The Welsh Walker

I joined a new group (yes, another one!) for an evening stroll around Briton Ferry in Neath. A bit more industrial than my usual outings, but interesting nonetheless. 

This is the walk I was looking forward to the most, the chance to find out more about some of the castles in Gower. I love castles, and here in Wales we have more per square mile than any other country in the world. The Gower is absolutely teeming with them, some visible, some hidden beneath shifting sands and tangled woods. Today's walk was headed by archeologist Charles Hill along with the Gower Society, focusing on the buried castle of Penmaen, and the ruins of Pennard.

The plan today was to walk from the Dan yr Ogof show caves to Henrhyd Falls. I downloaded a new app, Viewranger, picked a track and was ready to go exploring. Unfortunately it didn't quite work out, though there were still plenty of fantastic views to enjoy. 

After my last weeks disappointment I decided to try a new group for today's walk. I'm getting surprisingly used to walking up to a group of strangers and introducing myself, a year ago when I started joining groups the idea used to make me shaky. Of course I still have my fingers crossed that they'll be friendly and there won't be any weirdos, but I've definitely gained in confidence. This group is focused on walking, which means no ambling. Today's adventure was an expedition along North Gower - I'm definitely more familiar with the south, so this was a new area for me. My sat nav app behaved and took me to Cwm Ivy car park (only £1 for a days parking), and I met up with the group there.

A lot of people across the country have been suffering terribly with the weather over the last couple of weeks, first with the dreaded 'Beast from the East' and now the 'mini' version. Whilst I wouldn't wish the hardships suffered by some on anyone, I love snow and really wanted to see some.  Unfortunately living so close to the coast we had barely more than a flurry, which melted immediately. It did, however, affect the roads, which meant that today's planned walk to Carreg Cennen Castle was cancelled. Or mostly. After much too-ing and fro-ing four us decided to still go, having no idea how deep the snow would be but up for an adventure. It was definitely worth it.