Dinas Island (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

: ''Ynys Dinas'') is a

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

, partially detached from the mainland, in the

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Dinas Cross Dinas Cross () is a village, a community and a former parish in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Located between Fishguard and Newport in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, it is a popular holiday destination on the A487 road. The two hamlets, Cwm-yr ...

between

Fishguard Fishguard (, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,400 (rounded to the nearest 100) as of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. Modern Fishguard consists of two parts, Lowe ...

and

Newport, Pembrokeshire Newport () is a town, Community (Wales), community, electoral ward and ancient port of ''Parrog'', on the Pembrokeshire coast in West Wales at the mouth of the River Nevern () in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The town gives its name to ...

, in southwest

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. A triangulation point shows above sea level at Pen-y-fan. Although Dinas Head is the northernmost part of the

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the s ...

where the cliffs meet the sea, the name is sometimes loosely used to refer to this highest point. Dinas Island is contained within the

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Pembrokeshire Coast National Park () is a National Parks of England and Wales, national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales. It was established as a National Park in 1952. It is one of the three National parks of Wales, the others ...

and the headland is under the care of the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

Geography

The landward side of Dinas Island is bordered by a swampy valley cut by meltwater overflow from a glacial lake, melt water freed from reservoirs in the

Preseli Hills The Preseli Mountains (, ; or ), also known as the Preseli Hills, or just the Preselis, are a range of hills in western Wales, mostly within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and entirely within the county of Pembrokeshire. The range ...

by the dwindling ice. This was the same Ice Age melt-water that formed the Gwaun Valley further down the coast.BBC website – Dinas Island
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Wildlife

Plant cover on Dinas Island is typical of a windswept cliff environment, with gorse, bracken and bramble, scrubby trees of hawthorn, blackthorn and hazel, and small oak and ash where there is shelter from the wind. There are also coastal wildflowers such as ling, scabious, thyme, heather, thrift, pennywort, foxglove, and orchids. Bluebells bloom in spring on the eastern slopes.

Feral A feral (; ) animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in som ...

goats at one time inhabited the headland until they were destroyed in 1947.

Pembrokeshire Coast Path

The

Pembrokeshire Coast Path The Pembrokeshire Coast Path (), often called the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, is a designated National Trail in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales. Established in 1970, it is a long-distance walking route, mostly at cliff-top level, with a total ...

, a national trail, runs for around the peninsula, offering extensive views towards

Strumble Head Strumble Head () is a rocky headland in the community of Pencaer in Pembrokeshire, Wales, within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. It marks the southern limit of Cardigan Bay. Three islands lie off the head: ''Ynys Meicel'' – – ''Y ...

and across both Fishguard and

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

Bay. This section of the path can be accessed from

Pwllgwaelod Pwllgwaelod (originally Y Pwll Gwaelod, Welsh language, Welsh for ''The Bottom Cove/Creek'') is a small scattered hamlet centred on a bay on the south-western side of the Dinas Island peninsula. It is in the community of Dinas Cross between F ...

at its southwestern end, and from Cwm-yr-Eglwys at its southeastern end. Both these locations can be reached from

on the

A487 The A487, officially the Fishguard to Bangor Trunk Road, is a trunk road in Wales that follows the coast from Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in the south, to Bangor, Gwynedd, in the north. Route The road starts at a junction with the A40 in H ...

, and offer parking and public toilets. A path, suitable for wheelchair access, links the two.

Transport

Pwllgwaelod is served by the "Poppit Rocket", a bus which follows the coastline from Fishguard to

Cardigan, Ceredigion Cardigan (, ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Principal areas of Wales, county of Ceredigion, Wales. Positioned on the tidal reach of the River Teifi at the point where Ceredigion meets Pembrokeshire, Cardigan was the county to ...

in the north.

Agriculture

Much of Dinas Island is given over to sheep pasture, and Dinas Island Farm – jointly owned and run by the

and the Perkins family, and accessed from Pwllgwaelod – currently farms 1,600 Lleyn ewes plus 400 followers on 600 acres. In 2012 it won the Farmers Weekly Sheep Farmer of the Year Award and a National Grassland Management Award.Dinas Island farm
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References

External links

Strumble Head to Cardigan information
at the National Trust {{coord, 52.027, -4.904, dim:5000_region:GB, display=title Tourist attractions in Pembrokeshire Peninsulas of Wales Coast of Pembrokeshire Landforms of Pembrokeshire