Category: Trip Ideas
Time for a return to cycling?
4th January 2014 Due to a problem with its brakes that I could not get myself to sort for too long, I have been away from cycling for the most of two years. Today, I finally decided to see if I could draw a line under the problem. While the result of my efforts was that I took the bike out for a quick run, I am not so convinced that the back brakes are fully up to the job just yet. Nevertheless, I have no intention to leave this one lie.
Even on that short cycle, I noticed that I was using muscles that were not used as much as they once were. So, I plan to do something about that during 2014. In fact, I am playing with the idea of getting a folding bicycle for trips to other parts that could offer some cycling. While doing some online and offline window shopping, it is amazing me who will sell you one of these. While Evans Cycles would be expected on many a shortlist and Halfords have been doing so for a while, names like Decathlon and Go Outdoors also come up. Also, for a name associated with motoring, it surprised me to see that around half the floor space in the Macclesfield branch of Halfords is devoted to cycling and there is a large variety of bikes on display too. Decathlon have a very nice commuting bike in stock and Go Outdoors have folding bikes for between £100 and £200 so there is a lot of temptation. Quite how cheaper bikes do over longer distances is another matter so it might be worth paying a little extra for something more decent.
As for those destinations where a folding bike would be handy, my mind does not need to roam far from home. Parts of the Peak District that are served by train come to mind and going along the Monsal Trail, the High Peak Trail or the Tissington Trail may become possibilities. The Longdendale Trail is served by trains to Hadfield but a folding bike is still handier than a full sized item. These are just a few off road cycling trails and pondering others takes into Wales for the Mawdach Trail and tracks into remote country in the Scottish Highlands become possibilities for more robust bicycles. The track by Loch Ericht first came to mind here but that by Loch Shiel also falls into the same category and both are served by convenient train stations at Dalwhinnie and Glenfinnan, respectively. Maybe hiring out a bike for a day would be no bad idea. Before then, my legs need more cycling acclimatisation (as does my head when it comes to road sense and confidence if a minor misjudgement at one end of the road on which I live is any indication) and staying modest for a little while sounds sensible. Longer days may have something to offer yet.
Postscript 1
Since writing this, I found an article about bicycle braking that suggests that front brakes are better than back ones for stopping a bike. Of course, that makes me wonder about putting yourself out over handlebars on doing so yet the author says that keeping your arms straight avoids this. Nevertheless, speaking with someone at work revealed tales from childhood of getting thrown over bicycle handlebars and with broken wrists after one such mishap. Maybe I need to consult a book on cycling technique...
Postscript 2
During a conversation with a work colleague, minds wandered back to harem scarem antics with bicycles on Irish country roads. Her dad and his pals used to race downhill as fast as they could to see far they could freewheel uphill afterwards. If want a picture in your mind's eye, think of a steep drop to a bridge crossing a stream and a steep rise immediately afterwards. Only for cars being rare in Ireland at the time, one doesn't dare to wonder what would happen if one did pass the way around this hilly part of Wicklow.
As for myself, recollections of travelling around none too flat roads around West Limerick on a hand-me-down bike from my brother with ineffective brakes come to mind. A set of trainers got well worn on tarmac that summer; foot braking was in order. There was one mishap when my aged Brooks saddle broke and I somersaulted onto the grass roadside verge as a result. Small wonder then that my trust in bicycle brakes is so minuscule. Having cycled around Edinburgh's hills cannot have helped, especially when a torrential downpour was the cause of my being unable to stop on Lothian Road one July afternoon. Even now, it is an effort to get myself cycling down steeper inclines so gaining some extra confidence is well in order.
Lyme Park: Beyond Late Arrivals and Fading Memories
2nd August 2013 A walk from Bollington to Disley last November that I have yet to share on here has been the cause of getting me pondering past visits to Lyme Park, and afternoons spent around Tatton Park late last year accentuated this. So, I have plundering fading recollections to collate what remains of them on here before they degrade any further. The amount of effort taken to recall happenings from more than ten years ago was brought home to me during my yet incomplete act of adding photograph dates to the photo gallery you find here. They have yet to make their appearance anywhere other than the test version that I have of this website; Ireland and Scotland are covered so Wales and England remain outstanding and there's a good collection of photos for those nations on here. It's just as well that I have this as a place of reference for those occasions when the troubles of life have erased memories that should be retained.
