Llantwit Major is appr. 20 kms far from Barry Island. Little town, the coast is about 2 kms walk from the railway station. if that wednesday was the best day of my trip then llantwit major was the best part of that day.
as i told u before it wasn't very hot. in fact, it was cold like shit :). the nicest thing was that i didn't care! i was walking barefoot in the sea. -alright, only after i stepped into the water by chance... but i just took my shoes off and walked around along the shore. and not only around but let's leave for later...
to reach the sea u need to walk for about half an hour from the town. the way or rather the path is part of the coastal heritage. in fact, that whole area is part of the national heritage. no wonder: the Glamorgen Valley is really stunning. it's a valley leading right to the sea. the path that i took was up on the hill so i could see the whole valley. the northern part gives place to nice cottages whereas the southern part is wild nature, no civilization at all. Just like the shores: along the sea u can only see cliffs and where the valley reaches the sea, two bulidings are standing there and that's all.
it's not easy to describe u have to see it.
this was the view from the top of the cliff - I was walking along the coast right on the edge of the cliff. in the left bottom corner there's one of those buildings i just mentioned. the other one is an oldschool cafe with a design from the 70's. i felt home, it reminded me of old socialist furnitures :). anyway, i had a great beef stew there (it saved my life, i was f***ing starving :) )
to get to the sea (and to those buildings) i had to descend here (below) -funny thing, after walking almost for an hour, it turned out that right the end of this coastal path was closed because of works on it. of course i didn't want to turn back so i just ignored it. so this is the eastern end of the valley:
same place from a bit further away. stone sea.
one of the plenty of sights here is the fossiles. i can't remember how old these fossils (shells and other sea animals) are but certainly a few million years at least. and there's so many of them, amazing!
it was quite windy and there were good waves to surfing (i think i have some pics of some guys surfing there but not particularly good ones...) what i like in this photo is the waves and even more the caves in the background. i think i don't have add any comment on this.
i wasn't brave/stupid enough to get inside into one of them. they are not very safe... their condition is statically not satisfying... - to be politically correct :)
and why i said i wasn't only walking around: i noticed a castle in the distant and i thought i will have a closer look at it. in the beginning i wasn't even sure if it was a castle but soon it turned out that it was, indeed.
so i set forth, barefoot with my camera and some other stuff in my hand, no one around. i was in such a good mood! it was quite far, and i really couldn't see anyone, i was on my own. that time i enjoyed this a lot. i was even making jokes. for example i found this 'stage' on my way there. i couldn't stand acting for a while: :)
i spent so much time with these silly things that i noticed that the tide was coming. i had to speed up a little bit, i was a bit afraid that it would catch me. i didn't wish this as there was nowhere to run away apart from the cliffs which were also dangerous enough. anyway, i survived, i managed to reach the castle in time. the castle turned out to be a private high school, so basically i was trespassing there, but noone told me anything. good old welsh people, they don't expect any bad purpose :) anyway, i couldn't have gone back on the same route because of the tide, and to get to the main road, i had to walk through the castle itself which i would say was a good luck. beautiful castle, stunning views, nice gardens. the castle itself was built on a big slope (or cliff - i don't know). that's why the great view:
from the castle i walked back on the main road to the town. lucky cows here, what a pity that they don't appreciate the view...:
the best thing i liked in England (same in Wales and Scotland): after a long journey in beautiful surroundings u can always get into a pub in a nice little town or village and try some local ale. i always tried the local ones. of course i couldn't miss it in llantwit major either:
and remember: the lightest ales have the best taste. this is my experience. of course it is a matter of taste. :)
