The sea-front is Penarth's primary tourist attraction. The town's coastal location is what really sets Penarth apart from any other pleasant provincial town and an essential element in this environment is the beach.

The cliffs on Penarth beach are actually quite famous in geological circles. The ‘Penarth Group’ is actually a geological formation in the cliffs roughly between the Yacht Club and Lavernock Head. Geologists use particular locations as reference sites for rock formations that are particularly well defined and Penarth cliffs are, in fact, just such a location. The strata within the cliffs were laid down approx. 200 million years ago when the Rhaetian Sea inundated what was a dry, arid desert.

However, Penarth has consistently failed  to take advantage of its beach as the important asset that it undoubtedly is and for a long time allowed it to become permanently strewn with litter and old builders rubble, a muddy, unloved  and uncared for appendage to the promenade. 

But this has now changed. The Penarth Society, with support from the Vale of Glamorgan Council have created the Penarth Beach Warden project. This is a scheme in which volunteers give up a little of their time to help keep the beach free of litter and return it to what it ought to be - a unique natural environment within an area that has international status and includes a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

If you would like to know more about the Beach Warden scheme or think you might like to become a warden yourself, please visit the Beach Wardens website at www.beachwarrior.org