August 28th, 2000
Things were simpler in my early days because there weren't many trips away and even these could be associated with some other even to extract a date. Take the English & Welsh Summer Bank Holiday weekend of 2000. The Sunday saw me head on my first-ever trip to Wales, where I pottered towards the Swallow Falls from Betws-y-Coed on a day when the weather steadily improved after a damp start. There was a visit to Llanrwst and Gwydir Castle too, so it was a fairly full day. Also, my memories of it aren't too patchy and having a compact camera that added dates to the photos that it took helps reconstruction of recollections too.
The next day saw me head out on my bike for a journey that eventually took me as far as Lyme Park. That wasn't as planned as that first encounter with Wales, and my memories of the day are more hazy, too. It was sunny until I passed Rainow, before becoming less and less satisfied with the ups and downs of the landscape and the B5470; a road bike with no first gear and untrusted brakes is not an appropriate companion around those parts. There were good moments took and Rainow's a pretty place that I keep revisiting. There also was a stationery Massey Ferguson tractor that looked like it dated from the 1960's, and it was operating a backhoe loader without any throttle applied behind the engine's idling speed, a strange state of circumstances.
My cross-country route after that is lost to me, but a wetting from a passing shower beyond Pott Shrigley has stayed with me. One turning for Higher Poynton was passed before I used another, and that's where I needed to don waterproofs. They weren't needed for long, and I next recall coming onto the A6 near High Lane. The entrance to Lyme Park wasn't far from there, even if it was getting later in the day at that point. Even with bank holiday traffic and the need for a right turn, it is the long avenue into Lyme Park that was the more memorable.
My Ricoh GR 20 was pressed into action, though the fading light of that time of day exposed its limitations, ensuring that an SLR purchase was made within the following twelve months. The sun still did its best, and I reconnoitred some promising viewpoints for future visits. Those early seeds have come in handy since then, and the ride home along the A6 and the A523 went without incident and was quicker than the way there.
2003
Reading one of Mark Richards' Fellranger guides reminded me how sunny and dry much of 2003 was (that was when he did the research for it) and I got out into hill country quite a few times as a result. Apart from the low points of running out of colour camera film beside Loch Etive and getting several soakings in Fort William during a foolhardy week in Scotland at the end of July, it is the high points that stand out for me. A Summer bank Holiday Weekend spent around Fort William that featured a stunning walk along the West Highland Way from Kinlochleven to Glen Nevis set that July misadventure to rights, and there were multiple visits to Keswick to sample its surroundings. So many were made in March that the exertions could have run me down to the point of illness that Easter. August then saw a few that poured balm on a psyche wounded by poor look with my choice of week in Scotland. It felt as if my luck had run out with that country and I had been around Oban at the start of November 2002 when there were wet and stormy conditions, so I was wondering if that had blighted me. Any trace of that fatalism has been more than well banished.
With those more notable hill wanderings, it appears that they displaced recollections of visits to Lyme Park, and I now reckon that there were at three of these during 2003. The first was near the end of a walk along the Gritstone Trail between Bollington and Disley early in the year, maybe at the start of February. That trot had me venturing through misty hill country that retained some evidence of wintry weather in places. It was under cloudy skies when I entered Lyme Park, so the conditions were not conducive to photography, and my mind was more focussed on reaching Disley before it got too dark anyway. Quite why I had to discover the point of crampons on sheet ice now only can be explained by feckless fatigue. Even if my legs ended up above my hips momentarily as a result, no damage was done apart from a feeling of bewildered foolishness and self chiding. The right equipment would be put to use in the same circumstances now.
