So, we have had a few storms here in Gower, South Wales, but luckily we haven’t had the tides. The storm surge conditions of big storms on very large tides that devastated the UK coast last year fortunately haven’t occurred. yet I am still seeing a lot of sand movement and some quite substantial erosion at the top of the beaches.
Molly and I now have a regular 5 km loop of Three Cliffs Bay and Pobbles Bay. I have mentioned the route before in this link. It is my default exercise route for the little Frenchton (French Bulldog / Boston Terrier) on a Sunday when we are racing to make the most of the short Winter light.
It always starts with a stunning view over the UK’s most photographed and painted view, Three Cliffs Bay.
This time we were able to drop into the valley(it is tide dependent), and make our wave down to the cave through Three Cliffs itself to get to Pobbles Bay. The tide cuts the two bays off from each other so it is important to keep an eye on the tide,
There has been quite a bit of high tide erosion as you enter Three Cliffs Bay, I can’t see the footpath above this collapse lasting another few storms.
Some quite big chunks of Gower hillside have come away.
There is definitely some retreat here in the face of Winter storms.
After getting our Storm Watch photos Molly and got through the cave and entered Pobbles Bay. Molly concentrated on her new obsession, playing stick…
…Before going on the lead so she couldn’t bother her other obsession, horses.
We did a longer than usual walk climbing up to the Pennard Cliffs rather than our usual walk up to Pennard Golf Club. This allowed me to get some shots of Three Cliffs from an angle I don’t often photograph from.
The sweeping beach was almost untouched.
Three Cliffs are fantastic from any angle, especially in the light of a bruised Winter’s sky.
The view from Pennard Cliffs is of pure rugged beauty.
All in all January hasn’t been too bad, the storms we have had haven’t coincided with high tides that caused so much damage last year. Molly and I have got out on the beach most weekends, you can see more photos on my @DimExcuses twitter, or you can get down there and see those views for yourself, DimExcuses.