Walk 21 - 13/4/14 - (Day 1) - Swansea (West Glamorgan, Wales) to Margam (Port Talbot, Wales)

On The day of our walk, we caught the bus to Swansea, from just outside The Twelve Knights in Margam, where we would be later spending night.

From the bus station we walked the short distance to pick up the Wales Coast Path in Swansea Bay.

Fast easy walking on the flat, past new apartment blocks on the edge of the bay.

Walking very slightly inland in we approached the weir.

We walked across the weir towards Prince of Wales Dock, where we found the coast path signage a little patchy and had retrace our steps at least once to get on the right track.

Looking across the weir to the new developments.

The beautiful Norwegian Church - grade 2 listed, no longer used for services.

In contrast to all the new developments in Prince of Wales Dock, we soon found ourselves walking past the Crymlyn Bog National Nature Reserve.

In order to cross The River Neath, we had to cross some rather high bridges, which made us feel somewhat weak at the knees. The photograph on the left looks back to the A48 bridge from near to Baglan Bay.

The accumulator tower that used to house the steam powered hydraulic system that operated a single floating dock, as part of the now defunct Britain Ferry Dock. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, it was completed two years after his death in 1859.

Looking down towards Baglan Bay and the mouth of the River Neath.

From the same spot looking upstream towards the M4 and A48 bridges spanning the river.

The man striding into the distance is Pete Hill, who is walking around the coastline of Britain in one go. Walking 20 miles a day, with just one day off a week! We stopped and compared notes with Pete, who is walking to raise money for a couple of charities. His website and blog are well worth a read - www.gbcoastwalk.com.

The Wales Coast Path, then took us past the beautiful dunes (above) and sandy beach (below) of Aberavon Sands.

We then arrived at the leisure part of Aberavon Sands, to the North of Port Talbot. It was a beautiful hot day, so Julie and I indulged in a very refreshing ice-cream, whilst sitting on the edge of the sands admiring the view.

As we progressed along the front, we could see the industrialisation of Margam and the steam/smoke billowing from the Tata Steel works.

Looking back, from where we had walked towards the mumbles.

The last photograph of our walk as we walked along the River Avan, just outside Port Talbot. From here we walked back to Margam and to re-join the start of our walk at The Twelve Knights, from here we drove back to Gloucester.