{"id":9625,"date":"2021-05-06T17:15:46","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T16:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9625"},"modified":"2021-05-06T17:15:46","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T16:15:46","slug":"st-nicholas-to-peterston-super-ely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9625","title":{"rendered":"St Nicholas to Peterston-super-Ely"},"content":{"rendered":"

Footsteps<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
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St Nicholas to Peterston-super-Ely<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Escaping from Wenvoe, we parked in St Nicholas, near the church, and explored north to Peterston-super-Ely. I walked with 3 different households over a few days. As one of my companions said, \u2018It\u2019s so nice to have a view to the north after so long.\u2019<\/p>\n

The first outing took us west from the church, towards the school and a footpath alongside\"\" the school. Opposite the church was a fruit tree in full blossom – beautiful. The school has several large, raised beds, an outside classroom, a playing field and a small pond, with a plastic duck. A good fence surrounds the whole area, but we saw several rabbits \u2018trespassing\u2019.<\/p>\n

Crossing a couple of fields to the west we were surrounded by one of the sounds of spring \u2013 ewes calling their bleating lambs – so young and tiny. We stayed clear of them and came to a track leading north through trees. At a junction we took a left to cross Cottrell Park golf course and entered woodland. This is delightful now bright yellow celandine, white wood anemones, pussy willows, violets \u2013 white and blue, primroses, and the first signs of bluebells all jostled for our attention. I gathered wild garlic for supper.<\/p>\n

\"\"The lane joins a road at a babbling stream and leads to a Chapel in Peterston-super-Ely. It is worth exploring the graveyard \u00a0there are some interesting headstones, but the ground is uneven. Turning right at the T junction we walked across the bridge over the river Ely to follow the river. There are benches along the river, a good place to rest and have a snack. You can walk further into the village to explore the village and church but return to the footbridge over the river to Wyndham Park. A wide avenue of trees takes you uphill past lovely houses. Snakes head fritillaries were spotted on the roadside verge. You can walk around this estate to find the \u2018Moroccan\u2019 houses and street names reminiscent of Dyffryn gardens.<\/p>\n

Near the top of the hill, on the right, the footpath passes between two houses. At the field, we walked away from the houses and through a gap in the hedge on the left to follow the righthand boundary of the next field, emerging at Homri where building work is taking place. The drive becomes a road and leads back to St Nicholas. If you have not seen it already look for the grave of the blacksmith in the\u00a0churchyard. This route is 3 miles.<\/p>\n

On the second outing we started the walk in the same way but on reaching Peterston-super-Ely we did not cross the river but entered the National Trust meadows (footpath on the left just before the river). After a short walk there is an orchard on the right with a living willow shelter. We could not resist stopping for elevenses in the morning sunshine.<\/p>\n

Re-joining the footpath, we turned right after crossing a small stream to walk along the river. This area is Pendoylan Moors (the other side of the river being Peterston Moors) and in winter is a flood plain. We were surprised to find it dried out so early in the year and walked north until we came near the farm. As you walk here you need to look ahead for the next footpath sign and keep to that line, if you follow the river itself you will wind all over the place and walk a lot further. It was quiet here apart from the regular trains running past in the distance \u2013 we saw 2 goods trains with 21 carriages. We espied buzzards soaring overhead and clouds of house martins swooping down over the water. Retracing our steps to Peterston-super-Ely, we crossed the bridge to pick up the previous walk. \u2013 There is a Valeways leaflet describing a 7-mile route which travels further north and comes back to Peterston-super-Ely on the eastern side of the river.<\/p>\n

A third outing involved leaving St Nicholas via the road on the eastern side of the church.\"\" Before reaching Homri there is a footpath on the right which takes you down the valley to the Natural Burial ground. There are way markers showing where the path goes. We explored the paths in the Natural burial ground, where there are lots of bluebells but no flowers yet, before returning via the same route and aiming for Peterston-super- Ely, reversing the route described in the first outing above.<\/p>\n

We were walking through a wood and could hear a ewe calling loudly; was she hurt? But as we neared the edge of the wood, we could see a lamb in the wood with its mother and sibling on the path outside, but the lamb couldn\u2019t find a way out. We tried to usher the lamb through the kissing gate, but it ran off in the opposite direction. We spent a while \"\"rounding it up again before it got trapped momentarily between the fence and a tree trunk; somehow it scrambled out but ran into the next gated field. After a few more minutes of its mother calling, (and us trying to round it up) it came to the gate and we opened it to let it through. Ewe ran off with her two lambs without a backward glance (and certainly no Thank you!), both lambs eagerly suckling when they stopped. This took quite a few minutes, and we were now ready for our lunch which we ate with a view to the north.<\/p>\n

Sunshine helped make all these walks a joy and we saw our first butterfly of spring; a comma. A longer walk could be created by walking south to Tinkinswood and Dyffryn as described last month, or even extending the walk to Wenvoe. Walk 3-7 miles depending on route taken. Map 151<\/p>\n

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Footsteps St Nicholas to Peterston-super-Ely Escaping from Wenvoe, we parked in St Nicholas, near the church, and explored north to Peterston-super-Ely. I walked with 3 different households over a few days. As one of my companions said, \u2018It\u2019s so nice to have a view to the north after so long.\u2019 The first outing took us west from the church, towards […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-2vf","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8003,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=8003","url_meta":{"origin":9625,"position":0},"title":"Peterston Super Ely","author":"Alan Williams","date":"11th August 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Footsteps Peterston Super Ely We parked in St Nicholas, within our 5-mile limit, to do a walk based on Valeways walk no. 37 Peterston super Ely (A ridge and valley walk). The main walk is 2 loops of 3 miles and 4 miles centred on Peterston Super Ely. From St\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Picture71-300x210.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15268,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15268","url_meta":{"origin":9625,"position":1},"title":"A Few \u2018Experiences\u2019 From Four Walks","author":"Alan Williams","date":"10th March 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A Few \u2018Experiences\u2019 from Four Walks The winter weather for our walks has been mixed with less than the usual amount of rain but\u2026twice we have abandoned due to the weather; once for a storm and once for heavy rain. All the walks are on map OS151. Unusually, rather than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Picture15.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9880,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9880","url_meta":{"origin":9625,"position":2},"title":"Local Conservative Branch Relaunched","author":"Alan Williams","date":"10th July 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Wenvoe & Peterston Branch of the Conservative Branch has now been relaunched. New and old members are most welcome It is hoped that a Fish & Chip Quiz night will be arranged when safe to do so. For further information\/details on becoming a member, please contact myself (contact details\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Event Notices"","block_context":{"text":"Event Notices","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=237"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12087,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12087","url_meta":{"origin":9625,"position":3},"title":"\u00a0Seven Green Flag Awards","author":"Alan Williams","date":"5th August 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group \u00a0Seven Green Flag Awards for 2022!! This is a tribute to all involved with the community sites. The landowners - The Reader family and Vale of Glamorgan Council - make it possible. 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The racecourse hosted a number of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13750,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13750","url_meta":{"origin":9625,"position":5},"title":"November Letters","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st November 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 Dear Editor, I am writing to express my heartfelt gratitude to our many friends and neighbours in Wenvoe for their tremendous support following the passing of my husband, Gordon Jones, on September 18, at the age of 86. 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