Dinas Island (Welsh:Ynys Dinas) is apeninsula, partially detached from the mainland, in thecommunity ofDinas Cross betweenFishguard andNewport, Pembrokeshire, in southwestWales. A triangulation point shows 466 feet (142 m) above sea level at Pen-y-fan. Although Dinas Head is the northernmost part of thepromontory where the cliffs meet the sea, the name is sometimes loosely used to refer to this highest point.[1] Dinas Island is contained within thePembrokeshire Coast National Park and the headland is under the care of theNational Trust.[2]
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 thePreseli Hills by the dwindling ice.[3][4] This was the same Ice Age melt-water that formed the Gwaun Valley further down the coast.[5]
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.[5]Feral goats at one time inhabited the headland until they were destroyed in 1947.[6]
ThePembrokeshire Coast Path, a 186-mile (299 km) national trail, runs for 3 miles (4.8 km) around the peninsula, offering extensive views towardsStrumble Head and across both Fishguard andNewport Bay. This section of the path can be accessed fromPwllgwaelod at its southwestern end, and fromCwm-yr-Eglwys at its southeastern end. Both these locations can be reached fromDinas Cross on theA487, and offer parking and public toilets. A path, suitable for wheelchair access, links the two.[7][8]
Pwllgwaelod is served by the "Poppit Rocket", a bus which follows the coastline from Fishguard toCardigan, Ceredigion in the north.[9]
Much of Dinas Island is given over to sheep pasture, and Dinas Island Farm – jointly owned and run by theNational Trust and the Perkins family,[10] 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.[11]