With fading light, there had been no opportunity but to scud through Lyme Park, even if I recall skies clearing as the sun declined. So, while I had passed closer by The Cage than previously was the case, a sighting in better had to wait. While I considered that this was addressed during an autumnal visit, looking through photos suggests that I did it during the spring before leaves appeared on trees. That's not to say that there has been no autumnal visit like that around ten years ago, but I am having to leave things at that because one's memory only can take so much scrutiny.
What is more memorable is a visit from July 2003 when I finally had the brighter light that I didn't have on that first visit and the access that I was denied on those which took place away from the peak season. A cycle along the Middlewood Way took me to Marple, and getting from there to Lyme Park revealed how fatigued it had made me. While at my destination, I paid to access the gardens where some of the BBC's then recent adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice had been filmed. An SLR with a selection of lenses had accompanied me, but my use of print film and ever milky skies thwarted the ambitions that lay in my head. The results of my endeavours only were discovered later, so they did not spoil the day. That, and the need to try again, ensured that more encounters followed.
January 2005
For some reason, I got it into my head that I acquired my first ever DSLR in January 2006. In fact, my Canon EOS 10D arrived a year earlier and the fact that a hard drive mishap was the cause of losing photos taken with it in 2005 and 2006 didn't help for a correct recollection either. Then, film photography was my mainstay, so it didn't bother my that much, though I now realise that certain files that I could have done with keeping got lost. Now that I mainly use digital photography, it's small wonder that I have more than one copy of any image that I create.
Other memories of 2005 weren't much clearer, even though it was a good year for exploring hill country. That around Llangollen and Dolgellau got to see me a fair bit, and there were successful trips to Scotland too. One weekend saw me trotting across Mull at its narrowest point and embark on a mad circuit that took in Glen Strae, Lairig Dhoireann, Glen Kinglass and Loch Etive. The latter should have been started earlier in the day for I arrived at Taynuilt Hotel looking to book a taxi far later than I'd have liked (a dour Scotsman got me sorted though, and a friendly barman offered to keep me company while awaiting the taxi's arrival, so all was well in the end). Even with showers frequenting the start of the walk, memorable views were savoured and a combination of film photography and printing off the best digital images ensured that nothing important was lost. A July visit to Skye may have been foreshadowed by an attempted terrorist attack in London (22/7, if you need to ask) when my brother (never the luckiest of folk, it needs saying) was visiting the place, but a memorable trot from Elgol to Sligachan is an experience that I'll always treasure. The ensuing yomp about the Trotternish may not have been of the same calibre, but it was no disappointment either.
With those highlights, it might be forgivable that I cannot work out exactly whether it was January or February when a walk took me to Lyme Park. A loss of digital records doesn't help either, but I was testing out the EOS 10D when I did so. The hike itself followed part of the Macclesfield Canal before I veered cross-country to Pott Shrigley. From there, I decided to make for the Gritstone Trail for a sunny entrance on foot into Lyme Park. However, cloud invaded the sky before I stepped onto the long-distance trail to thwart what dreams I had of sun-blessed Derbyshire hills. The visibility certainly was an improvement on what I got in 2003 though, so it was by no means a complete disappointment. Lyme Park may have been under dull skies when I reached it, but a walk had been enjoyed, and that was the main thing.
August 22nd, 2009
Being of a more recent vintage, my August 2009 visit to Lyme Park is better remembered so far, and having a full set of dated photos helps too. To make sure that those recollections are somewhere for reference, I'll stick them down here, too. In some ways, this was a repeat of that July 2003 visit in that I cycled all the way there from Macclesfield. A combination of the Middlewood Way, the Macclesfield Canal and the A6 saw to that. It may surprise some to learn that I reckoned the Macclesfield Canal towpath to be the least suited of all these for cycling, and that seems to apply to its full length, even if there are those like me who give using it like this a go.
