Swansea and Caswell Bay images

I took a trip to Caswell and Langland bays on Tuesday, after a brief walk along Swansea Bay. For some reason, I forgot all about the pics I took until now. It was a scorching day, and after spending the best part of the morning at my GP's surgery, I decided to get some air along the seafront.




I decided to hop on the no.1 summer service to Caswell, and arrived to find the place swarming with holidaymakers and daytrippers. I grabbed an ice cream from one of the seafront shops, then decided to make a getaway from the crowds, and walked up the hill towards Brandy Cove.







I tried to get arty farty with my camera along the way, taking shots through the trees, but I don't think they especially worked. Never mind. There's nothing wrong with a bit of trial and error.



As I chugged up the hill in blistering heat, I realised I hadn't walked that path in about twenty two years. The last time I headed up that hill was in January 1985, when there was about a foot of snow on the ground. A bus had somehow got down Caswell hill, and had deposited me and a friend at the old car park. We had then trudged up the hill, through the snow, before skidding down a steep driveway, to look at a couple of bedsits. I was still in my teens then. Anyway, we didn't take the rooms. I tried to find the property we looked at, but to no avail. There were several steep driveways leading off that road, and the passage of time had eroded my memory too much to recall which one we skidded down.

Further up the hill, I was surprised to espy the shell of a derelict property through the trees. It didn't look too old a structure, so I was intrigued as to what had happened to the house. A fire? Structural damage of some kind? Abandonment? Or had someone simply decided to obliterate it and start again? It's obvious some kind of building work is afoot, as there was a temporary metal fence around it, plastered with construction site signs. There was also a truck in the driveway which looked like it may have been converted into living quarters. Does anyone know what happened to this house?



The leafiness of the lane provided some respite from the blazing sun, although the air was still pretty heavy. The lanes reminded me of the ones I used to roam as a child, in my native Carmarthenshire. Except for the constant stream of fast-moving traffic, that is. I wish there were less vehicles on the roads. It would be nice to walk along a country lane for once, without being menaced by arrogant old roadhogs in 4x4s, or moronic boy racers in souped-up hatchbacks. Signs of the times, I guess.





Once I reached the start of the footpath leading to Brandy Cove, I turned back. As this was one of my solo walks, I didn't feel comfortable about wending my way through the trees to Brandy Cove. I was also very hot and bothered, as well as tired after taking some new medication the doctor had prescribed that morning. So I decided to make my way back downhill to Caswell Bay.





I tried a bit more arty-farty, through the trees stuff, but it simply wasn't working. I toyed with taking the path to the west beach at Caswell, but decided to keep heading down towards the bus stop.





I got some very peculiar looks from an elderly couple and their lapdog, when I stood taking pics of this bee on some rose bay willow herb. I don't know why some people find someone taking photographs such a bizarre sight.



I was tempted to eat this blackberry, but it was too close to the road, and was probably full of toxins and pollutants.



A bus arrived shortly after I reached the bus stop. Instead of going straight back to town, I stopped off briefly at Langland, where I sat on the seafront for about half an hour or so.





Langland was also far too crowded for comfort. So I decided to trudge back up the hill to Langland Corner to get the bus home. I got hassled at the bus stop by some drunken fool, but luckily, he got the message and eventually left me alone. Drunken fools aside, it was a pretty uneventful day, as you can no doubt tell from this pretty uneventful post.