|
We went straight to Pendine
Beach to search for
shells, the tide being well out in the morning. We could only walk half a kilometre along
the beach, however, before red flags signalled the boundary of yet another
military firing range, which ensures that almost all the shore (9km) is out
of bounds. This particularly applies
to the vast dunes, of which only a tiny fragment remained for us to
inspect. There were plenty of
pyramidal orchids here and sea bindweed, and a small group of seaside
centaury. Virginian rose had escaped
into the scrub here, too. At the top
of the shore were a few plants of saltwort.
On the sands we were pleased to find a shell of Thracia phaseolina, Pendine Sands being one of its known
localities. It was frustrating to have
to leave this potentially interesting shore and spend the rest of the morning
walking beside the A4066, the boundary of the military zone coming right up
to it, although most of the way there was a walkway either beside the road or
along the edge of agricultural fields bordering it. A ditch at the beginning had brookweed,
broad-leaved pondweed, ragged robin, and marsh bedstraw, while a stream later
on provided more wetland records, including marsh yellow-cress, brooklime,
and river water-crowfoot, with its large flowers held well above the
water. At one point we briefly spotted
a grey wagtail. From the appropriately
wet-sounding Plashett we had to walk in the road itself, although it was not
too busy, for almost a kilometre before turning right on to a minor road and
right again along a footpath directly underneath a steep knoll on which
Broadway is situated. This route was
also agricultural until we reached a saltmarsh (fenced off!) bordering the
Afon Taf estuary, where there were some common saltmarsh plants and little
egrets. We left this to climb up the
knoll at its far eastern end, with seats and views over the Taf towards the
top useful for lunch. There were
interpretation boards at intervals as part of a Dylan Thomas trail, for we
were coming into Laugharne where he spent most of his early life and
described much of the local scenery in his poems, some of them quoted on the
boards. This wooded walk led directly
into town close to the castle ruins.
After coffee in
a teahouse we had over an hour to wait for the bus back and so had time to
amble around the centre of town and visit the castle, which was less
interesting than that at Pembroke, although one of the towers had a
“must-see” domed ceiling (!), a gazebo used as a writing-room by Dylan
Thomas, and grounds including quite an old sweet chestnut tree.
When we had
collected our car from Pendine we drove back to Laugharne to find, with some
difficulty the Cors Restaurant with Rooms, which is secreted away down a side
street (no signs, not even at the entrance).
The cooking was spot-on but simple, depending on good fresh local
ingredients, although we did not like the over-loud music played continually
in the dining rooms.
|
Laugharne Castle
Thracia phaseolina
|
No comments:
Post a Comment