A Welsh Sketchbook - Day Ten

Day Ten- Worms Head, Rossili and Oxwich

In the morning we decided to visit Worm's Head, and walked out to it experiencing the same hide and seek with fog which we'd had in Brecon. The tide was in so crossing was (fortunately) not an option, and it looked like a fair old scramble, so we retraced our steps (I found a flattened fledgling looking like a baby dragon on the road).

Here be Dragons...

Eventually we found a path down to Rhossili beach, a fascinating strand of surf layering up like lace,  windblown sand covering the most mundane flotsam and turning it into mysterious sculpture and loads of half buried razor clam shells- when a wave nearly caught us the number of rising bubbles betrayed the population below. The clouds ebbed and flowed over the hillside behind and I managed enough reference shots to be able to develop a painting later on (still on the to-do list as I write).

 We walked out to the remains of a buried wreck and filled our pockets with tellins and razor shells then climbed halfway back up to sit and have lunch on a convenient bench. Later we explored eastwards to Oxwich, discovering, on a rising tide, many shells, pebbles and fragile sea urchins which were dutifully collected for still life work later, and both getting wet feet as the waves rose.

 We moved inland and parked by an old estate mill, walking up a private drive to find the castle, opposite a beautiful Regency mansion now in need of repair. I had some wonderful photos of the trees along the avenue, and the lake in the valley, despite having to clear drizzle from the lens every few minutes. We halted our walk when we reached an old Victorian stable block with a 1920s garage addition, and returned to explore the mill and adjacent fishpond before returning to Port Eynon. As dusk fell I went out alone to collect smaller pieces of driftwood on the beach- I had it in mind to collect a 7 foot long piece I'd spotted earlier- but the failing light and the rain on slippery rocks made me review my decision. The driftwood proved useful in an exercise for still life in line- here is the result.

 I did however find yet another dead seabird among the rocks (and took a photo). We spent a relaxed night- after being greeted effusively as old friends by a German family who had followed us from St David's- chatting to guests and a visiting YHA warden who hails from Shropshire, full of tall tales about her walking, cycling and bog-snorkelling adventures.

Needless to say the sun finally came out properly as we prepared to leave, and there was only time for a couple of photos. We stopped at Caerleon for a conker hunt (supplies for our local conker tournament), only to find that the school had felled the tree we knew, eventually we found another near the Roman amphitheatre but had to scrump on private land for our harvest. Fortunately this year we found a route back to the motorway which did not take in the less scenic aspects of Newport (that spoof song- the banned one- is still going round in my head), so saved 40 minutes of arguing over map-reading skills!

We're already planning our next Welsh adventure in May next year, although it will be based probably more around Cwm Duad and St David's: the former being in easy striking distance of places we haven't been, the latter being my current muse...I may have to pack the paints and easel...