We start by walking downhill from Cwm Ivy café – you can see over to Cwm Ivy Marsh owned by the National Trust. This was a freshwater marsh but due to the collapse of the old seawall, the sea now floods in on very big tides creating a huge saltwater lake. We carry on uphill towards Cwm Ivy Tor – we have now joined the Gower section of the Wales Coastal Path.
We walk uphill through an open sandy area, The Conygaer and then fairly steeply into a small wood (short steep section). We’re now on the cliff tops with beautiful views over Whiteford Sands and Whiteford Lighthouse.
Dropping down to the caravan site, we follow low scrubland and sand dunes (Delvid Burrows). The path then crosses some fields with Llanmadoc Hill in the distance. We head to Llanmadoc Hill which offers fabulous views over to Worms Head – we head gently up the slope to the summit which sits at 186m. We follow the ridge out to a Bronze Age burial cairn and the ancient defensive remains of The Bulwark, an Iron Age Fort.
We then head downhill to the remains of Llanmadoc School which was closed in 1935 (this is being conserved by a local history group), continuing downhill towards Llanmadoc and return to the car park via the stonewalled green.
Drink/flask and packed lunch required.
Toilets at Start and Finish.
This walk is not suitable for children.
Well-behaved dogs on short leads can join the walk – see How to Book for the rules regarding dogs.
Terrain will be mixed and typical of coastal and rural rights of way.
Parking will be at Whiteford Pay and Display (previously Cwm Ivy car park).
Walk leader Ursula Jones is a Project Officer in the Gower National Landscape team at Swansea Council. She works in a small team on countryside and nature projects across the Gower National Landscape area, supporting community engagement, biodiversity, and landscape conservation work.
