Coast Walking (Wales): Port Talbot to Kenfig 23 May 2016

Having parked at the car-park for Port Talbot Parkway station, we followed as far as possible the prior route of the coast path, rather than the new one along the A4241 dual carriageway, because the old route kept to the quieter parts of Margam. The first part of the old route had been blocked off, but we went over the level crossing to the A48, the main road through the village, and came back off it again as soon as a side-road allowed. Just before this side-road, the main road passed over a wide stream, from the bridge of which we saw a Dipper flying down from rock to rock. The village seemed economically depressed and the boarded-up Plaza Cinema will certainly not, as advertised, be having any film "COMING SOON", nor did Margam Chapel seem to be prepared for any second coming. We followed a back alley between houses and the railway, a good way of finding wall-plants and garden escapes like Wallflower. After a green space we passed through streets where some houses displayed signs supporting the rescue of the Tata steel mills, for the majority of the inhabitants here would be steel-workers, whose livelihoods are threatened by the closure of the mills by their Indian owners. On the other side of the railway line lay a large industrial area a mile wide beside the coast inaccessible beyond them. Only after rejoining the A48 just beyond Margam and negotiating a couple of roundabouts, did we come to circle round playing fields, skirt the BOC industrial gas factory, pass through a wet wooded area, and cross the railway towards the coast. Crossing the railway here was no simple affair, for it involved not only the main GWR line but also sidings, about ten lines altogether! Just after the railway the coast path turns south beside it, thus avoiding more of the coast, but there is a footpath going directly west along the south edge of the industrial area (and by the Tata mills) all the way to the beach, so we followed this in preference. The coal-tar smells along here were unpleasant but we found it worthwhile to get back at long last to the beach after a long hiatus. The beach had sparse shells, similar to those recorded the day before, but it was pleasant to walk along the firm flat sands instead of tarmac. Eventually we came to a large lagoon, fed by a stream from a large reed-fen at the north end of Kenfig National Nature Reserve. The dunes just above the shore here had Sea Stock, Sea Holly, Sea Bindweed and Sea Buckthorn; Common Broomrape was here growing on Rest-harrow. There were also shoots of a garden escape, Zebra Grass, with striking yellow bands along its leaves, which seemed to be in the process of forming a large patch. We had to walk through the edge of the dunes above the lagoons to where the coast path at last came down towards the shore, and we followed this by a bridge over the water and on along the western edge of the reserve. The dunes here are botanically poor, but we followed the coast path for about a kilometre until we arrived at a path (a permissive bridleway) going east through the centre of the reserve and passing a large number of wet slacks. As soon as we set off along here we encountered an abundance of flowers. Drier dunes had tall spikes of Early Purple Orchid, Heath Dog-violets, and in one area Green-winged Orchids. More colour was added by Milkworts, Birdsfoot-trefoil, and lots of Kidney Vetch. The latter, being the food plant of the Small Blue, supported a large population of these little butterflies with their sooty-brown upper wings and pale blue underwings. They were flitting everywhere, while we only came across a few Common Blues and Orange-tips. There was a freshly emerged Mother Shipton Moth and a Fox Moth. Twayblades abounded (one visited by the orange and black Hoverfly Platycheirus granditarsus) and in the slacks Early and Southern Marsh-orchids, Adder's-tongues and Great Horsetails were just beginning to flower among carpets of Creeping Willow and Marsh Pennywort. We found the ring-spotted leaves of one marsh orchid (var. junialis of southern marsh). There were also plenty of leaves of Round-leaved Wintergreens that would make a good display later on. In one small area was a group of white-flowered Self-heal. Bright red Leaf-beetles Chrysomela populi were mating on stems of creeping willow. We eventually reached the village of Mawdlam, crossed over the M4 motorway, and followed a road leading to Pyle and its station for a train back to Port Talbot. This was a short day (with very little actual coast walking) but it enabled us to take a good look at the dunes and also to use our last chance of a train back, as our next destination, Porthcawl, is not on the same rail system.