Having come by bike early in the day, I had some time to expend. In many ways, this proved to be the most satisfying of all my visits. Good photos could be made for once using the mix of sunshine and blue skies. While not being tired like on that July 2003 trip, I still relished the opportunity of lounging a while and wondering if long-distance walking actually deprived me of such chances at times. The way home was nowhere near as direct as on the very first visit in August 2000 since I went for a cross-country route under clouding skies. Exiting the Park using a back avenue that wasn't very suitable for bikes, even mountain ones, and is even less so following a bridge closure, I made my way onto Mudhurst Lane and followed it as it turned into Higher Lane until I reached the B5470. That road in turn was left for Bakestonedale Road into Pott Shrigley, from where I journeyed through Bollington and onto home on very familiar roads after going along a few that were new to me. Because there were steep inclines that I just didn't fancy because of my lack of trust in bicycle braking or my ability to steer at speed on downhill sections, I often dismounted and walked the bike instead. Given that this was a day out and not a commute, there was little point in rushing anyway, and that was emphasised by my arrival home at a very respectable hour early in the evening too.
November 23rd, 2012
Last November saw me make my most recent visit, and that was the cause of inspiring me to collect these thoughts in the first place. It was a reprise of the walk from Bollington to Disley from early. This time around, I had clear blue skies for much of the walk and some sunshine. Once I had savoured views towards Derbyshire hills under better conditions than I ever had before, I could drop into Lyme Park and linger a little while. Clouds did take over the sky by this time, but I wasn't bothered. The walk was needed and there was plenty to enjoy while the sun stayed with me. In fact, there is much more to say about this trot, so I'll leave things at this teaser. The full account is next on my list of trip reports (one that is not afflicted by a patchy memory would be good, at least for later reference) and I'll not be abandoning Lyme Park either if I can help it. It may feel as if I have seen most of what it has to offer, but there is any harm in revisiting spots with which there is a certain familiarity anyway. If anything, that makes for more relaxation because there is little reason to dash about it, which is a very good thing.
An archaeological dig
6th June 2013 It's a lovely sunny summer evening as I write this and there have been times when I was out and about in the sunshine during the past few weeks. Last Sunday afternoon saw me trot from the Cat and Fiddle Inn back to my house. Spying a useful right of way that dropped me down from Shining Tor to Lamaload Reservoir was the cause of taking me around there though my hopes of seeing the former in sunshine largely came to not as much as I'd hoped. However, there was sun to be enjoyed while I was around Shining Tor and a peaceful atmosphere pervaded much of the walk so I wasn't embittered. There was no rushing about either as I continued to Rainow and then along Ingersley Vale to Bollington. The Macclesfield Canal and the Middlewood Way were what conveyed me much of the rest of the way home without the itinerary feeling overly long. In fact, I can foresee another wander by Lamaload happening when a chance offers itself.
The previous bank holiday weekend should have seen me do more with it but for fatigue and computer tinkering taking from my resolve. The greatest extent of my outdoors wandering wasn't to be limited to various shopping errands or watching Terry Abraham's The Cairngorms in Winter with Chris Townsend, though. The latter turned out to be a pleasing use of time with there being plenty of stunning countryside to ogle; the quality of the film footage was stunning. While the Cairngorms were the star of this film, Chris got to draw us to the area by tracing his love of wild country. The realities of camping (it includes bothy usage), walking, snowshoeing and skiing in winter mountains got a necessary airing and the featuring of a walk through the Lairig Ghru that was abandoned was no harm either. If that was insufficient, there is a wealth of social outdoors history surrounding the Cairngorms that could have been added too, but the sparing of that probably got us looking at the scenery more closely. After all, that was centre stage in this production and with a stirring soundtrack too. It probably was odd to be enjoying this film with sunny weather outside, and that's how it was, but I was lured out as far as Tegg's Nose on the Sunday evening. Just like a warm summer evening among Scottish hills, it too was quiet and peaceful as I took in the views towards Shutlingsloe on a circuit that took me by Langley and Sutton along paths and tracks that I have travelled a fair few times, so often that I hardly need a map for these any more.
