TraceysTrek

The sea was a little lively as it came up over the wall beside me!

As I walked through the main street of Porthcawl I saw for the first time on my walk rough sleepers in doorways. It made me feel sad for them. I said hello to all of them as I felt it was important that they were acknowledged. So many other people just walked past them.

As I started my walk this morning I saw lots of park run signs and officials. Park runs are normally on a Saturday but apparently today it was a special event for children. I stopped and chatted to all the folk telling them that I am a fellow Park runner and we took some photos. They were all very excited about what I am doing and I shared lots of hearts.

Coney Beach is probably one of the busiest places I’ve seen so far. The tide was fully in and the waves were big rollers. There was hardly any beach visible. There were loads of people surfing, dipping, swimming, walking dogs and jogging. There was a Sunday market being set up. Everything else was closed down for the winter apart from a couple of mobile stands where they were long queues of people for tea coffee and snacks. 

I walked a long way through the sand dunes. The paths were meandering which meant I got lost occasionally eventually coming out by the river. Then it was a long walk around this estuary. I was quite surprised to see several thatched cottages.

The remains of yet another castle were on the other side of the river. I walked over a small  bridge which was quite bouncy and made me laugh. Then I came to the side of the river which I was supposed to cross over the stepping stones unfortunately the river is high and the stepping stones were uncrossable. This meant retracing the route to another bridge fortunately not very far.

I met a large group of ramblers (Maesteg Ramblers) who were very interested in what I was doing. More photographs and sharing hearts and stories.

After about 9 miles I arrived at Ogmore where I found a cafe for tea and food. This turned out to be a much longer stop than anticipated. And the food was a much larger portion than anticipated too. I had to get a doggy bag!

Back on the path it was like a motorway there were so many people. I had not seen this many people since I left Glasgow. There were a multitude of car parks that were all fairly full. Sunday is a popular day for walking.

Louisa and Rolando asked me for directions. That was strange because they’re local. Anyway, they have both been touched by cancer and became quite emotional when I gave them the hearts. We chatted for a long while in the spring sunshine.

A large group of people celebrating a special birthday were my next encounter. They were very knowledgeable about the local area and offered support around the cardiff area if required. Thank you so much.

It’s interested in looking at the footwear people have for walking on the path ranging from squeaky clean Barbour wellies to box fresh white trainers. Strangely enough, there weren’t any miniature dogs in pink dresses today. Pretty much as soon as the path starts becoming muddy and going uphill I found myself back on my own.

Back up on the cliffs I was treated to an amazing display of geology. I’m not sure what the formations are. Anyone with geology background might you be able to help?

I enjoyed the scenery this afternoon. The cliffs and Rock formations were very impressive and the changing light made them even more dramatic.

I took a tea break at the Nash Point Lighthouse where a lady gave me a donation instead of her parking fee. this was a really popular venue and I spoke to many people here. I’ve taken lots of photographs of lighthouses so I decided to focus on the foghorn at this one. 

As I came past St Donat’s, I caught sight of this sculpture in a field. It’s very impressive. It could easily describe my state of mind.

I’ve been following the Wales Coast Path sign since the 13th December and I’ve also walked through many gates and so this photo seemed quite apt.

Tired and aching, I arrived at Llantwit Major Beach where Nikki, another Bluetit from Barry, was waiting for me. She gave me a lift back to Priscilla in Porthcawl and offered to put me and Priscilla up for the night. The thought of a shower was tempting but I politely declined opting to park up back at Llantwit Major to be ready to depart early tomorrow.

When we got back to Priscilla, there was a tray of lovely muffins beautifully wrapped with a card waiting for me on the windscreen. They had been put there by Maria one of the ladies I had met this morning at the park run. There was also an offer of a bath. Alas, in my haste to set off I didn’t read the note properly until I arrived back at Llantwit Major. The muffins however are very tasty. Thank you Maria.

I forgot to mention yesterday that at one point I saw a sign for a crematorium. Even though I didn’t actually pass the crematorium just the sight of this sign made me stop in my tracks and I felt a sick feeling in my stomach and my heart missed a beat. It immediately made me think of Angela‘s funeral and her coffin. It really caught me by surprise how emotional I felt and I welled up and shed a few tears.

Best bits: generosity of people

Worst bits: feeling a bit cold

Distance: 18.6 miles