I slept well at my lofty camp spot, and woke around dawn to find everything covered in dew, including hundreds of little cobwebs in the grass. Beautiful. A bit more climbing to the summit, then a 15 mile descent, which was quite hairy on a road bike with luggage. Much gravel kicked up by wind farm construction traffic, and a stretch of grass with rocky outcrops. But not as bad as my worst fears, and I was able to ride down most of it.
 |
| Sensible gate |
 |
| Grassy descent, a bit rocky and scary. |
More spectacular views (no photos), into the sun towards Neath and the sea.
At Neath I had a lengthy breakfast before heading down to the coast on smooth, flat tarmac, revisiting the coastal route into Swansea, looking lovely in the sun, and then out along the bay before riding across the 'neck' of the Gower peninsula to Gowerton, a very enjoyable ride with a bonus pub stop at the Railway Inn. The (disused) railway was, surprisingly, the London, Midland and Scottish railway, from Swansea to Shrewsbury.
 |
| Swansea |
 |
| The Railway Inn (in hindsight, a pic of the pub would have been helpful) |
 |
| Gowerton, with fishermen |
After Gowerton was a familiar and enjoyable bit of coast path to Llanelli, with a surprisingly quiet beach. The route then turned north east through the Swiss Valley Trail, a name to strike fear into any heavily-loaded cyclist's heart, and then onto another disused railway which chugged its way constantly upwards in a cool tree-lined route, to around 200 metres, before releasing me to descend to the river Towy valley.
By now I was hot, hungry, tired and without a place to stay for the night. Two possible campsites were not contactable, although, to be fair, it was 6pm on a Sunday. I decided to aim for the farm campsite near Carmarthen. It looked basic, with mediocre ratings, but it was near enough to Carmarthen to have a night on the town.
When I got there, the farm was deserted. Abandoned. Obviously not a going concern. The camping field was still there, with rusting electrical hookups, but everything rose was locked and disused. I decided to camp anyway, in the foot-high grass.
The tent was still there when I returned from a slap-up meal in Carmarthen, where I met a lovely local couple, cyclists and NHS A&E workers, who gradually coaxed the story of what I was doing and my whole coastal trip out of me. Again they came in with a series of "have you been to X", or "did you go through Y", naming places I'd either never heard of, or didn't recognise the pronunciation of.
 |
| Campsite, just before sunrise |
I'm no train buff but isn't the Shrewsbury to Swansea now called the Heart of Wales?
ReplyDeleteI think you are right - but the bit I went on had no train line. The Heart of Wales line now goes from Shrewsbury to Llanelli (a bit further west). There used to be a line from Swansea along the coast for a few miles to Blackpill (where the coast turns south for Mumbles & the Gower). At that point the line turned north for Gowerton. Nowadays the line reverses at Swansea and goes a more northerly route from Swansea to Gowerton.
ReplyDeleteSome details here: https://www.heart-of-wales.co.uk/