Random notes on the travels of a Welshman who has been allowed out to play after finishing his chores. OK so I don't travel with my Aunt, but I am usually under the adult supervision of my long suffering wife.
36 hours ago I was in South Africa coping with temperatures in excess of 30C. Today the temperature was 6C but the sun was shining. A great day for a walk along the coast at Three Cliffs Bay. This is Aunty’s favourite and in the summer it is a great place for the day. The bay is sheltered and can be a real sun trap.
Looking down onto the Bay from the east.Aunty dreaming of the summer, whilst dressed for an Arctic expedition. It wasn’t that cold, really.Gorse flowers almost all year round. “When gorse is out of bloom, kissing is out of season”. When the sun shines bright, the flowers smell of a heady aroma of coconut and vanilla. Apparently gorse flowers make a wonderful flavouring for wine, although picking the flowers amongst the minefield of thorns on the bushes is difficult.Tremella mesenteric, Yellow Brain Fingus, growing on an old gorse branch. Tremella, the generic name means trembling – a reference to the wobbly-jelly-like structure of fungi within this grouping, The specific epithet mesenterica is derived from two Ancient Greek words meso- meaning middle, and -enteron meaning intestine, suggesting that this fungus looks more like a middle intestine that a brain.Down on the beach the rocks are covered with common barnacles. If you look closely among the barnacles it’s possible to see the tiny shells of winkles.One of the cliffs reflected in a rock pool.Over looking the bay is Pennard Castle, perched on the edge of the valley of the Pennard Pill, with a sheer drop below to the north and west. It was a perfect position for a castle, except for one thing which cannot have been foreseen when it was built: it was vulnerable to sand blow. By the end of the 14th century sand encroachment had led to its abandonment.As we climbed the cliffs on the other side of the Bay the Mumbles Life Boat came past on an exercise.
Travels With My Aunt 