Rufus and Dave’s Fortnight of Fun part 4: Old haunts

Give me the keyboard Dave.

But it’s my turn, Rufus.

But you’ll just go on about the car again.

No I won’t. Anyway, have you seen it? It’s red, you know.

*sigh* I know. Hey, Dave, I think someone is touching it.

*woosh*

Right, now Dave’s out of the way, let me tell you about this morning. After yesterday’s hill walk, we were both tired and we both had a lie in. I only woke Dave once to go out and then we both slept on until 7.30. After a breakfast of chicken and vegetables in a ragout sauce (I know, but I’m worth it), and scones for Dave, we set out for Gower. I knew we were going to Rhossili, because Dave muttered something about the longest drive in Gower. Anyway, we parked in the church car park – he prefers to give the parking money to the upkeep of the church. Then we set off. But this time, instead of the climb up onto Rhossili Down, we headed in the opposite direction towards Worm’s Head. I was glad as it was quite hot this morning, despite my new, sleek look.

There were lots of sheep around, and the cliff edge is quite crumbly so I like to keep Dave on the lead for this part of the walk. He tends to wander off with his camera to his eye and who knows where he’d end up in his quest for the perfect photo if I didn’t keep him under control. By the way, he’s been on that quest for 35 years now, but I’m too kind to mention it to him. The Worm was lit up by the soft morning sun and behind it, dark clouds made it stand out. Inevitably, he took pictures of it.

Once we were away from the cliff, I let Dave off the lead and we made our way around to Fall Bay. We haven’t been here for ages so it was nice to go back to an old haunt. The tide was in and it looked as if the cliff path was falling away in patches, so we went down to the rocks in front of us. It was nice to dip my paws in the sea and cool off, and not have great strands of soaking wet fur hanging off them afterwards. I had to remind Dave to throw me stones but he got the message and I managed to retrieve most of them from the surf.

I could see the signs of fatigue in the way Dave was walking, so I decided we should head back to the car. Of course, I did it with such subtlety that Dave thought it was his idea; it’s easier that way. As we walked back we met lots of older people taking a morning stroll to see the Worm. It seemed as if they’d all come from some kind of coach trip, although they were in pairs rather than all together.

As we neared the car park, Dave’s face lit up in a sickly, familiar way and I hopped in the back while he made excuses to walk around the car. I may even have sighed.

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The best laid plans of Rufus and Dave

Today was meant to be an opportunity to get out on the hills, to spend our first full day of the season in the mountains. The weather was looking good, we’d discussed a route (Rufus’ input was that it had to have running water available for him to swim in). Then I managed to get a niggly little cough at the beginning of the week. It bore a close resemblance to the one mentioned in this blog and I have my suspicions that it was given to me by the author.

Anyway, by Thursday my voice was going and on Friday, the constant coughing had worn me down. I had to pull out of two Insiderz gigs so they had enough time to find a replacement (even then, it was short notice). They’re playing in Neath as part of the Oxjam festival tonight and in The Strand on Sunday. Of course, there was no chance of a day on the hills.

This morning, I decided I needed to get some fresh air and Rufus concurred. So we headed off for a curtailed stroll along the top of Rhossili Down. We haven’t been this way for a while so it was a refreshing change from our usual routes. Apart from the initial climb, it’s easy going (which was important for me) but there’s enough height to give it a sense of open space that I like, too. Another thing about Rhossili Down is the range of history in such a short area.

In Rhossili village there are the remains of open field strip farming that was the medieval way of dividing land up to be farmed. On the way up to Rhossili Down there is a Royal Observer Corps bunker from the Cold War. On the top of Rhossili Down are several Bronze Age burial cairns. Below the ridge, facing the sea is a World War 2 radar station, used to detect shipping and low flying aircraft from 1942. On the opposite side of the ridge are two Neolithic burial sites, Sweyn’s Howes. That’s about 5000 years of history if you include the Millennium stone erected in 2000.

Typically for us, as soon as we got to the top of the hill, the rain started. It stopped again, waiting for us to get further from the car before coming back with more vigour. We headed back to the car, but then the rain stopped, so we went for a look at the Neolithic tombs.

Despite the cloud, there was enough sunshine to raise the spirits and the wind wasn’t cold. The fresh air was most welcome and I had a cough free couple of hours before we finally made it back to the car and home for coffee, 2nd breakfast and, for one of us, a chance to flop down on the sofa.

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