Left at the Lookout

Most people who visit Rhosilli and Worm’s Head for a walk, head down from the car park in the village to the coastguard lookout. A few adventurous souls go over to The Worm, but most stay a while, take in the view, and then return, but few seem to realise there are great treasures along the cliffs to the east of the lookout.

It’s flat up here, the footpath is away from the cliff edge, and the walking is easy. The sound of the wind and crashing surf on the rocks below is invigorating, and it feels wild. It’s midweek, only a few walkers venture this way, and I could be at the end of the world. From up, here looking west, the Worm is obstructed, but replaced by an equally beautiful view. Rhosilli Vile slopes gently upwards towards the village, most summer crops have been taken off now, and the fields, showing a mixture of fading greens, look untidy. Much of the wall by the path from the village towards the lookout was restored several years ago and is in fine condition, but here stretches are still in need of repair, somehow adding to the remoteness of this magical place. A narrow gully slopes down to the lower cliff path, providing gorse perches and food for a solitary stonechat, whilst a migrating wheatear prefers the dry stonewall.

At Tears Point, I sit on the top of the cliff and watch the boiling surf below. There are some sheltered places on the south Gower coast where the sea can be more or less calm, but never here. Exposed to the full force of the Atlantic swell, the sound of crashing waves defines this beautiful spot.

To the east I look into Fall Bay with not a soul in sight. Nesting fulmars still patrol Lewis Castle; they’ll have young about to fledge now, but will be gone soon to spend just a few months at sea, before returning in early January. I realise I haven’t met a soul since turning left at the lookout, exactly as I’d hoped.