Pictures of places in and around Swansea, Wales.
Monday 17th March 2003.
Llanmadoc and Whiteford Burrows.
Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind
permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland
. The village of Llanmadoc lies on the north west coast of the Gower Peninsular and it is from here that I start my walk. At the end of the lane between the houses .....
...... a track heads towards the salt marsh.
Further on down the track I arrive at another gate. Ahead of me I can see the limestone rock known as North Hill Tor.
Built on the very edge of the marsh, this isolated cottage with its whitewashed walls can be seen from miles around..
Another view of the cottage with Llanmadoc Hill in the background..
The track follows the edge of the marsh to where a wall has been built to reclaim low lying land from the sea. A footpath runs along the top of the wall to join with higher ground at the other end. .
On the sea side of the wall, gulleys drain water away from the marshy ground....
.... on the 'dry' side sheep graze..
I've now reached the end of the half mile long sea wall and ready to set off across the grass covered dunes towards the pine forest behind the large tree on the left.
Having crossed the dunes, I took a short cut through the pine trees to the high sand dunes that border the beach.
From the top of the dunes, I looked up and down the beach. There is no-one to be seen, but that does not surprise me for this part of Gower is not as popular as the south coast of the peninsular. On the opposite shore of the Loughor Estuary one can see the town of Burry Port.
Down on the hard sand of the beach, I walked along towards Broughton Bay, passing the prominent Cwm Ivy Tor, to just before....
..... Hills Tor, where I decided it would be a good spot to stop for refreshments.
After a little rest, I walked on, rounding the rocky headland at the north western end of Broughton Bay. This somewhat alarming notice is a reminder that this area was used during WW2 as a firing range to test shells and bombs.
Coming towards me are two walkers, the first I've seen since I started my walk. After an exchange of greetings they walk on and I turned off the beach and climbed the sand dunes to look for the way back to Llanmadoc.
From the top of the dunes I saw a caravan park and walked towards it. I followed the perimeter fence ......
......to a stile and on the other side a concrete drive led out of the caravan site to the narrow lane that would lead me back to Llanmadoc Church and the village..
In the lane hedgerows there were clumps of primroses and I spotted one or two bluebells making an early appearance. In the fields lambs stay close to their mother. There is a good view of the estuary from this position, the sands on the opposite shore can be seen quite clearly.
Llanmadoc Church comes into sight and I'm now at the end of my walk. Before I leave you, I'll just tell you a little about the church.The Church of St. Madog is reputed to have been founded in the 6th century by that Saint. The present construction is 13th century but was restored in 1865......'bye.
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