Essentially today is a long beach walk, broken up by the settlement of Porthcawl. At the end of the day we will 'walk out' inland from Kenfig Sands through the dunes to the hamlet of North Cornelly, where our friend will pick us up and take us home again. The weather forecast is a bit uncertain with a threat of showers in the early morning and possibly later in the day and overcast in between.
As you walk along the road on the way to the path back to the river, you pass the pretty little church of St Teilo's. St Telio, thought to have been born near Tenby, South Wales, was born in the 6th C and lived most of his life as a monk and Bishop. An early Welsh Saint, there are over twenty-five churches in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany dedicated to him, second in number only to St David. Built in 1850 on the site of an earlier medieval church, the current building is a nice example of a small, Victorian, rural church. In the churchyard there is a fine medieval stone cross and dotted about the grounds are other fine sculpted stones.
There were a large number of geese on the river, as well as different varieties of duck, iridescent green Shags and Cormorants with their distinctive white patches. In the shallow waters a couple of Herons sedately fished, their long, thin, spindly legs rising up above the water as they waded. On the water's edge Ringed Plover dashed hither and thither. Actually reaching the river bank was slightly difficult as we walked through deep and very soft sand that took a toll on the calves of the leg. We feared for the weather at this point as it grew ever darker above us, at times day seeming like night.
Further back from the sea the dunes have stabilised where they have been colonised by shrub and tree growth. The dunes as a whole are atop a limestone plateau which helps to account for their continuing height, the highest in Wales and second highest in Europe. In the more remote dune system where the sand has stabilised there are a number of different habitats to support a wide range of flora and fauna from the dunes themselves to the slacks and standing pools that have developed in between them. The geographical area has long been colonised for human habitation with evidence of Stone Age activity in the form of burial mounds, pottery and flints found nearby. As a consequence, the area not only has protection on account of its natural resources, but it is also a registered ancient monument.
The water was quite rough by now with the occasional high wave crashing against the rocks and sending spray high up in to the air. From our vantage up on the path we soon started to see the outline of chimneys, cranes and other superstructure at the steel plant in Port Talbot, the town itself hidden on the other side of River Kenfig which discharges in to the sea here just by Margam Burrows.