NEWGALE HILL

NEWGALE, HAVERFORDWEST

Rising up from the rugged Pembrokeshire coast, Newgale Hill is set on the main road – the A487. This isn’t a busy part of the world, so you’ll never have that much traffic to contend with, unless you’re very unlucky and come across an HGV struggling up the tough slope. Shadowing the coastline, protected from the waters of St Brides Bay by a giant stone wall, you start to climb from sea level as you bend back inland. Crossing Brandy Brook you turn left then hard right round a sweeping corner where the slope rapidly ramps up. Rising away from the crashing waves, past the 16% gradient sign, it’s now a real hard slog. Touching 18% at its maximum, you grovel as the course of the climb kinks first left then right. Thankfully the severity of the gradient begins to ebb incrementally (although not significantly) along the final 100m.