St David’s Day with Swansea Jack
I picked up the American in Llanelli and we drove to the top of Stradey Hill. I wanted to show him the location of Llanelli and its proximity to the sea. Llanelli docks was once a thriving place and the tide and water table played an important part in cultural and industrial life. In my view the people of Llanelli are of a positive disposition and this I believe is because they look onto the National Park known as the Gower Coast. Of course if you live on the Gower then you look onto Llanelli. At one time this view would have been peppered with factories and smoking chimneys.
We drove down to town and paid a visit to Llanelli market. One of the cockle ladies of Penclawdd has a stall there and we tried fresh cockles. Anne very kindly gave us a fresh cockle from a shell. No mean feat, as she had to boil the kettle first to immerse the cockle so that it would open up. The taste didn’t disappoint, as you could taste the sea. Having had our cockles we went to get some freshly cooked Welsh cakes. A brief tour of the town now under redevelopment but still looking shabby, chaotic and in the hands of executives from the land of heathens. Not the Llanelli town centre I knew and loved but this is progress.
We moved on to Stradey Park and the hallowed ground of Llanelli RFC. The ground has been demolished but we could plainly see the layout and the area of the pitch. It brought back a lot of memories for me not least meeting my dear wife in the stand. Another decision to rip out the heart of Llanelli by executives hungry for profit with no care for history. I could see and hear the crowd and the players including a fit Ray Gravell running with ball in hand.
We left Stradey and headed through Burry Port and into the harbour. Amelia Earheart landed her plane friendship there. We took a closer look at the Gower and the sky was as moody as a Turner painting. A bit brisk at this time of year so we took a few photos and headed back to the van. We followed the road down to Kidwelly and paid a visit to the castle. It was free entry being St David’s Day. We were met by Peggy Davies dressed in her Welsh costume and carrying sweets and Welsh cakes. Peggy told us the story of the castle and another gentleman with her gave us the story of Gwenllian. Peggy also kindly posed for photos and directed us to her relative’s café where we had a lovely breakfast. The Gate House café is located at the gatehouse of the castle. Beautiful, cosy and comfortable with lots of atmosphere.
We left Kidwelly and headed for Carmarthen. A walk to the town centre and into the Plume of Feathers a very small pub with plenty of character. A swift pint and we were off to the market. We had a look at all the local produce on offer. It was great to meet Swansea Jack and show him parts of my hometown. I left him at Carmarthen station heading for his hometown of Swansea.
