The skies were grey again this morning but it remained dry for my afternoon walk which was good enough for me.
We are used to seeing the RNLI go out training every Sunday morning so when we saw them returning towing a jet ski we wondered if they were just practising that sort of rescue. But luckily for me with my insatiable curiosity Dave the station manager is good friends with Peter through the rowing club and I get to find out more. Peter went out rowing in the afternoon and came home with the information that this was a genuine shout for a jet ski that had broken down and needed towing in to shore.
I was a bit late walking up this morning so breakfast became quite hurried as I rushed to leave in good time for the 45 minute drive. I don't bother wearing a watch most of the time but I was quite relieved when I got to the lay by with one minute to spare. We meet at 1.00 but the fact that the clock on the car's dashboard said 11.59 didn't worry me as it's often an hour out since we can't be bothered to change it between summer and winter. What did worry me was not seeing anyone else from the group. I checked my phone and oops it really was 11.59. But then as I was putting on my walking boots I saw Hannah from the group. No, she hadn't got her times mixed up too. She had been going shopping when her automatic car gave a clunk, wouldn't change gear and the rev counter went right up. She abandoned her shopping plans and came straight to the lay by and phoned her husband who happens to be a mechanic. He came, took the car for a drive and couldn't find anything wrong. That's always the way. To fill in the time we walked over to the home of Pete who leads our walks. And what a home it was, absolutely crammed full of dark antique furniture, clocks (at least five short case grandfather clocks in the living room) and oriental trinkets and hangings. It sound terrible but it worked. The whole house looks like a wonderful Aladdin's cave. The garden too was similar. What had once been a roughly gravelled yard is now filled with raised beds overflowing with plants and flowers. It looked like something from the Chelsea Flower Show with plants flowering in every square inch. And I wouldn't have seen it all if I hadn't arrived an hour early. But now for the walk.
The walk was from the coastal village of Llanrhystud, walking (to the right) along the lower flanks of Castell Bach (Castle Small) and Castell Mawr (Castle Big) two iron age hill forts. Then through the woods belonging to a chap called Barry who gave us a tour around the archaeology in the woods (so interesting that it will get its own post tomorrow).
From the slopes we could see across the coastal plain to the sea.
The woods.
After walking round the woods we returned to what was once the Home Farm for a big mansion to eat our lunch in the garden of one of the houses. Barry lives in a neat wooden cabin that he built himself in the garden while his two children, three grandchildren and other family members live in the properties around the place.
After a pleasant time sitting in the sun and eating our lunch we carried on through the woods, crossed the main road and fields and made our way down to the beach.
From there we turned northwards and walked to a very large holiday park that can just be seen in the distance.
We passed a couple of fishermen who told us they hadn't caught anything all day. One of them looked as if he had a fish but I think it turned out to be a false alarm.
When we got to the holiday park we cut through the rows of green (mostly) chalets which brought us back to the main road and the lay by where the cars were parked. A couple of us went back to Pete's house for a cup of tea in his colourful garden and I finally got home after 6.00. A long but good afternoon.
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