With the flow

The water that sustains the Tŷ Canol wood leaves it via at least 5 separate streams (but I feel we splashed through more than that!), and all that water ends up here, along with most of what drains off the north slopes of the Preseli hills. Newport estuary is only 150m below the wood, only 400m below the headwaters of the river; the entire watershed only extends 15km from the mouth of the river. This is a rivulet by continental standards, but these western hills get first bite at the moisture loaded air coming off the Atlantic on warm south westerly winds. Cooling as it rises over the peaks, it is generous with its rain. The result is a substantial river after winter storms

At its mouth, the river meets the tide, which has a range of over 5 metres on some days, and extends 2km inland. The consequence is that the river drops a lot of sand and silt in its estuary, and this has built up into a broad beach and a wide estuary of mudflats. The river itself, at low tide, meanders back and forth across the mud and sand, at one point sweeping dramatically from one extreme bank, square across the estuary to the other. It eventually emerges into the sea hard up against the cliff at one end of the beach, leaving the town on one bank, cut off from its beach, on the other, by the river that feeds it

In summer, the river can be forded by those prepared to wade waist deep. When the flow is too deep and fierce, or winter cold, a journey of 6km by car, or 3km on foot, is necessary to reach sand that is only a few metres away

Taking a boat on to the sea from here is also an adventure. It is necessary to follow the river channel, steering well clear of the buoys that mark treacherous rocks on one side, but not grounding on the sand on the other. Just before reaching the sea, the channel flows up to the base of a cliff. It is necessary to steer a sailboat straight at the cliff and then turn at the last moment to follow the channel alongside it. I did it a couple of times, without mishap, in my sailing days, but never without some anxiety

Despite all the water in this picture, you can't actually see the sea - it is hidden behind the low dune on the right