Coast Walking (Wales): Swansea to Port Talbot 22 May 2016

Royal fern

Kitetail

From Morgans Hotel, an old building that used to be the port’s shipping offices, we walked east down Somerset Place and over the river Tawe by footbridge (Abertawe is the Welsh name for Swansea). We reached the Prince of Wales Dock and the new waterfront development including many restaurants, and the usual statuesque Cormorant on a post in the water. Here we again picked up the official coast path. This took us beside and then over the A483 and along the bank of the Tennant Canal through Port Tennant, where we saw Irregular-toothed Hawkweed Hieracium lepidulum on a wall. The path borders the Crymlyn Bog NNR, but all that could be seen from this route was reed-marsh and there was no possibility of recording any bog plants unfortunately. We did, however, record a series of wetland ones like Great Tussock-sedge, Royal Fern and Blackcurrant. After this pleasant section we passed through lines of pylons serving the surrounding industrial areas and left the canal at Jersey Marine, returning beside a road to the A483 and following this just past the M4 interchange. We turned right along the A48 to cross the river Nedd (Neath) and reach the roundabout at the south end of the town of Neath. We took a South-Westerly direction through an industrial area and to the bank of the Nedd, where remains of a lock designed by Brunel were preserved. Shortly we had to leave the river to walk just outside the long security fence around a large industrial area, although most of this was now derelict wasteland. We were walking beside saltmarsh with Sea Purslane. We then entered the dunes of Baglan Burrows, which were rather disturbed, but had Sea Holly, Sea Bindweed and a good scattering of Isle of Man Cabbage, noticeable for its deeply cut leaves. After lunch here, overlooking inland factories and wasteland on the leeward side of the dunes out of the cold wind, we walked out Aberavon Beach, where there was a limited range of shells, including many Pharus legumen and Scallops. We continued down the firm sand, rather than through the soft sand of the dunes, as far as the start of the housing of Port Talbot, where there began the new Aberavon seafront promenade development with many new buildings, playgrounds, and garden areas. In the mid-C20th this had been a popular seaside resort, which had subsequently gone into decline with the loss of the area's economic infrastructure, but in the last decade of the century a regeneration plan was carried out. Although this seems to have stalled somewhat (eg lack of restaurants and other commercial facilities, and an "unfinished" appearance), it is now a surprisingly pleasant promenade for an industrial town. It being Sunday, this area was busy with families. The view south-east is dominated by the stacks and smoke plumes of Port Talbot Power Station. At the centre of the promenade is a large sculpture (reputedly the largest in Wales) called the "Kitetail" by Carmarthen artist Andrew Rowe. 12 metres high and weighing 11 tons, it was erected in 2007. It was inspired by the arcs inscribed by the strings of kites (not by the forked tail of red kites). At the far south-eastern end of the promenade there is a small area of relict dunes with Annual Wall-rocket prominent, a good number of plants of Sea Stock, and several sculptures celebrating sea life containing metal plaques that appear to have been based on individual children's designs. These represented, among others, Sea Stock, Sea Holly, Marram and Sea Bindweed, all to be seen beside the sculptures, but also lichens, mussels, limpets, netted dog whelks, fish, starfish, crabs, seaweed, and even plankton and beach debris. We arrived at the mouth of the River Afan and the docks serving the industrial site beyond. We skirted the docks along the canalised river with

Canada

and Domestic Geese and Mute Swans. Dark storm-clouds gathered dramatically above the hill of Mynydd Dinas at the back of Port Talbot. A Mayfly Ecdyonurus venosus landed on Val’s dark glasses and was reluctant to leave them, presumably regarding them as the latest must-have insect accessory. Arriving at a roundabout we took the coast path route marked on the OS map along a back street to Port Talbot Parkway railway station, where we could catch a train back to Swansea, being the main line from Paddington now once more known by the old name of GWR. (Signs for the coast path on the ground now seem to indicate a new route along a dual carriage-way about 100m away from the old route but parallel to it; but this unfortunately omits the useful station.)