Penbryn Bay, Ceredigion

Penbryn was a sheer delight. After a long drive deep into a wooded valley, we came to a National Trust car park, about half a mile uphill from the bay. This pretty rose grew against the back wall of the National Trust tea rooms.





Sadly, by the time we got there, the tea rooms had closed for the day.



Some more flowers caught my eye. I think this is a lavatera, or mallow, to give it its English name.



The walk down to the beach was through quite isolated woodland, and I had to insist that Grumpy did not leave me behind in such an isolated spot. He'd sped off ahead of me everywhere else we'd been that day, clearly irritated by my mobility issues. However, I refused to be abandoned in such a lonely spot.

Alas, the bay proved really difficult to photograph, due to the brilliance of the setting sun, and my own inexperience in dealing with such challenging lighting conditions. Most of the pics I took were dominated by hideous lens flares. However, the following pics should give you an idea of how deliciously unspoilt and undeveloped Penbryn is.







This shot, sadly, is the best one I could manage looking east.



I had slightly better luck when I pointed my lens westward.





My shots of the little stream crossing the beach, didn't turn out too badly, either, despite getting part of my own shadow into one of them. Oh well, I've never claimed to be a professional photographer.







I wondered who owned this little rowing boat. Its owner didn't appear to be around, and I marvelled at the fact it could be left unattended, without anyone making off with it. I can't imagine anyone leaving a little boat like this on one of our local beaches, and actually expecting it to still be there the following morning.







Shortly after I took these shots, Grumpy decided it was time to leave. I was rather disappointed, as I wanted to wait for sunset. He hoofed it up the hill to retrieve the car, and picked me up from this little turning place.



Did I mention that Grumpy gets really cantankerous if he can't stuff his face at least once every hour? As we headed towards Cardigan and the road home, I decided to annoy him again with another spot of drive-by shooting courtesy of Kodak.





As we travelled, I was really frustrated at not being able to find a vantage point from which to photograph a really gorgeous sunset. I dared not suggest stopping somewhere to Grumpy, as he found my photography irritating at the best of times. But with an empty belly and a two hour drive ahead of him, with no food to keep him going, I couldn't bear the thought of the explosive temper and whingeing I'd be subjected to. So I made do with these paltry shots of the evening sky and sunset.





When we finally arrived in Swansea, around 10 pm, we headed to Pizza Express for a meal, where Grumpy finally became human again. I'd like to return to Llangrannog and Penbryn on a solo mission. But alas, there's no way of making the trip via public transport, and as I'm a non-driver, I need to find a sweet-natured, safe-driving friend who is willing to take me.