Rhossili Bay

We set out for Rhossili Bay on a hot day in May, but when we arrived it was shrouded in cloud. We couldn’t see past a few feet. We found ourselves gazing out at the beautiful view anyway, enjoying it every bit as much. The mist muffled sound, so that we felt almost alone, though there were hundreds of people landing in their cars.

We ate a picnic in the mist. Then we walked to the causeway, where we’d heard there was good rockpooling. There was! We found fish, fossils and sea anemones; mussels, barnacles and periwinkle. We watched people setting out for Worm’s Head.

One man, frustrated at his son’s slow progress, was overheard: “You’re like a barnacle, hanging onto that rock.” Son: “Yup. I’m just going to barney along, all the way out to that island.”

My own son had to be dissuaded from bringing the shrimp and mussels home to cook them and eat them. We met a sea slater, which is a littoral woodlouse or sea roach (I learned). One of the sea anemones had a blue ring around its body.

When we got back up to the cliff top, the mist had cleared and our heads felt hot. The ice cream I had in Rhossili was coffee-flavoured, and I’m not sure I’ve ever enjoyed an ice cream more. The chips were too yellow, though.

 We walked down to the enormous beach and ran in and out of the freezing sea until even we had to admit it was hometime.