A hot day today with the temperature in the mid twenties. After a slow start, we drove to Ogmore by Sea on the A48. When we reached St Hilary we found the road was closed due to a serious car crash for longer than usual, and we were diverted on to narrow country lanes through small hamlets, past a few churches I took services in ten years ago in the early years of my retirement. Progress was very slow due to a lack of passing places and the number of bigger saloons and SUVs taking up two thirds of the carriageway. That added twenty minutes to a journey which took us down Cowbridge High Street, to get back on the A48 as the Cowbridge by-pass was also closed. Luckily I knew my way across this stretch of countryside, as both Clare and Owain were disoriented, and unable to navigate using a phone as there was no signal.
At Ogmore beach, the heath land over the foreshore was parked with scores of cars and camper vans in a piecemeal assortment of rough metalled parking areas linked by access roads and hemmed in by boulders to limit the extent to which visitors could park off-road. The pay and display parking was a shock to the system. £1.10 an hour, for short stay visits, and then £6.10 for anything over an hour, pay and display. A beach about half a mile long, to the east of the Ogwr river outflow is under active lifeguard surveillance, as there are dangerous rip tide currents in the vicinity, so swimmers and paddle boarders are shepherded away from the area. Owain and Clare went for a paddle while I took a few photos, including a couple with a smartphone for two women with eastern European accents, sunning themselves on the shore.
The beach is served by an ice cream van and a fast food van and nothing more. The public toilets are in a disgusting unmaintained state. Even so there were hundreds of people on the beach and on the foreshore above, enjoying the sun. It's the sort of place you take a picnic unless you have a camper van. There are no trees, no shade unless you bring your own. In bad weather it's windswept and desolate, but on a day like today with the tide going out, the expanse of golden sand against a blue sky compensates for the stark and unwelcoming impression. Unless you're going to swim surf or paddle board in safe areas, or walk along the Heritage Coast, there'd be little reason to stay longer than an hour, but an extra five quid to park for longer than an hour is hardly justifiable when the toilets are so awful, and there are no changing facilities or showers available. Installation is currently in progress of an automatic number plate recognition camera to enforce drivers to pay and display. I wonder how long that will survive vandalism?
We stayed a couple of hours, then drove back up the river valley for a cup of tea at The Pelican pub, near the riverside ruins of Ogmore Castle before heading for home on the M4, rather than the A48. We called into Lidl's in Leckwith for groceries, to ensure we had enough for supper, as Owain is staying on an extra night. He's taken a week's holiday for respite after a stressful few months. It seems like the solicitors have completed all the conveyancing work, and his purchase of the apartment should be done by the end of this month. Then there'll be more stress for him as he prepares to move in while still working, but he's looking forward to having the security of a place of his own again. The past six months of returning to be a lodger hasn't been the best of experiences for him.
Clare cooked mackerel and sea bass for supper. Owain then went out to see friends after many months of being too busy, and catching up with them, and I took my prescription renewal form to post through the door of the GP surgery, then walked around the park. There was nothing on telly I wanted to watch, and spent the rest of the evening with Rafon's 'Sombra del Viento'. It's language is rich with a range of unfamiliar words that need looking up or guessing from context, but the conversations and description of characters are wryly comic. It's a challenge, but an enjoyable read.
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