Saturday 22 June 2013

Kidwelly and Pembrey Country Park

Paul and I decided on a bike ride and for a route a lot of which would be new for us.

Route

We parked the car at the visitor site in Kidwelly next to the river. We took the shared trail on the northern side of the river which led to a minor road and past a small nature reserve.



 It was possible to either go left and head towards Llansaint and Ferryside or turn right back to Kidwelly.

We did neither but retraced our steps and cycled through Kidwelly and joined the National Cycle Route 4 which at this point is off road and heads into Pembrey forest and country park.

Before entering the forest there are wide open views and the occasional cow blocking the path! In the distance we could see the small airport and judging by the large areas of concrete we were riding on it must have seen a lot of action presumably in the second world war.




I was a little concerned about entering the forest as we had already passed a sign indicating the route was closed because of flooding and late last year I had to turn back when I rode from the other direction.

However although it was clear where the water had been the flood had gone although the track was a little rutted, probably not helped by forestry machinery.

We continued on to the Millenium path and turned back into the country park. We both remarked that this park, which covers a huge area, is a great facility.

A possible backpacking route?


We retraced our route, well almost, as we missed an obvious turning and found ourselves next to the race track and watched two powerful and noisy cars speeding around the track.

Notice the drawing of a duck? it was a low bridge.


Back on the correct path the earlier awkward cow had been joined by a lot of others, but they mooved (get it) off.

A pleasant ride and we picked the last of the good weather judging by the forecast for the weekend.

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Llandeilo to Llanddarog

On Tuesday, Mrs Bob was having her hair primped in Llandeilo and it seemed a good idea to have a lift there and cycle home.

Trusted Steed

Route

Mad dogs and a Welshman go out in the midday sun! Yes it was a hot one.

I headed over Llandeilo bridge and turned right in Fairfach.  The plan was to cycle through Gelli Aur Country Park, but this was abandoned because of locked gates.  There are new owners now and although it seems the public footpaths are still available there is no obvious welcome for other modes of transport - I could be wrong!

Gelli Aur Park & Mansion

Anyway I carried on along the road and then turned left into Gelli Aur village stopping to look at the church, and a drink!

The well had run dry

Gelli Aur Church

Another view of church

I cycled on up the some what steep hill and zig zags looking for the turning right which would take me to Porthyrhyd. Would you believe it a council sign informed me that the road was closed except for access.

I decided to ignore the sign and carry on, if it was closed at least the return trip would be down hill.

Someway along the road another cyclist towing a youngster in a trailer appeared and he was sure the road was not fully closed.  Indeed it wasn't, just a minor repair job which may have restricted motor vehicles.

On I went with good views north and south until dropping down into Porthyrhyd and my home in
Llanddarog.