Another day and another walk, just 24-hours after one visit to Nash Point and Steve was visiting Dunraven Bay on his way to Merthyr Mawr Warren to experience a huge network of sand dunes situated about one mile from the village of Merthyr Mawr, and only a few miles further west from Llantwit Major.
The unique setting at Dunraven Bay with its almost golden coloured limestone rock formations, was used in an episode of the recent BBC TV series 'Merlin' - The Labyrinth of Gedref.
Leaving Dunraven Bay the walk continued through Merthyr Mawr Warren and the highest single sand dune in Europe, known locally as the 'big dipper'. Scenes from the film 'Lawrence of Arabia' were filmed at the dunes.
Walking up these giant sand dune's is exceptionally hard work, although international athletes and sportsmen and women use the dunes for fitness training (the Welsh rugby union team for example have been known to use it as part of a training run).
A hundred years ago sand threatened to engulf nearby Merthyr Mawr after rabbits had stripped the ground of the vegetation holding the dunes together. Buckthorn bushes were planted to stabilise the sand, but now it's the dunes that have to be protected from the buckthorn which is over-grown and threatening to take over.
Merthyr Mawr, is a pretty little chocolate box village, there are no modern buildings here and it's like walking on to a film set. Roses around the cottage doors, thatched roofs, cream teas! An idyllic settlement, as picturesque as they come, with an outstanding collection of Thatched Dwellings straight from the pages of a Thomas Hardy novel, beautifully positioned around an old Village Green.
The warren is an important wildlife habitat and site of scientific interest, which shelters a rich variety of plants.
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