My attention next turned to tackling the Gower. I decided I would make a 2-dayer out of it, using Swansea as my base. I knew the weather would be not so good for the first day and my fears were soon realised as I drove down over the Brecon Beacons in a snowstorm!
My first section was to be Rhossili to Gowerton, to do this section meant catching two buses. I parked in Swansea close to the hotel I was staying at and caught the 07:50 #118 to Rhossili at a cost of £4.80. When I alighted at Rhossili it was like stepping into a hurricane, although the horizontal rain was not too bad, the wind of 40 – 50mph was directly at me full-on. I had this for the majority of the day, especially when the path veered to a northerly direction. The first couple of hours was tough, particularly as I battled the winds along Rhossili beach to Burry Holms. I was forced to look down at the ground as the sand was whipped up and blasted at me.
I had a brief respite as I turned east, but then had the onslaught again all the way out along Whiteford sands.
I encountered a couple of problems with the path around Cwm Ivy, the first was the collapse of part of the sea-wall.
This was easily circumvented by clambering down to the right of my photo and picking my way over the wall debris. However, further up I was stymied by the stepping stones across one of the small channels, which were not visible. I could have easily vaulted the channel with the aid of my walking stick, but I had not brought it with me this time. So I then followed the high tide route.
Cheriton, Llanrhidian and Crofty came as the path eventually led onto a small flood-risk and high tide prone road. The road was quite welcome by this time as the state of the fields, particularly with livestock in them, made the going really tough.
I was able to enjoy fine views across the Llanrhidian Marsh and Loughor Esatuary towards Burry Port and Llanelli. This section had a great amount of tarmac, which I did not mind so much. I made good time and progress after Pen y Clawdd and soon arrived at Gowerton to link up with my previous section.
I then had to catch the second bus of the day back to Swansea. I was lucky and only had to wait 15mins for the #116 at a cost of £3.80. I was surprised at the cost of bus journeys (even short ones) around Swansea and Carmarthen. I suspect they do not attract the subsidies that services in Mid and North Wales enjoy. The walk had taken 7.5 hours for the 21 miles.
Distance today = 21 miles
Total distance = 1404 miles
Walking the Coast of Great Britain 