STAGE 4 - Day 19 - Abercrave to Marloes
We caught an early morning bus from Abercrave to Swansea, where I waved goodbye to Rory. He caught the train back to Abergavenny to retrieve his car which by some miracle hadn’t been stolen and even still had all four wheels attached after a week spent in the bus station car park there.
I stayed a few more hours in Swansea in order to get my clothes washed in a launderette there. Whilst waiting, I did some shopping and had a walk about. It would be a lie to say that I thought much of Swansea after this brief visit. Who knows, there may be a thriving scene going on underground here, but it’s a fairly uninspiring place on the surface. The surviving corner of castle wall below is about all that's worth seeing in an otherwise drab collection of 1950s concrete shopping centres and car parks.
As soon as my washing was done, I got the hell out of there, and caught the next train to Havefordwest, to begin the fourth stage of my walk, around the Pembrokeshire Coast.
I arrived at Havefordwest and took a taxi to the small village of Marloes, at the Southern end of St Bride’s Bay. I had seen the famous Marloes Sands beach on an old film called The Lion in Winter, Anthony Hopkins’ first film with Katharine Hepburn and Peter O’Toole, quite good actually. On mentioning this to the taxi driver, he proudly told me he'd recently picked up Anthony Hopkins who’d been holidaying in the area.
I pulled up outside The Clock House cafe and B&B, named after the unusual clock tower opposite, built as a memorial to a local baron. This was chosen for a special reason as Sophie’s parents almost bought it some years back when it was for sale. If they had I’d never have met Sophie so I’m glad they didn’t but a shame as it’s a lovely place in a very pretty corner of the world. It is once again for sale though so who knows, maybe it will happen after all!
The owner showed me round and had some dinner ready, a very good ploughman's spread. I wolfed it down then set off for an evening stroll that turned into a 5 mile walk along a lane, across a disused airfield then along the clifftops overlooking Marloes Sands, before heading down onto the beach itself.
A combination of being moved by the majesty of the beach and cliffs bathed in the long rays of the setting sun, and sadness at wishing I had my family here with me promted me to burst into song and I improvised a pop-ballad that I sang all the way song the beach. No I won't sing you it. But it's quite good so maybe I will record it someday and make lots of money!
It was a very special evening walk that I shall always remember. I can't wait to return there with my family, and also of course, to record the music video!