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.