Monthly Archives: June 2026

Llanelli Wetlands – so good we went there twice

by thehistoryinterpreter

There were plans for three out of the four days of our stay, so a decision had to be made about what to do with the spare day. We are aware that there are parts of the country we’ve never been, so places have to be particularly special for us to be thinking of a return visit. With that in mind, we are unlikely to stay in this area again, so I chose a return visit to the wetlands to see the section we didn’t have the energy for last time. Today we are exploring the Millenium Wetlands, totally different from what we have already seen. This section is almost devoid of people and we pop in and out of various hides to see what we can see. I am making full use of the Merlin app, which tells me what I can hear, so I am counting those on my list. Excited to have very nearly but sadly not quite, been quick enough to photograph a chiffchaff, of which, Merlin tells me there are a great many, chiffing and chaffing away. List below for bird fans as usual.

The café was an obligation of course and then a hunting for something even more elusive than a rare bird, the lesser spotted and endangered species that is a bank of a specific variety. We establish the address and ask Sally the sat nav to take us to the nearest car park. Just a shame this car park is no longer operational. We find on-street parking, for one hour only, the bank, says Google maps on my phone, which has very little battery due to all the bird identifying, is a seven minute walk away and we safely locate it. This branch of this bank is due to close in a couple of months due to ‘nobody using it in the afternoons’. It is afternoon. We spend 40 minutes there during which time two harassed staff try to cope with at least two dozen nobodies, all with less than straightforward queries. In the end we give up waiting and rush back to the car just as our allotted hour expires.

The afternoon is spent using the one bar of wifi to try to uncover the story of a bigamist. Yes I know I said this was, unusually, a no family history trip but I fell over this in the process of solving a totally different query that popped into my inbox.

Birds seen: Goldfinch, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Egret, Moorhen, Mallard, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Wood Pigeon, Great Tit, Black-backed Gull, Shelduck, Yellow-billed Duck, Re-breasted Goose, White-winged Wood Duck, Bufflehead, Snow Goose, a Puss Moth caterpillar and a Slow Worm (yes, I know the last two aren’t birds).

Weobley Castle and the Gower Peninsula

by thehistoryinterpreter

The weather forecast insists it will be 19 degrees and cloudy. We dress accordingly and set off for Weobley Castle. Oddly the sat nav thinks this is in two different places about half a mile apart and although I am enjoying following along on my OS map, it is hard to see where the entrance might be. Inevitably, we have opted for the wrong sat nav possibility and here we are in a farm. Destination recalculated and we arrive. There are some lovely views but to be frank, the possibilities for exploration here are a little limited. My travelling companion is fascinated by the remote lawn mower and is blocking it’s path with abandoned short scaffolding poles to confuse it. It would be harsh to say that this was the most interesting part of the visit and there is some historical information imparted, which I share with you now, with the usual proviso that this is what I gleaned and I can’t vouch for its accuracy. Regarded as a fortified manor, part of a series of Norman castles on the Gower peninsula, Weobley was described as  ‘new’ castle in 1306, when it was held by the del la Bere family. A century later during a revolt on the Gower as a result of Owain Glyndŵr’s activities, Weobley suffered damage; the Welsh claimed to have ‘destroyed’ it. By the late fifteenth century, it was in the hands of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, who had been granted the overlordship of several castle as a result of his support for Henry VII during Henry’s efforts to claim the English throne. He instituted many improvements but the castle reverted to the crown when Rhys’ grandson was executed for treason under Henry VIII. It was then leased out as a farmhouse. In 1666, it was bought by Sir Edward Mansel and then passed to the Talbot family, being given into state ownership in 1911.

Weobley Castle’s possibilities exhausted, we decide to explore the south coast of the Gower and wonder if we can also take in Oxwich Castle. We can’t, it is shut. By this time the temperature has risen to the mid-twenties, the sun is beating down, we are ‘cosy’ and fairly in need of a drink and more urgently some ‘facilities’. Oxwich itself is heaving, with queues to get in the car park. We decide to try nearby Horton. All the coastal villages round here are approached via twisty, single-track roads, with occasional passing places. We are used to this. Not so other road users who clearly think their Nissan Micra is the width of a pantechnicon and has no reverse gear. Horton is equally lacking in options. Plan c is Porth Eynon. Car park located and himself heads off to pay for the parking ticket. This is always a technological challenge, involving reading things without the aid of reading glasses and potentially downloading apps. Ah no! This machine takes real money. The snag is that it doesn’t provide the necessary ticket in exchange. Never fear it takes cards. Having thus paid twice to park and ‘facilities’ availed of, we eat an ice cream and look at the beach. Our verdict on both – all very lovely but not a patch on what is 400 yards from my home. The drive back to the van is scenic, especially the road through Reynoldston. On the way, we pass a Harvester restaurant that would have been considerably more convenient than our Friday choice. Annoying that that eluded me when I asked Google for the nearest one to Llanelli. This is followed by another restful afternoon back on site, watching the swallows feeding their babies on the wing.

