Coastal walks

Nowhere in the UK is that far from the coast but we are over an hour away and don't tend to go that often. We had a short trip to South Wales at the end of the holiday and instead of heading to the mountains we explored the coast.


The weather wasn't ideal for the seaside but the scenery made up for it. This is Rossili bay at the tip of the Gower peninsular and below is Worms Head,an island ( I didn't study geography at school but I am informed that it is a wave cut platform) that can be reached at low tide.

It was a bit of a scramble to get across with pretty rock pools to look at and masses and masses of mussels.

It was very bleak and windy when we got there so we didn't linger. The wild flowers don't seem to mind the harsh conditions. The yellow flowers are kidney vetch and the blue ones Spring Squill.

I always think of scenery like this when I think of the coast but of course a lot of the coastline is built up and industrialised. The following day we visited Cardiff where the waterfront area is still being developed from a working docks to a leisure area.

It was a very grey day but the waterfront was a lovely place to wander around. Cardiff is the home of Dr Who and Torchwood and we did visit the exhibition but were not particularly impressed. For any fans of Torchwood, the headquarters are supposed to be underground in the vicinity of the water tower!

Next stop Penarth and a walk along the pier.

I like piers, being able to walk above the waves although unfortunately it was low tide when we were there. This one is just over a hundred years old. The Victorians seem to be very good at pier building, the railings still look good.

I hope some of the new buildings we saw in Cardiff Bay will last as long as this lovely old pier.