From the beach we had to walk through a campsite at the back of the youth hostel to pass over the disused limestone quarry that sits above Port Enyon Point. The old limestone quarry is now part of the Port Eynon Nature Reserve that includes quarry, sea cliff, foreshore, woodland and grasslands amongst its range of habitats. The presence of limestone in the rock layout makes it a good habitat for wild flowers. On top of the headland, from our position on a flat grassy plain, we had good views across Port Eynon Bay to Oxwich Point and, west to Wormshead.
The Aurignacian occurred between 43,000 to 26,000 years ago and is closely associated with the earliest European settlers arriving on the UK mainland. At that time, there would still have been landbridge between the UK and Europe, currently known as 'Doggerland' that was flooded by rising sea levels around 6500–6200 BC. Paviland Cave, which you pass above a mile or so further on, is of the same history. The remains of a skeleton were found there that came to be known as 'The Red Lady of Paviland'. Subsequent analysis of the remains demonstrated that it was a young, possibly Stone Age male.
As you progress along the top of the cliff over the gently rising and falling footpath, there are little, tantalising glimpes of the top of The Knave (rock feature) in the distance. Out over the waters of the Bristol Channel, enveloped in a band of ethereal blue-silver light, the coast of North Devon stood out ghost-like against a white and grey sky. When you catch countryside like this on a such a day, it is easy understand why Ancient peoples imbued their landscape with a sense of spirituality. Standing on your own on a bare hill side in the silence, only the breeze in your hair and the sun on your cheeks, all sense of civilisation stripped away, the heart is moved as you catch a fleeting and enigmatic sense of your place in the universe.
To know that man has been on earth about five million years and that these events took place over three hundred million years ago, gives us a sense of our place on the earth. Not to presume, as many do, that we are insigificant in the face of the earth's or the cosmos' history, but rather to appreciate how important we now are as the most powerful creature on the planet and to take seriously the responsibility to look after its scarce and finite resources.
We were glad we did so when we were joined by two pairs of Choughs that flew constantly up and down the nearby gully soaring and wheeling, diving and dipping over the cliff top, only to re-appear a few yards to the east and to fly back up the hill and do it all again. It was a joy to lie back on the hillside with the eyes closed and listen to their soft, sweet call echo on the breeze. We had walked almost the whole of the South West Coast Path last year hoping to see some but were disappointed. Now, such sweet reward.
We continued walking on the relatively flat grasslands, with the only the occasional bit of rise and fall. Shortly after setting off we passed our first humans of the day and knew we must be nearing some outpost of civilisation. Half an hour's walking took us to above first Mewslade and then Fall Bay, over which the clouds started to draw in. Half-way round Fall Bay the land drops down to almost sea level as it crosses the neck of Worms Head, before rising back up again to the highest point of the day on the cliff above Rhossili Bay from where we had wonderful views across its three miles of sandy beach.
I will not try to describe all the features of this wonderful stretch of land but if you ever have the chance to visit it, do so. One mile long and rising to one hundred and fifty feet above sea level, it is said to lie across the waters like a sea serpent.
As we were to find out as we progressed on our Welsh journey, it is a feature that can be seen from some distance away. Later on we were to have fine distance views of it as we moved round Carmarthen Bay and from as far away as St Ann's Head in Pembrokeshire. If you can magnify the photograph you might just make out the 'hole' of the Devil's Bridge, a land bridge connecting Low Neck with the outer island. Just a short jaunt away from the Worm Head is the village of Rhossili where we stopped for a nice lunch at the Bay Bistro and where there is a choice of at least three cafes.
Leaving Rhossili there is a choice of path. You can take the sand and hope for the best, or take the alternative route which moves along the bottom of the hillside, parallel to the beach but slightly further inland. We chose the latter and were rewarded with reasonable walking conditions and an encounter with some wild ponies. For all the conditions were reasonable, it was one those sections that seemed to go for ever. We could see the hamlet of Hillend for some time before we actually reached it. We could have finished the walk at the Hillend Burrows but stuck to our original plan to shorten tomorrow's walk by going round past the tidal island of Burry Holmes and coming in to the village from the west via Broughton Farm.
That night as we returned from dinner in a local pub, we were treated to a lovely sunset over the rooftops of Llangennith. Showered and fed after a fine day's walking on the hill, a lovely sense of contentment set in as we wandered back hand in hand through the dark and empty streets of Llangennith, tired but filled with the wonderful sense of vitality that comes from an extended period of exercise. A fine end to a lovely day's walking and more to look forward to tomorrow!