Rhosili

I'm told there was heavy rain in the night, if so I was barely aware of it as I slept long and deep. So did everyone else. Kath and Anto's telly woke up in the small hours, causing confusion however. At our ten o'clock cooked breakfast in the hotel we were told that there's been a power cut in the night (the phantom telly switch on was related to this), also the hotel gas supply cut out early on causing breakfasts to run an hour late. Fortunately they'd caught up by the time we surfaced and needed feeding. We've all slowed down considerably this past few days. Sadly this is our last before heading back to everyday pressures of work and ministry. I think we could all do with longer away.

At the end of the morning we drove to Rhosili. Despite threats of rain, it remained warm and dry with a blue sky dramatically decorated with pale and dark grey clouds. We walked down on to Rhosili Bay's mile long beach, appearing vaster than ever with the tide out as far as it could go. The path from village to beach is a steep 200m descent with steps and slopes, which I found pretty taxing on my quad muscles. The others wanted to walk the half a mile to where the tide had retreated and paddle, but I was interested in taking pictures of what remains of the 'Helvetia', a Norwegian timber carrier which foundered on the shore during a gale on All Saints Day 1887. The story is here

We then had a picnic in the shelter of the cliffs. Anto went off for a walk along the shore, Clare Kath and Owain stayed on the beach, while I climbed back up to Rhosili, and walked the mile and back to Worms Head point to take a few photos. That's the first time I've managed both of these walks in a day.  Yet again, I've been surprised that the venue has been less crowded than I thought it would be, with so many more people holidaying in Britain this year than for decades.

We met up again for the drive back to Oxwich and a final swim for those keen to take to the waters (not me), as the tide came in. We enjoyed a traditional last night fish and chip supper together, thanks to the  chippie that's part of the general store in the village. As supplies arrived, we had our first downpour of the day. We've been been most fortunate to have four days of good weather while a large unstable weather system has passed across Britain from the south west, flooding some places, even in lower Wandsworth in London. A lovely respite. If only it could have been longer!