Post 60 Travelogue

Walking, Wildlife, the Wales Coastal Path and others, all with photographs.

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  • This is my Travelogue
  • Walks
    • Castle Howard
    • Newby Hall and Gardens
    • Lockdown Walks
    • Scampston Hall, the Park and Gardens
    • RHS Harlow Carr
    • Kenfig Pool Walk
    • Llanrhidian to Llanmadoc Walk
    • Burry Port to Pembrey Country Park
    • Peterston Wentloog to Dyffryn Newport
    • Loughor Estuary part 4 – Pwll to Burry Port
    • Loughor Estuary part 3: Machynys to Pwll – Llanelli by the Sea
    • Parc Slip Nature Reserve
    • Lougher Estuary Part 2: Llanelli Wetlands to Machynys and Bwlch y Gwynt
    • Penclawdd to Llanrhidian
    • Oxwich to Port Eynon
    • Lougher Estuary Part 1: Lougher to Llanelli Wetlands
    • A Walk Around Llangynwyd Village
    • Loughor Castle to Penclawdd
    • Pengam to Peterstone Wentlooge
    • East Moors to Pengam
    • Port Eynon to Rhossili
    • Cowbridge Oasis
    • Castle-upon-Alun and Coed-y-Bwl Nature Reserve.
    • Three Cliffs to Oxwich
    • Caswell Bay to Three Cliffs Bay
    • The Mumbles to Caswell Bay
    • Swansea Marina to The Mumbles
    • Somerset Views
    • Jersey Marine to Port Tennant
    • A Stroll around Cosmeston Lakes
    • Further trips to Cwm Colhuw and Nature Reserve
    • Aberavon to Baglan/Briton Ferry
    • Visit to Dinefwr
    • Kenfig Pool to Margam
    • Cardiff Bay to Penarth Cliff Top
    • Rest Bay, Porthcawl to Kenfig Pool
    • Newton Point to Rest Bay, Porthcawl
    • Ogmore to Newton Point
    • St. Andrew’s Major Circuit Photos
    • Penarth to Sully Walk
    • Porthkerry to Fontygary Walk
    • Fontygary to Gileston,Limpert Bay Walk
    • Limpert Bay, to Summerhouse Bay Walk.
    • Summerhouse Bay to Cwm Colhuw Walk
    • Cwm George and the Salmon Leaps Walk
    • Cwm Colhuw to Nash Point Walk
    • An Interlude at Cefn Onn
    • Nash Point to Dunraven Bay Walk
    • Aberthaw Nature Reserve
    • Dunraven Bay to Ogmore Castle Walk
    • Barry Island to Porthkerry Walk
    • Return to Cwm Colhuw Nature Reserve
    • An Evening Return Visit to Aberthaw
  • Photo Galleries
    • Castle Howard Photos
    • Newby Hall and Gardens Photos
    • Scampston Hall and Gardens Photos
    • RHS Harlow Carr Photos
    • Kenfig Pool Photos
    • Llanrhidian to Llanmadoc Photos
    • Burry Port to Pembrey Country Park Photos
    • Peterston Wentloog to Dyffryn Newport Photos
    • Loughor Estuary part 4 – Pwll to Burry Port Photos
    • Loughor Estuary part 3: Machynys to Pwll Llanelli by the Sea Photos
    • Parc Slip Nature Reserve Photos
    • Penclawdd to Llanrhidian Photos
    • Lougher Estuary Photos Part 2: Llanelli Wetlands to Machynys and Bwlch y Gwynt
    • Lougher Estuary Photos Part 1: Lougher to Llanelli Wetlands
    • A Walk Around Llangynwyd Village Photos
    • Loughor Castle to Penclawdd Photos
    • Pengam to Peterstone Wentlooge Photos
      • East Moors to Pengam Photos
    • Port Eynon to Rhossili Photos
    • Cowbridge Oasis Photos
    • Oxwich to Port Eynon Photos
    • Castle-upon-Alun and Coed-y-Bwl Nature Reserve Photos
    • Three Cliffs to Oxwich Photos
    • Caswell Bay to Three Cliffs Bay Photos
    • The Mumbles to Caswell Bay Photos
    • Swansea Marina to The Mumbles Photos
    • Somerset Views Photos
    • Jersey Marine to Port Tennant Photos
    • A Stroll around Cosmeston Lakes Photos
    • Further trips to Cwm Colhuw and Nature Reserve Photos
    • Aberavon to Baglan/Briton Ferry Photos
    • Visit to Dinefwr Photos
    • Kenfig Pool to Margam Photos
    • Rest Bay, Porthcawl to Kenfig Pool Photos
    • Newton Point to Rest Bay, Porthcawl Photos
    • Ogmore to Newton Point Photos
    • St. Andrew’s Major Circuit
      • Cardiff Bay To Penarth Cliff Top Photos
    • Penarth to Sully Photos
    • Porthkerry to Fontagary Photos
    • Font-y-gary to Gileston Photos
    • Limpert Bay to Summerhouse Bay Photos
    • Summerhouse Bay to Cwm Colhuw Photos
    • Cwm Colhuw to Nash Point Photos
    • Cefn Onn Photos
    • Nash Point to Dunraven Bay Photos
    • Aberthaw Nature Reserve Photos
    • Dunraven Bay to Ogmore Castle Photos
    • Return to Cwm Colhuw Nature Reserve Photos
      • Cwm George and the Salmon Leaps Photos
    • Barry Island to Porthkerry Photos

