This stay in the Gower Peninsula has been one surprise after another. Yesterday, on the drive down, my eye was caught suddenly by a sign by a large gateway. It said “Kilvrough Manor”. This used to be an activity centre, I believe run by the National Association of Youth Clubs, and at the age of 17 I went there to take part in an “Endeavour” course. These courses were actually founded by my uncle, Dick Allcock, a thoroughly remarkable man, who had a tremendous influence on my personal development. I think that I can date my discovery of myself as possibly a worthwhile human being to that week at Kilvrough.
The flow of reminiscence continued at dinner. The food here is really very good, and the exceptional fish platter I had last night was accompanied by “bara llawr”. ( lava bread) – actually a kind sea-weed typical of this area. I encountered it first on that Endeavor course.
The day’s walking on the coast path has also held its surprises. The wild flowers and birds have been great …. Including the opportunity to watch choughs while we ate lunch. I’ve seen them often in the alps, but they are quite rare in the UK. I suppose that the great limestone cliffs of this part of the coast have something alpine about them.
I did manage to do a reasonable sketch (ink and wash) while we sat for lunch, without the muddle of yesterday. Perhaps I’ll take up again a theme I explored in some depth a few years back, investigating the images of fractures, cleavages and discontinuities in the landscape. In fact, during the walk I’ve gathered quite a bit of reference material.
Nearing the end of our walk we were ambushed in a narrow lane by two very respectable people who insisted that we go into the neighbouring house to take some refreshment. They would not take “No” for an answer. It turned out that the owner of the house holds an annual fund-raising event for a charity working in India. When we got in it seemed that half the county was there. The lavish display of food was unfortunate, because we had just struggled to eat half of the enormous picnic lunch the pub had supplied for us. All we could manage was drinks. They were a very sociable bunch, and the garden surrounding the house was delightful.
the final surprise has been the discovery that it is impossible to get a ‘phone signal anywhere in the area, so I have not been able to cast my vote for the Audience Prize for Cardiff Singer.