Sir,
I am hoping that this letter will motivate other dog walkers in particular, but walkers in general, to contact the National Park Authority and the National Trust in an attempt to restore the beautiful areas of Lydstep, Giltar and Skrinkle Headlands.
The recent years of continual wet weather have played their part in the deterioration of the footpaths, but the Parks and the Trust have increased that deterioration by their excessive use of livestock. On Lydstep Headland for some years there lived three very placid black cows who gave no cause for concern to dogs, walkers, visitors or children. Three were not enough to cause too much damage to the paths. However, the National Trust had these poor cows destroyed simply because they did not want the expense of keeping their TB injections up to date.
Having killed those cattle, they then introduced up to eight heifers who completely destroyed the footpaths surrounding the headland. Thankfully, these have now been removed, but I am worried about what the Trust will decide to replace them with. Even now, after a couple of weeks of dry weather, parts of the path are still in a very poor state. The cattle were a cause of concern to dog walkers, the paths were dirty and messy and not at all attractive to locals or visitors. In the past, ponies were tried, but these too had to be removed as they proved dangerous to people walking the headland.
At Skrinkle we have a mixture of ponies and sheep and the area where the sheep are kept is filthy, smelly and not at all conducive to enjoying the beauty of the area. The paths have been slippery and downright dangerous in the weather we have experienced. Dog walkers are unable to walk their dogs freely, families are unable to picnic and small children must be constantly watched for fear they fall in sheep 'pooh'. I dare not think what impression it gives to the visitors staying in the Youth Hostel there.
On the coast path there are certain parts of the path that have become a real source of danger to walkers because of the ponies coming down to drink. It would be all too easy to slip and fall, never to be heard of again at one particular gully.
And just lately I discovered to my horror that there are what looked like young bulls on Giltar point, together with an ugly fence keeping them on there. Admittedly they could have been bullocks, but with a dog I wasn't going to get near enough to check - I made a hasty retreat! One more of my favourite dog walks made unavailable.
Areas like Giltar, Lydstep and Skrinkle are just too small to absorb these various animals. I believe they are a health and safety risk in terms of the risk they prevent to walkers (especially with nowhere to run or to be chased, except over the cliffs!) and in terms of the damage they cause to the footpaths.
My point is that livestock and walkers do not mix. Livestock belongs on farms - not on areas that should be there to be enjoyed by the locals and visitors alike. Pembrokeshire's main attraction is the rugged beauty of its coastline - don't let these public bodies ruin it.
Name and
address supplied