Burry Port to Pembrey Country Park

We started out from where we ended our last walk westward at the Harbour in Burry Port. This time the boats in the harbour gently swayed with the incoming tide. Some mud flats were still visible, and Gulls were probing the ooze for tasty morsels. A cheeky Pied Wagtail perched on the railings bobbing and watching its surroundings. The squat, red topped lighthouse could be seen just beyond the tidal gate. We crossed the Mariti Bridge, which was opened in 2006, to the other side of the harbour. Still in place but now obsolete were some historical maritime equipment, remnants of a thriving industrial harbour complex.

 

Burry Port Harbour 1
Burry Port Harbour 2
Mariti Bridge

In the area were collieries, metal smelting works and copper works. Much of these industrial workings were attributed to George Richard Elkington (1801 – 1865) and  Sir Josiah Mason (1795 – 1881). Other earlier entrepreneurs included George Bowser, Thomas Gaunt and John Stanley whose endeavours led to the opening of several collieries, building of canals and tramways and the opening of Pembrey Harbour in 1819. Elkington and Mason were partners in the Pembrey Copper Works, opened in 1849 and run by the Elkington family until 1903. They provided workers’ houses and a non-denominational education for the workers’ children in the Copperworks School. They also owned an electroplating company, gold and silver plating on copper. Alexander Parkes (1813 – 1890) was the manager of the works and his many accomplishments included inventing a process for extracting silver from lead. He also electroplated delicate and fragile objects such as flowers and spider’s webs.

Also, in the area was Ashburnham Tinplate Works. It was opened by Lord Ashburnham in 1890 taken over by the Steel Company of Wales in 1951 but closed in 1953 because of the competition with the opening of the Trostre Works in Llanelli a few years earlier.

We passed the Harbour Lights Tea Room and then entered the dune system.Dune System The dunes were awash with colour, covered in several kinds of flora. The whites were represented by Oxeye Daisies, Brambles and Rose Burnet, yellows by Kidney Vetch, Black Mustard, Bird’s-foot Trefoil and Cat’s-ears, pinks, reds and purples by Dove’s-foot Crane’s-bill, Strawberry Clover, Common Poppy and Common Vetch.

 

Boardwalk to dunes
Boardwalk to dunes
Burry Port Lighthouse
Burry Port Lighthouse
Whiteford Lighthouse
Whiteford Lighthouse
Whiteford Point and Sands
Whiteford Point and Sands

A boardwalk led off into the dunes and towards the shore. We went to explore. At the end the view was stunning. There were the two Lighthouses: small but beautifully formed Burry Port Lighthouse, which we had passed, earlier and the old gnarled and rusting Whiteford Lighthouse which has been ever present as we walked the Lougher Estuary. It was very close now (see other walks). Whiteford Point and Sands could be seen across the estuary protruding into the sea. The dunes supported a very different set of flora: Lesser Celandine, Sea-holly, Maram-grass, Common Ragwort, Sea Spurge and dried husks of Evening Primrose.

We retraced our steps to the WCP, then passed the Shoreline Leisure Home Park, where caravans were parked in serried ranks, all with beautifully tended gardens. Japanese Roses, Sheep’s Sorrel, Wild Carrot and Common Field Speedwell grew among the grasses. Up above us on the telephone wires was a brightly coloured Linnet singing its heart out. The remains of Pembrey Harbour then came into view. The silted-up harbour with its mud banks and runnels now grew Marsh Grasses, Thrift, Ribwort Plantain, Cat’s-ears, Black Mustard and Ox-eye Daisies.

