Hi fellow Trekkers,

I am leading the walk this coming Sunday (30th November).It is advertised as seven miles in the programme.I have extended the walk and it is now eleven miles. Please be aware that this walk involves some steep scrambling. I must emphasise that THIS WALK IS NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED. For those intending to come along please bring all necessaries for a day out on the hills including a torch/head torch. The meeting place is 9.00 a.m. at The Civic Centre for those who require a lift. I will be waiting in the Asda car park in Ystalyfera at 9.30 a.m. Please be on time. Should you require more information please contact me on 07813141101. I don't bite. Thanks.

Paul Harris

Landimore Marsh, Cheriton, Burry Pill and Weobley Castle

23rd of November 2014

 

 

 



 

I was tasked this week with following on from Janet's popular walk in Dyffryn woods and the Drummau mountains. It would appear, as far as numbers are concerned anyway, that I failed miserably. As we all know by now we shouldn't let appearances fool us though. Final attendance on today's walk was just the six: myself, the ever reliable Caroline Williams and Silvana Powell, Jonathan Jones, Julian Evans and the long lost Anwen Cale. Anwen's appearance was led by her not wanting to turn up for our New Year trip to Milford Haven looking like a holiday scrubber...but we'll let that pass for now. Unfortunately we were missing Dave, Trich and Tyrion because of unforeseen circumstances and we lost a certain unnamed person due to...ahem...rugby led over indulgence. For shame!

 

We're a determined lot with the Tawe Trekkers though so on we trudged from the starting point at Landimore Marsh. We followed the Wales Coastal Path initially until we reached a rough old road and turned left to Llanmadoc. The route had already proven to be muddy by this stage and we were all nursing the mud stains as we reached a bit of civilization. In Llanmadoc we followed the road left, all aiming our best pining glances at the Britannia Inn as we passed, until we reached the church of St Cadoc in Cheriton. Sometimes known as the "Cathedral of Gower" (thank you Wikipedia) this church is actually a Grade 1 listed building and is thought to have been built in the 14th century.

 

Opposite the Cathedral of Gower there is a clearly marked footpath sign leading past Gower Pottery, through a small wood path and then into some fields. From this point we were able to follow the Burry Pill on our right all the way to Stembridge, a rarely visited area of the Gower. Here we had to join a main road for a while as we trudged uphill to a pretty dilapidated old farm with a lot of barking dogs. We quickly scuttled past, joining a rough track in some fields that ultimately led to an ancient standing stone. As we walked through these fields I had to encourage everyone not to miss the opportunity to glance back and experience the spectacular view of Cefn Bryn that we had. It was this point that we truly realised how lucky we were to have the weather.

 

 



 

Eventually we reached Windmill Farm and turning downhill towards the coast we were met a great view of Weobley Castle, spoilt only by two houses that I spent the next 5 minutes moaning about. "They'd never get planning permission now" I quite rationally stated! We didn't stay too long at Weobley Castle but instead chose to pass it on our right and walk back out on to Landimore where we were met with this brilliant opportunity for a group 'selfie' with the castle in the background (note how Caroline managed to weasle her way out of the shot).

 

 



 

From this point it was a simple case of passing through some more muddy fields back to the start point at Landimore Marsh. Now your average walking group would at this point have parted ways back to their comfy middle-class hum-drum lives. Not us at the Tawe Trekkers though! We quickly got out of our muddy kits, changed into something a little more presentable (I had to tell Silvana to stop checking out my sexay legs at this point) and made our way to the Greyhound Inn for a taste of some fine ale and a damn fine Sunday dinner.  For those of you interested following our previous visit here the person serving us today was 14 years old. He was very good and so was the day as a whole, even if I do say so myself.

Next week the newly married Paul 'Bomber' Harris will be leading us on a walk in Ystalafera. I've been looking forward to this one for weeks now as we rarely get out to this area. I have no doubt that it will be a spectacular walk but be warned - though it's a short walk at just 7 miles it's expected to be a very strenuous one. It's a slightly early start for this one. For those interested I will meet you at Swansea Civic Centre at 9am where we will convoy to the car park at ASDA in Ystalafera to me Paul for 9:30am. Please let me know what your plans are 07540 746360 - if we don't know you are coming we will not be able to wait for you!

Diolch! Dylan

21/11/2014 General News and Announcement

Helo pawb!

So the Tawe Trekkers held its regular Committee/Programme planning meeting yesterday. I thought I would send this newsletter out to update you all on some developments. For reference the Tawe Trekkers Committee currently consists of:

Andrew Bevan: Programme Secretary
Dylan Couch: Social Media and Social Secretary
Robert Hall: Financial Secretary
David Horton: Chair
Graham Rutt: Footpaths Secretary
Sarah Thompson: Secretary

On the 22/01/2015 we will be holding our Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Vivian Arms, Sketty at 7:30pm. Everyone is welcome. There will be a lot of change taking place and there will be some discussions in which we would like to get the opinions of those who wish to share. These would include how to encourage more people to volunteer to lead walks, and a Tawe Trekker Constitution.

Firstly, there will be some changes taking place in the Committee in January and as a result there will be two new opportunities for people to join the Committee. These positions will be:

Secretary

Sarah will sadly be stepping down from this role in January to concentrate on other personal commitments. She will be painfully missed as she has been an invaluable member of the group over the years. Especially so in 2014, which has been a difficult period for the Committee. Her positivity, diplomacy and clear thinking will be a huge loss to us.

