Coast Walking (Wales): Pennard to Swansea 20 May 2016

From the car park at Fox Hole we walked beside the minor road to Hunts Farm on open pasture grassland of little interest. From the farm we followed the coast path through more pasture, by a pond with Ivy-leaved Water-crowfoot and Broad-leaved Pondweed, to the cliff-tops of Pwlldu Head. A field had a large scattered colony of Columbine among Bracken and Bluebells, but the mix of colour forms indicated garden origin. Near Pennard Farm the path descended steeply into Pwlldu Bay, from which we could see Mumbles Head. We continued through woodland at the lower edge of the cliffs to Caswell Bay, which had few shells but there were Starfish. At Langland Bay we found a seat on the west side overlooking the whole beach and the town, now effectively part of the Mumbles conurbation. The front was dominated by green beach-huts and a large ornate turreted building behind them. The latter is Langland Bay Manor, originally the summer home of Merthyr Tydfil ironmasters, then a hotel, and now divided into apartments. The cliff grassland so far had been more limited botanically than heretofore, but samples of the Gower flora appeared in small pockets wherever limestone rocks appeared – Hoary and Common Rockroses, Kidney Vetch, Salad Burnet, Hedgerow Cranesbill, Common Gromwell. For a plant so rare in

Britain

as a whole, Hoary Rockrose is remarkably common along the south coast of the Gower and cannot be overlooked at this time of the year. Bluebells and Early Purple Orchids also continued regularly, but there were no spring squills. Woods contained ferns such as Soft- and Hard-shield, and Hard Fern; also many Ivy Broomrapes. It was too cold and overcast for many insects. We only saw three butterflies – a Common Blue, a Speckled Wood and, surprisingly, a Small Blue. Wasp Beetles were also emerging, flower-beetles like Oedemera nobilis, and adult Bloody-nosed Beetles sometimes crossed the path perilously. Birds were also infrequent, although one Robin allowed us a long close look. From Langland Bay the cliffs became even more restricted in interest, although we saw both rockroses and Kidney and Horseshoe Vetches right to the end of Mumbles Head, and even a last couple of Spring Squills. Turning the corner by the lifeboat station we were faced with the half-moon of Swansea Bay, an expanse mainly of mud inshore. The path continued seaward of the road and eventually as a promenade past Mumbles and the edge of Swansea, an easy but generally dull trudge beside increasingly dense traffic, which we relieved by a brief venture down to a sandy beach above the mud to improve our tally of seashells. This cost us dearly because we missed our bus at the bus station in the centre of Swansea by less than ten minutes and we had to pay almost £20 for a taxi back to Pennard. On our way by Swansea we passed Black Pill stream, an SSSI; a small golf course; the university campus; and the gaunt grey civic centre. We went to Morgans Hotel to stay for three nights. Tonight we ate out at Hanson at the Chelsea, a good seafood restaurant. The bars and streets were very noisy and lively with people celebrating their Friday night out.