Llanelli Wetland Centre

by thehistoryinterpreter

A short drive along the northern shores of the River Lougher and we are at the Llanelli Wetland Centre. We have a lovely wander round, popping in and out of various hides and unlike many of our forays to see wildlife, we do see a wide variety of wildfowl. The list is below if anyone is interested. There is also a distinct and pervading smell of cannabis at one point, although no other people are in view; very strange. Although much cooler than of late, it is a little on the cosy side and we repair to the café – hurray, coffee in sensible shaped mugs again. I was a bit disappointed to realise that we had actually only seen half of what was on offer but it really was too hot to walk another three miles or so round the other paths. The only negative was that they no longer supply paper maps. I do understand the need to save trees but I really can’t be doing with following a map on my phone. If it is big enough to read then I can’t see enough of it to work out where to go next. It would have helped if there were more copies of the map in places around the site. Note to self to print the map in advance if we ever come again to do the other half.

Then it is back to the van for a lazy afternoon. The adjacent Country Park is hosting Armed Forces Day, so we can hear military bands and World War 2 songs in the distance.

In the evening, we stroll towards the Country Park. This was formerly the site of a munitions factory. In 1881, the Explosives Company, based in Stowmarket, Suffolk, dredged the harbour, which allowed ships to bring in necessary construction materials. There were several tragedies, including an explosion in 1882, that killed seven workers, the youngest being thirteen and a fire the following year. There were further fatal explosions in 1917, 1920 and 1922. In 1914, a Glasgow Company set up a TNT factory on the site. At its height, during the First World War, there were over 6000 employees in the two factories, the majority of whom were female. Although munitions production closed in 1935, with a convalescent home utilising the buildings and the land becoming a camp for the children of unemployed miners, as the Second World War dawned, production restarted and more fatalities ensued. The factory finally closed in 1963, with the Park opening in 1980.

Rook, Mallard, Mute Swan, Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Coscoroba Swan, Australian Wood Duck, Blackbird, Wood Pigeon. Shelduck, Crow, Barnacle Goose, Chestnut Teal, Graylag Goose, Canada Goose. Moorhen, Magpie, Red-breasted Goose, Scaup, Snow Goose, Black-necked Swan, Sedge Warbler. The last one was heard only and I’ll fess up I can’t tell a sedge warbler from any other kind of small brown bird and in this case, we only heard it. I’m hopeless at birdsong too but this identification came aid of an app.

A Welsh Adventure

by thehistoryinterpreter

As caravan club frequent flyers, we are offered three night’s stay for the price of two. Always a sucker for a special offer, we look to see if, between the two of us, there is a gap in the diary. Fortuitously, there are a few days when we are both free, almost unheard of, especially at the time of the year but an opportunity not to be missed. A very short break in South Wales is planned. For once, this trip will have no family history connections at all. We are due to leave on what was the hottest day of the year, the hottest day ever in our part of the world and at our destination. Providence has it that we are delayed due to an urgent appointment, so our day of departure is due to be cooler, at least until the forecast changes and the view is that there will be another day of ridiculous hotness.

The job we must not mention firmly under control, thanks to a 4.45am start. By 8.30am, armed with plenty of water, we set off. This is as early as we can, given that the campsite has an earliest check in time of 1pm. I should say that a 4.45am start isn’t too far off normal for me, especially at this time of year and given that, after a stupidly hot night, I was not asleep anyway. As it was already 22 degrees, why not work? For my down-under friends who think our mid 30s temperatures are nothing to write home about, please remember that our houses rarely have air-con.

With the temperature in the car rising steadily, I enquire of the driver if the car has air con. I am reassured that it does but that he doesn’t know how it works. By this time, we are bowling along the M4 and it is 30 degrees. I consult the manual, handily stowed in the glove compartment. I fix the aircon, which now has the insurmountable task of cooling down what is a very hot car. We have a sat nav but it seems that while I was sorting air conditioning out I should have been navigating – who knew?  A slight detour ensues. After a while, the air con makes a dent in the temperature but then we are stuck in traffic and from Port Talbot onwards, are crawling along at about 10mph for the next hour. As the traffic starts flowing, the outside temperature drops to a blissful 19 degrees.

The site is lovely, on the edge of a country park, close to the beach and with swallows swooping and diving. I have already sussed out which pitches have the chance of a wifi signal and despite the traffic delay, we are early enough to secure one before the site fills up tonight. Next, coffee and what passes for lunch, eight hours after breakfast. A robin pops in the van to say hello.

Lured by a 40% off main meals offer (cheapskates again you see) the plan was to head to the not actually very nearby Harvester in Swansea for an evening meal. Initially, we were going to go in early and look round but a combination of the extended journey time to get here and us just wanting to chill means we leave early, being aware of rush hour traffic but not early enough to look round. This Harvester is situated in a huge retail park. We are well aware just how huge, as it takes half an hour of driving round and judicious use of Google maps to locate the Harvester, which is well hidden behind trees. The sat nav just took us to the retail park, which appears to all share the same postcode. I thought afterwards that I should have gone for What Three Words – hindsight and all that. Good job we left early. We eat far too much. It is free dessert Friday but sadly we can’t avail ourselves of that offer and the 40% off. I never thought that mini desserts would be on my radar but with your mini dessert you get coffee as well and bonus points for Harvester as it is served in a proper shaped mug, not one of those wide cups where the coffee loses heat and which is hard to balance, even though I have no trouble at all with my grip.

No pictures were taken on this day so here is a bonus bird picture taken 2 years ago.