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Porthkerry (Vale of Glamorgan - Wales)

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The day I reached South Wales, my first visit was to Cardiff Castle and from there I set off to Barry where I was put up. Close to Barry Island was this place called Porthkerry Country Park. Reaching there was a bit funny!
What attracted me the most to Porthkerry Country Park was the green pastures of land and the viaduct! However there were 2 country parks marked close to Barry island on Google maps and the images on both showed the same bridge!!! So anyways, I took the chances and went to the one nearest to Barry. It turned out to be a very small park with nothing except a flat land of grass and a tiny little dirt road on one side and on that direction was the other park. 
I thought of proceeding in that road while my guy said its way too lonely and we decided to walk on the black topped road parellel to it and in a while we reached a signage which welcomed us to Porthkerry Country Park. However the place looked much like a true forest than a plain grassland. That very much reminded me of Richmond Park where the initial walk from the railway station to the park was through a road laid in the midst of a forest! So we kept walking and at one point there was a smaller, little bridge with a single arch and quite a few people walking their dogs and some cars parked. I enquired and I was about 20mins walk from the main arches at that point!

From this point it looks more like a green pastures and grass lands than forest! There were a few people walking their dogs. There were certain enclosed portions of land filled with manure. That's to be converted to Wild Flower Meadow for Pollination project. That's a perfect way to welcome spring! There are benches along this stretch. 

At the point where the viaduct is, there's also a cafe, a small play area for kids, toilets and a carpark. It has 16 arches and the height varies from 15m to 33m. It serves the train that runs between Barry and Bridgend. The bridge has been in operation in 1900. We were lucky enough to actually spot a train on it when we were there! This comes under CADW which is the branch of government that takes care of historical spots in Wales.  
A small walk from this point towards the sea took me to the 3rd most beautiful beach I've ever seen (1st & 2nd place still go to Thiruchopuram & Mudhaliarkuppam). This is called the Pebble beach for obvious reasons, the beach is filled with pebbles. Walking without decent shoes is a bit difficult, however walking barefoot is easy, just that it felt cold to do it in this season! This beach also has a bit of snakes. No, I did not spot any, but a board explaining the various species was here. So you may not want to take off your shoes!

On one side was this gorgeous cliffs and really wanted to walk along this pebble beach to reach Barry, but with the setting sun and the longer distance to be covered before sheer darkness covers, I decided against it.
Btw, that vast expanse of green land and viaduct in background made me a bit crazy and I started jumping much to the dismay of my guy. Check out those shots and what I wore on my other blog, Fashion Panache.

To get there:
On Google Maps: Porthkerry Viaduct
Nearest railway station: Barry (Arriva trains operate here from Cardiff)
Cardiff has a major railway station, bus stand and airport.

Dedicated to Venkat

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