Log No 231. Fri 31st Jan 2014 - Burry Port to Gowerton, 13 miles (3536 miles walked)

Last night I met up with Dewi, an old friend and colleague from the Ordnance Survey, who I hadn't seen since 1976. It just so happened that he lived by the coast in Gowerton and I would more or less be passing right by his door.

It was a very poor forecast for today, and the weekend, with wind and rain all day.

Regardless of the weather Dewi had said he would join me for today's walk and I very glad of his company. It was certainly going to test his walking gear.

Dewi's wife, Hazel, drove us to Burry Port and we set off at 09.30 heading straight into the rain.

It was an easy enough walk on a good cycleway along the side of the estuary of the River Loughor.

We passed a marker stone for Amelia Earhart in 1928 when she was the first female to cross the Atlantic in a plane which landed here in Burry Port.

A bit further on in Llanelli a set of rugby posts with relief statues of All Black No 7 attempting to tackle Llanelli's No 10 Phil Bennett during Llanelli's famous victory over New Zealand. Dewi, an avid rugby supporter, is trying to get in on the act.

The cycleway continued through the Wetland Centre to cross the railway line and the A484 just before the bridge over the river at Loughor.

With the constant rain we only had a couple of very short stops for a water break, there was no shelter to stop for lunch, in any case we expected to finish walking back at Dewi's well before 14.00.

From Loughor the minor road to Gowerton had a lot of standing water on it.

After nearly 4 hours of flat walking the last mile was hard work up the steep road to Dewi's house.

It had been 13 miles of constant rain in our faces, so there was very little chance of keeping the water out.

Having expected the waterproofs to succumb I had been wearing a second jacket over my main one and this did manage to prevent the rain getting right through. My trousers, however, which I've had for a few years now, couldn't cope and whilst not totally failing did leave me very damp. But my shoes performed very well keeping my feet completely dry.

It was great meeting up with Dewi again after 37 years and his company today made the time fly by.