More narrow roads, sun, and Rhossili (7 November 2024)

November 10, 2024

Rhossili Bay

Rhossili had been recommended by Bev’s friend as a very pretty place to visit. It was not far away being a mere 55kms or so.

Our friend M’s father had come from a village nearby and Bev decided she wanted to see it as it was more or less on the way we were going. We found it after driving down a narrow lane of two. It seemed larger than Llandyfaelog and even had a church.

The route took us on a motorway and I was optimistic that it would be a quick run to Rhossili which is at the end of the Gower Peninsular. It was not to be. Again we were directed down more lanes with me crossing my fingers that we did not meet oncoming cars.

Eventually we emerged onto a slightly wider road and arriving a few minutes later in a small whitewashed village bright in the sun with a huge car park to accommodate visitors. After ten days with no sun it was a nice surprise.

The Pub, all the buildings were similar

It is wild in the UK sense of the world. Farming occurs almost to the cliff edge and there are lots of people around. In the distance was Worms Head which I believe is the western most part of England and Wales, although that might be taken by Lands End.

After a coffee (almost the worst I have had in Wales) and a soup we walked along the cliff top toward Worms End. Along the way we came across a film crew filming for a BBC TV series called The Guest. We had to skirt around them and was interesting to see a bit of the acting for a scene that lasted for all of 1 minute perhaps. It is fascinating to realise that what we watch is something put together from those small individual shots.

Filming The Guest

It was windy on the tops but very pretty. Below us initially was the expanse of the rose gold Rhosilli beach and then the cliffs were meeting the water. Some people got perilously close to the edge in my view. Further along we came to a former coastguard station that is now manned by Coastwatch volunteers who are part of network of mainly retired men who keep an eye on who is on the water and can alert the Coastguard if people get into trouble. The two guys who were there chatted with us for a little while and told us about the service they provided. They loved what they were doing.

The Coastwatch Station

There was a path that took you down the side of the cliff to a tidal flat and then onto Worms head. The walk looked like it was worth doing but we didn’t have the time nor the boots for such an expedition. Apparently there is about six hours during which you can cross. If you attempt to cross earlier or later one is likely to swept away by the power of the incoming or outgoing water.

Worms Head

We returned to Llandyfaelog via many very narrow lanes. I discovered the next day we could have gone a more circuitous route but it would have been quicker and less nerve wracking.

One of the observations we have made in the Wales is that fewer people smoke than in France. In contrast France it was really noticeable how many people smoked, especially young woman. On the positive side it looks like the UK government is implementing some of the policies around smoking that the previous government had put in place but were repealed by Luxon and company.