Alongside all of this and midweek evening walks around Macclesfield's Riverside Park, I got the idea of adding more details to photos featured in the site's photo gallery. These include the camera used and the date that the photo was made. The first of these is not too hard to recall, but dates have been the more trickery because there have been times when I have wondered if part of my memory managed to fall into some sort of black hole. The blog certainly has helped from mid-2006 on and the move to digital photography almost nails your dates for you. Before both of those, unless a certain scarcity of trips, coincidence with a memorable event or the imprinting of dates on photos helps. There also is the trawling of old emails (yes, inertia has meant that more of these have been retained than might seem conventional) to see when train tickets were booked and peering at now historical calendars. The last two of these especially have a more archaeological feel to them, hence the title of the post. The fact that dates do not surface without some effort for trips between 2004 and 2006 is a reminder to me that I should be thinking of improving records for the future. After all, you never know what another bout of stress can do to a memory and, like anyone, I have had a share of that in recent years.
The addition of that extra information to the photo gallery continues and some refreshed or new photos are to come online too when all is done. Looking at those older photos has another effect too. When you see a photo and think that it can be improved, then a trip idea emerges. It already has been the cause of retracing some steps in the Peak District and it may be that 2013 could be a year spent exploring more of this alluring part of the world. What has been in my mind for a little while is a potential walk from Edale to Hayfield or Glossop that follows Grindsbrook Clough at the start so as to replace a photo that dates from the Summer bank Holiday Monday of 2001. Hopefully, it can happen before we lose the current run of good weather. There also is walking north along the West Highland Way from Bridge of Orchy, at least as far as Kinlochleven, to see if I can better photos from previous outings along the route of that well trodden trail. With the way life is going for me now, that is a longer-term ambition and it's always good to have them.
Things may be quieter on here these days, but the walking continues and I need to add a number of trip reports, as you can see from the Trip Reports to Come page. What's needed is the summoning of energy and it's hard to commit to scribbling them when sunshine is peering in your window as it is this evening.
Within a landscape of loss
14th April 2013 It's been quiet on here since last February and part of the cause has been a life event. Within the last few weeks, my aged mother passed away after a short illness. There were other underlying medical problems too so we couldn't expect the increasingly frail lady to be around forever. Yet, she went quicker than we would have grown to expect. In fact, it was my father who was of greater concern with his nearly dying on us at the start of January. Miraculously, he came from that but still needs round the clock nursing care. That has placed him in a nursing home and it's not something that he is accepting easily; every so often, we have the pain of him inventing schemes to get away from there and it's very far from being a bad example of the breed. Loneliness, grief and perhaps a certain amount of homesickness may be behind his ever more desperate and worrying suggestions. He cannot live as he did before so it would be great to see him settle where he is.
It's at times like these that a good natter with a friend can mean so much, especially someone who intimately knows a little of the situation that is being faced. Also, there's trotting through the countryside. Most of these are short strolls in nearby parks in Wilmslow and Macclesfield. There is something about purposeful striding that gets stress out of your system (much better than taking it out on someone else anytime) while also allowing a bit of head clearing thinking. Amusing encounters with other folk's dogs lift the spirit too.
There was a longer trot in the sunshine of last Saturday from Hayfield to Glossop via Coldwell Clough, Kinder Reservoir, William Clough and Doctor's Gate. It was the prospect of going through a less peopled countryside that was the cause of drawing me there. There wasn't complete desertion though, even if there was more than plenty of space for everyone. It granted me the long episodes of solitude that allowed for gazing upon the surrounding moorland and dealing with any unevenness in the terrain; the Doctor's Gate footpath was a little tricky due to subsidence and areas of banked snow, but most of my course was less taxing than this, even those snow banks I found higher up William Clough. Mostly, I wasn't concentrating much on where my legs needed to travel and more on enjoying the experience of being out and about, of feeling that not all life comes to a stop when a loved one is lost.
