Getting the miles in whilst we can now before the weather lets us down - it's been so kind to us! Set off early to Pen Clawdd, our middle of the walk this weekend and where our Gower taxi would be waiting! Mike the taxi! The Gower would only offer buses otherwise which we find unreliable and not all that pleasant a method of transport when other options are available..So back to Hillend campsite to resume the Rhossili beach walk!
Just beautiful to walk across here to leave the beach then at Burry Holms and up and over Spaniard Rocks
to Broughton Bay where we now overlook Carmarthen Bay and the Loughor estuary! Fantastic views back to Worms Head too! My philosophy for the day was that our walk is a bit like life - we stand at headlands and adjudge where we've come from and where we're going to next....ha! ha!
Stayed on the dunes past 2 more caravan parks - quite nice ones too. around to Hills Tor at 194 feet high. Lovely views once more towards Whiteford Point and its cast iron lighthouse and nature reserve.
We turned the corner here though instead of adding 2 extra miles around the reserve and had a lovely walk through pines and out to Llanrhidian Marsh where we walked for the rest of the day really. On the edge of the marsh really with lots of sheep (more grey ones!) and ponies and pretty sea lavender. Got a bit lost past a little hamlet of Landimore and saw Weobley castle high above us. Then we neared Llanrhidian and took a break at the Dolphin pub. Lemonade along with a plate of local cockles - delicious!
Don't understand why people don't like them - they are undersold. Katherine Jenkins's ancestor was a cockle picker. A long walk then along a little road alongside the marsh into Crofty where we saw the cockle processing factory and all around here the cockle shells are used for footpaths etc. Lots of mallows flowering here and I decided they must be "marsh mallows" - oh dear......The seabirds were very noisy as the tide was coming in as we rounded the headland to begin the walk back into Pen Clawdd to pick up the car and head to the hotel near Llanelli, the nearest I could find for tonight!
Day 2 saw us head back to Pen Clawdd and after unsuccessfully finding a cash machine or a post office, we set off in the right direction! Had an interesting meet with a chap at the hotel who had been racing his Lagonda ar Pembrey yesterday and was upset because an Alvis beat him! Also read with interest a book published in 1943 about the owners of the house where we stayed, the Humphreys of Llwyn Hall. He had written poetry and she had written prose articles about the area and the seasons. The path out of Pen Clawdd ran parallel to the busy road but far enough away not to be too intrusive.
We soon had to cross the road to go up into fields where we got a bit lost once more - we both seem to miss signs at the same time - oh dear! Great views over the estuary and towards the bridge over the Loughor - how come this is the biggest estuary we've met so far and we've never heard of it? The path turned into an old hollow way - very pretty!
Reached Gowerton where we dropped down to a "marsh" road once more - the other side of the estuary looked so far away! Made our way to the edge of Loughor town, past its ruined castle in a park and so to the bridge soon dropping into the Millennium Park at this juncture looking a bit forlorn to be honest but very lovely none the less. Nice walking then with good marshy views! The park contains the Wetlands and Wildfowl Trust and its visitor centre kindly let us enter just for refreshments! Continued along the edge of the marsh - you can't believe how much marsh there is and knowing the extent of it on the other side too, it really is amazing! Lots of wild parsnip here in seed - even a warning as we had entered the park near the visitor centre not to touch it as it caused skin reaction...we only found out a couple of years ago that parsnip leaves can be very toxic for skin! Lovely views across the estuary to Whiteford Point.
Eventually we came in sight of the settlement of Machynys - Ynys being Welsh for island, this settlement used to be an island in the 18th century. It was soon taken over by industrialisation and became a centre for iron, copper, chemicals until the 1970's when it was demolished to make way for new housing - very nice it is too now. We headed towards the town passing various blue signs remarking on Llanelli's industrial past. Near where we passed there had been a floating dock until 1951 used in conjunction with the copper works which was the third largest in the world in the 19th century. We passed the site of the works as we headed to the station and awaited or train back to Gowerton where we were met once more by Mike who took us back to Pen Clawdd ...and home!
Lovely places, lovely couple of days dedicated to our friend Terry Burton who sadly died Saturday night from cancer. Bless him.
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