 

Pembrey Harbour 1
Pembrey Harbour 3
Pembrey Harbour 2
Pembrey Harbour 4

To create the harbour, water was diverted from the Derwydd stream to scour a shipping canal in 1816, providing deep waters and safe anchorage. It opened in 1819 with loading stages, a pier and a lighthouse, together with two sluices in the harbour wall which when opened allowed the water to flush out the silt. In 1824 the Pembrey Canal was built, linking the harbour with the Kidwelly and Llanelli canal network, which facilitated the transport of coal from the collieries for export and the importation of iron ore for the Iron Works at Furnace. Competition from the larger harbour at Burry Port saw its demise in the 1870’s.However, an explosives company based in the dunes of Cefn Sidan used it until the beginning of the 20th century. This company was replaced by the Pembrey Ordnance Factory, which in 1940 suffered the first bombing raid of the “Blitz”.

The purpose-built walking and cycling path then paralleled the coast all the way to Pembrey Country Park, passing old weathered pilings, which served as way-markers and seating, and large boulders, used as sea defences. Also, a WW11 pillbox still stood guarding the coast. All along this path grew a myriad of plants: Sea Buckthorn, Wild carrot, Red and White Clover, Daisies, Bloody Cranes-bill, Dove’s-foot Crane’s-bill, Bird’s-foot Trefoil, Pyramidal Orchids, Yellow Rattle, Kidney Vetch, Brambles, Sea Beet, Thrift, Goat’s-beard, Biting Stonecrop, Sea Fennel, and Black Medick. Butterflies were everywhere, Small Whites flitting among the Black Mustard and grasses. A mottled brown Moth, name unknown, was also climbing the grass stalks. Female Common Blues were sunning themselves on Kidney Vetch and Sea Beet while the males seemed to prefer the grasses.

 

Pathway
Way-marker posts
Seating
WW11 Pillbox

Pines and Broom were prevalent as we neared the Country Park. Magpies and Wagtails were seen here, again perched on telephone wires. We entered the Park where large swathes of grassland and congregations of mixed woodland were the views presented to us. In among the grasses were Black Mustard, buzzing with insects and a particularly bright bee; delicate pink Hedgerow Crane’s-bill contrasted with the blousy red Common Poppies; large swathes of Ox-eye Daisies and Cat’s-ears grew in swirls around mown grassland where picnic tables were also dotted.

Ox-eye & Poppy SwirlsPembrey CP Enter

Hill ClimbWe climbed a hill towards a pine forest which sported a zip-line through the trees. The hill was covered with Burnet roses and Common Vetch, a lovely colour combination of White and Purple/Pink flowers. Small Heath Butterflies were clustered around the bottom of the hill, feeding off the Daisies and short-cut grass. From the top of the hill we saw caravans and tents camped near the shore and in the distance was Whitford Point. In the opposite direction Burry Port Lighthouse, Burry Port and Llanelli could be seen. Wild Parsnip, Nettles, Common Vetch and Herb Robert were growing under the Pines and Alder trees.View from hill 1View from hill 2

Then through the trees loomed a dry ski slope and toboggan flume, what a surprise! An outdoor sport complex and café were also on the site. Time for an ice-cream I thought! We sat and watched the skiers while we savoured our treat before setting out again. We made our way through a horse eventing course towards the carpark where my husband would collect us. We passed a rather colourful wood sculpture of a dragon and a tall tree covered in Ivy which resembled a giant man.

 

Ski slope
Ski slope
Skiers
Skiers
Horse eventing course
Horse eventing course
Dragon
Dragon
Giant Ivy Man
Giant Ivy Man

As we sat on the daisy covered grass surrounded by Lichen covered Sweet Chestnut trees waiting for my husband, a cheeky female Blackbird hopped up to us, no doubt hoping for a tasty morsel.

At Pembrey was  a WW11 airfield, RAF Pembrey, which now hosts the Welsh Motor Sports Centre. After the war conifers were planted on much of the dunes area where, in 1970, Pembrey Country Park was established. Five hundred acres of woodlands alongside eight miles of golden sand play host to cycling, horse riding, skiing, golf, tobogganing, campsites and adventure activities.

All Photographs of Flora and Fauna can be found in the Photo Galleries

 

 

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