Hopefully, there will be more of those longer outdoor escapades. My mother may wonder at where I went but she loved the outdoors too. Scenic parts of counties Kerry and Cork were particular favourites, but Connemara and Wicklow saw their way into her canon as well. She was the one who most appreciated any souvenir volumes of landscape photos that I ever brought as gifts. The last of these that I ever gave to her came from a trip to the Isle of Man, a gift for Mother's Day. Of special delight to her was the exposure to sea air with many a trip to Irish seaside destinations such as Ballybunion, Beale, Ballyheigue and Banna (all in County Kerry as it happened, and she was a Corkwoman) resulted from this desire. Though I do coastal walking, I have never been a seaside person with my own preferences causing day outings to Gougane Barra and Killarney. In fact, the best ever visit to the latter also had the best weather of a hot sunny Sunday in May 2010. With a decline in my father's well-being, that was our last such trip like that together and its memories are all the more important now.
It is from my parents that I got the hill country bug that has been the cause of so many excursions. Times may be trying now but they also may be the cause of my getting out and about more too. In times past, it may have caused some conflicts of its own, but the head clearing properties of a good walk are more than apt right now.
A return to Gower
30th December 2012 The last weekend of July 2011 (a month of five weekends, incidentally, and each of them were spent away from home too) saw me make my first-ever visit to the Gower in south Wales. Though the sun gamely attempted to break through on occasions, grey skies were the dominant feature of the trip that saw me use the Heart of Wales railway line for part of my return train journey between Macclesfield and Swansea. Even without the sun, the day was a warm one with plenty of folk around too.
However, it was not a full walking trip like others that I undertake. Even so, I trotted out towards Worm's Head and returned to Rhossili, making a short loop featuring the coast as I did so. Then, I was lured up Rhossili Down towards its trig point before I scotched the brainwave of making another circuit from there in favour of a quicker return to catch a bus back to Swansea again, pondering a return as I did so.
Unlike Pembrokeshire where it took me just over six years to make a return, the Gower was to see me sooner with a visit in early August of this year. Unlike the previous trip, this was a walking outing and there was more sun about too. The hiking started off where I last left off too, with a trot over a windy Rhossili Down that completed the circuit that tempted me before. As I did so, the sun went into hiding on me behind clouds. Even so, there still were better views towards Worm's Head than in 2011.
Other folk were making the effort to gain height as I was doing so and I played with the idea of avoiding the trig point but revisited it upon reconsideration. From there, it was a matter of picking my way over Sweyne's Howes and Bessies Meadow before dropping down to Hillend Burrows. Rhossili Down is access land and seems to see a lot of footfall, so there were more paths on the ground than on the OS map, so keeping to the right of way would involve some effort if so desired; there was a strong wind so staying upright was more of a concern.
Once down a steep incline (the Down may be low, but that's never to say that it isn't steep-sided as so many are), I picked up a bridleway at Hillend Burrows for returning to Rhossili again. Initially, this went by a caravan park, but that was soon left behind me and boggy sections were set to be found too. In fact, there were none of these on the hilltop so it must have been the shelter that sustained them. The sun began to emerge from the clouds again and the heat of a scorching summer day could be felt; it left me wishing for the cooling buffeting that was my lot up high.
The path was a narrow with deviations from the main track when things got really muddy. Once past the caravan park, I began to build up some pace even with others using the right of way at the same time; the deviations came in handy for this. Once by the Old Rectory, I could see my destination was coming nearer and it was reached in less time than I had grown to expect.
The heat of the afternoon was the cause of my visiting the National Trust shop for some ice cream and a drink. While I was there, some souvenir items for others were purchased too before I sat outside to enjoy the ice cream with views back along Rhossili Bay with Rhossili Down on the right-hand side. Though I stayed a little while, it was later in the day than I had anticipated it would be. A delayed arrival due to traffic congestion and the Rhossili Down circuit perhaps taking longer than expected were contributors to this so I needed to get going again.
Port-Eynon was my next destination and I started by making my way out the busy promontory towards Worm's Head. The time of day precluded any more serious efforts to make photos of Worm's Head beyond the hazy ones that I got on the way up Rhossili Down. In fact, it was those views north along Rhossili Bay that yielded the best results for me.