Historically this role has included keeping us organised by ensuring facilities are available for meetings and keeping records of our meetings too. The role will also give you the opportunity to be the direct liaison between the TT's Committee and the Ramblers. The role continues to evolve though and we are happy to listen to ideas for how it can further develop in the future.

Social Events Secretary

I agreed to take on this role myself last January, naively not fully appreciating how time consuming it can become. I have felt in recent months that it has become a little overwhelming for me to do along with managing the social media and I have therefore chosen to step down. I will continue to manage our social media and my role will be rebranded in the New Year to Communications Secretary. This will give me responsibility for making sure all current and prospective TT members are informed of everything that is going on.

This therefore means that there is a further role of Social Events Secretary now available. This role, as you can imagine, is still a developing one and we would discourage the idea of one person placing sole responsibility for arranging social events on themselves. However, if you would like to help us to ensure that we continue to evolve as a socially active group by arranging and coordinating our social events and by being a liaison to other members who want to arrange an event then please let us know.

We are eager to encourage future growth in our committee in an effort to bring in new blood with fresh ideas. This is therefor the ideal opportunity if you have had ideas for how you would like to see us improve what we do. Please contact our Chair, David Horton, if you are interested in this opportunity.

Secondly we have now planned our programme to the end of May 2015. I am sure that this will soon be published on our website so keep an eye out. Events that you might be interested in will include a walk being led for us in February by the Tregaron Walking Club, The Abergavenny Three Peaks Challenge at the end of March, and two trips in May.

In relation to the Tregaron walk being led for us this had originally been planned for March the 14th. However, due to unforeseen circumstances we have had to make some swift changes. This means that we have a blank spot for the 15/03/2014. If you would like to offer to lead a moderate or strenuous walk on this date please get in touch with Andrew Bevan.

Last but not least the jolly season is now upon us and there are two events coming up.

There are still spaces available for TT members for our Christmas meal at Tapestri for the 12/12/2014. If you would like to join us please contact me on 07540746360. You will need to provide a £10 deposit to secure your place.

Our New Year trip to Milford Haven is now full too. If you've missed your chance to join us at the bunkhouse please don't hesitate to book into a local B&B. You will be welcome to join us on our walks and when on the razz. We're equal opportunity drinkers at the Tawe Trekkers The current planned itinerary is as follows:

30/12/2014 - Arrive at the Bunkhouse. Those who arrive by 12pm can join me in a brief 3-mile jaunt around Milford Haven, taking in the newly developed marina and scouting local public houses.

We will then have a meal together at the bunkhouse and generally get to know each other.

31/12/2014 - Dale to Milford Haven (11-miles). We will get a bus from the bunkhouse to Dale and then take in the sights of the Coastal path as we walk back to Milford Haven, catch a meal in a local public house (I'm sensing a trend here) when we arrive and then return to the bunkhouse to put on our faces for the night that follows.

Last year in Llanidloes there were local bands playing and I am sure we will have another great night to talk about for months to come.

01/01/2015 - I have scheduled this day as a recovery day. My thoughts are that people can do what they want in an effort to chill out and recover from the night before. If someone wants to lead a short walk that would be great. Please let me know. Some people have suggested doing the Saundersfoot NY swim. If you're interested in this please let me know too. Either way I'm sure we will enjoy a few more drinks (oh dear!) somewhere along the line.

02/01/2015 - My birthday! Hint hint nudge nudge. Pembroke Dock to Milford Haven (9 miles). There is the possibility to extend this to 12 miles by going from Pembroke itself but basically we will make another return journey to Milford Haven via the Coastal Path. I'm sure we will then have food and a pint (My name is Dylan and I'm an...) before going on our merry ways home.

Given that this trip ends on a Friday we have decided not to put a walk on that Sunday. The programme will start again from the following Sunday the 11/01/2015.

Thanks for reading everyone. See you soon. Diolch!

Dylan


 

Greetings fellow Trekkers,

I trust that you have all written your Christmas present lists to Santa and sent them off to Greenland for his consideration ? If not, then please hurry, because a little bird told me that he is especially busy this year and that first come, first served is the order of the day!!! Ho,ho,ho.

Since my last posting a great deal has been happening in the world of Tawe trekking. On Rememberance Sunday (9th November) Graham led a walk to Carrig Coch to pay respect to the airmen who died on the hillside when their Wellington Bomber crashed during World war two. Having participated in this service before, and despite not being there myself this year, I am certain that for those who attended it was a moving experience, the mist adding atmosphere and solemnity to this annual event.Thanks Graham. Thanks also to Kyle who took and posted some exceptional photos of the crash site.

Janet and Shona took the reins on the 16th of November and led a pleasant walk through Dyffryn woods and up Drymmau mountain, passing through the Darren woods before finishing the walk in Cwm Clydach nature reserve. We were joined on this romp by several members of the swansea outdoor group. Thanks Janet.

On the 20th of November the more erudite among us pitted their wits at the quiz night at the Westbourne pub. As yet, details of a successful (or not) result are still to be leaked.

The programme meeting took place at The Vivian pub in Sketty on the 21st of November.We can thus all look forward to plenty more winter walks on the upcoming programme.Thanks to all who participated at this meeting and to all of you who volunteered to lead.

Dylan leads the walk this coming Sunday (23rd of November) around a less well explored area of North Gower. Starting from Landimore, the route will pass through Cheriton and Stembridge, finishing with a meal (optional) in The Greyhound. For more details please refer to the Tawe Trekkers programme page.

That's all for now folks,

Paul