A half day walk to day to shorten the long walk to Aberystwyth tomorrow. There is no real road access on the stretch from Llanrhystud to Aberystwyth and it’s too long a walk from Llanon.

It is another gorgeous day as we set out in the opposite direction from yesterday to do a walk via Aberaeron to Llanon. It is an easy start past the small leisure boats bobbing up and down in the harbour, along a long stretch of sand/mud where a few families are paddling, children playing with their own small plastic boats.

New Quay is a busy little town and full of tourists. As there is zero parking we leave the car in a carpark up the hill and walk down to the seafront for coffee. It is going to be a short walk today as we need a bit of a rest.

The small cove of Cwmtydu is accessed by a minor road which winds down through dense woodland. Our taxi drops us in the “high street” and we are lucky enough to find an open cafe run by a gruff but benign Welshman serving coffee, tea and Welsh cakes.

The friendly dolphin marks the start of our walk today, around the beach at Aberporth and up on to a very steep minor road which leads to the military base just outside the town.

We are dropped off at Ceibwr Bay again and start walking north this time. There are a few walkers about but they all seem to be going the other way (what do they know)? The sky is overcast and it’s a bit muggy.

The sky is overcast when we are dropped off at Cweibr Bay and turn our faces southwards towards Newport – but it is warm. We have chosen a short walk today because Damian’s knee has been playing up and we are both nervous about setting off on a walk that he may not be able to complete – and what do we do then?

This walk was oh so long ago during the tentative re-opening after the first wave of COVID. We all thought that was it but how wrong we were.

Our taxi drops us off in the small hamlet of Cwm-yr-Eglwys (it helps if you say it quickly) – the ruins of the little chapel provide a photo opportunity.

We arrive at the woollen mill in pouring rain but the forecast does say it will clear up later – we decide to wait in the cafe. To ensure social distancing each table has to be booked while ordering which means less room for customers but a couple already seated on a large table invite us to share it.