couch-grass and marram grass can survive further back in the dunes binding the sand together with their long root systems (marram grass is often planted to repair damaged dunes).

Plants like sea holly and sea bindweed colonise sheltered areas and sand sedge and sea spurge then help to bind the surface of the dune. A drowned (‘petrified’) forest can be seen in the bay at very low tides.

Find this Walk

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COUNTRY CODE!

  • Enjoy the countryside and respect its life and work
  • Guard against all risk of fire
  • Leave gates and property as you find them
  • Keep your dogs under close control
  • Keep to public paths across farmland
  • Take your litter home