Singleton Park and Swansea Bay

After leaving Brynmill Park, I headed into the much bigger Singleton Park, a beautiful, landscaped park. Singleton is huge, and has many points of interest within its bounds, including a botanical garden, Swiss cottage and boating lake. It also houses the local university, a large hospital and a popular pub/restaurant, amongst other things. However, my path through the park didn't lead me to any of these points of interest. I followed a little wooded path along the eastern edge of the park, beside a babbling brook.



Despite being landscaped and managed, many parts of Singleton have a semi-wild feel to them, and it is home to a variety of wildlife. I've seen many bird species in the park, as well as bats, foxes, rabbits and dozens of these cheeky little American grey squirrels.



After following a pretty direct southerly path through the park, I came to the main coastal road, which I crossed, onto the beach. Despite it being very cold, there were many people around, including joggers, walkers, dog walkers and students playing various sports. I arrived in time for a pretty sunset.





The only blot on the landscape was formed by tall cranes and the beginnings of a hideous new development on the seafront, which I believe will be called Meridian Quay. The focal point of this view-blocking scar on the seafront, will be a 330 ft high tower. I'm all for some development of the seafront, and the maximization of its potential. But why a 330 ft tower, for pity's sake? Anyway, I won't get started on that, or I'll be here until Christmas - in the year 2025!



Looking behind, I saw the sun had dropped much lower, and was getting ready to dip below the horizon. The temperature also dropped - and it was already cold enough. I decided to head off the beach, and took a few last shots.





Looking ahead for an exit, I noticed a couple of distant buildings looked as if they were ablaze, due to the sunset reflected in their windows. The Bay View bar and restaurant, to the centre-left of this pic, was the first building I spotted.



Whereas I'm sure many people would have been upset had the Bay View really been ablaze, I think others would have celebrated at the thought of this next building being consumed by fire! For non-locals - the blazing, white building is County Hall - Swansea's Civic Centre, and one of two main headquarters of the local council. They're the shabby bunch who gave permission for that monstrosity, Meridian Quay, to be built just behind it.



I'll leave you with this short video clip, shot on the beach. Apologies for the distortion caused by the strong sunlight.