My itinerary was to take me south-east and away from the terminus of the Gower Way. Another development since my last visit to Gower was the instatement of the Welsh Coast Path, though it has been in place long enough for some of the signage to have fallen prey to the elements, so careful use of a map is needed in places too. Some of its course already had been sampled on my Rhossili Down circuit and there was to be more to come. Being along the coast gained me a cooling sea breeze that was strong enough for kite flying and some enthusiasts were making the most of the conditions on offer.
Passing them, I began to see some of the coastal scenery that I was to pass after leaving Worm's Head behind me. From reading guidebooks, I knew that this was worth walking and it reminded me of that previous visit to Pembrokeshire some years before. Such is the indentation of the coastline that the sights of Rhossili and nearby Middleton weren't to leave me so quickly. There was a path diversion due to erosion too and recent coastal landslips due to all the rain that we have been seeing make me wonder if more have been needed since then.
In the initial stages, there were a good few folk around, but there was to be more in the way of solitude later on in the walk. Many of these may have been on circular strolls and those can be left behind to go their own way. So, it appeared after passing Fall Bay and doing the same for Mewslade Bay meant an inland deviation and attendant loss and regain of height that reminded me of a hike from Newgale to St. David's that I did on that Pembrokeshire trip; this yomp was to have less of that, though.
With the last of the undulations behind me, it was onto steady field crossing on the way towards Overton. Cloud had arrived from the west to put an end to the sunshine and gave a sense of close-down to the proceedings as well as a warning of what rain was to come. As I continued in the dullness, there seemed to be more footpath signs than my OS map gave me to expect and I have not been able to see where the paths were leading since then.
In time, field crossing was to be replaced with rocky shoreline walking as the Welsh Coast Path lost height to go under Overton Cliff and along Overton Mere. This section felt wilder and more dramatic than any other part that I had passed all day and would make a worthy excuse for a return sometime; Port-Eynon seemed very away at this point. There was a bell to be heard too and I thought it to be a church bell in that village but I was being deceived. It was but one atop a buoy bobbing out in the sea that could be heard all around. An outsider with easily disturbed slumbering would have some acclimatisation to be doing. That apparent reassurance that I was really near my intended destination had been but a mirage.
In fact, I wasn't that far away either; one last ascent was to prove that to me. Though I needed to keep going, curiosity had me surveying a monument erected by the Gower Society to commemorate efforts to preserve the surrounding coastline. From there, I then dropped down towards the YHA hostel and trotted across the beach to the roundabout at the Port-Eynon end of the A4118. Following the road from there, I found my bus stop with a few folk waiting there, one of them being a Welshman wearing a kilt!
Having others waiting at the bus stop was comforting because it meant that I hadn't missed a bus, but the wait was to be a long one that extended into dusk. The earlier traffic congestion that I met on the way to Rhossili was the cause of delaying bus services even more by the time that I was going away again. There even was a call to First Cymru to make sure that buses still were running and it was just as well that I had a mobile that worked in Port-Eynon; O2 and Vodafone didn't while T-Mobile and Orange did. That bus did arrive before any rain though and that was just as well since thunder and lightning arrived around midnight and stayed for most of an hour in the sultry early hours.
Even with any traffic congestion, the Gower remains alluring for me. Seeing what is around Port-Eynon again with some sunshine would be a good thing and there's Oxwich Bay and Three Cliffs Bay (the latter's near Penmaen) to be savoured too. As well as this, catching Worm's Head at a better time for photography would be another draw and there's the Gower Way and other parts of the AONB to be experienced too. All in all, there are ample excuses for making a return sometime. Let's hope one actually happens.
Travel Arrangements:
Return train journey from Macclesfield to Swansea, with a change at Bristol Parkway on the outbound journey and at both Cardiff Central and Birmingham New Street on the return one. Bus service 118 from Swansea to Rhossili and travel on the same service from Port-Eynon to Swansea.
