From the Barkeep's Blog

Monday in January. The Wales Coast Path website proudly proclaims :
Sandy Water Park & The Mabinogion Woods Sculpture Trail Millennium Coastal Park, Llanelli SA15 2LF.
Large lake with interesting birdlife and numerous Swans, including a trail through the woods with Mabinogion inspired sculptures.

This morning I strolled across the Agen Bridge into Sandy Water Park, once home of the Steelworks, now part of the coastal cycle path SUSTRANS, and part of the Millennium Coastal Path, the "Carmarthenshire Bit" as they say on the website. Considering that we have had the wettest year in history according to the pundits, this was the seventh day of the new year where I managed to walk without need for waterproofs. But this morning I was concerned with the heroic age or mythological past of the British Isles, the eleven stories of the Mabinogion, and the path that winds through the woods at the eastern edge of the water park.

Entrance to the Path

It would be quite easy to miss the entrance to the path if you are unaware of its location. It is by the car park - but there are no sings pointing to the entrance. Just a single post, and you have to get right up to it to find the writing thereon..

The carving is not very clear - but at least you now know that you are on the right road. A closer look at the post and you can see that there are further carvings at the top of the post.

As you enter the path, through the clearing you can see the first of the sculptures. A cast iron boar.

He is well weathered and I have visited him often as I walk the dogs - and he only improves with age.

The Boar

The boar is in a small clearing with a two small benches suitable for sitting and contemplating the whichness of the why, but for the busy dog-walker it is back to the path and through the trees. The whole site used to be the Steelworks, and the trees and features have all been planted and grown in the time I have lived in Llanelli. I used to drive through the area in a police car in the early eighties. The Duport Electric Arc Furnace at Pwll was one of the finest in the country they say, though I recall it mainly for the sound of the locomotive pulling the metal from the interior in the early hours of the morning as I tried to sleep in the police house opposite. But the trees are fast growing and now well established.So I walked on in search of the remainder of the sculptures. I remember the stag, and the owl, had I missed any in my previous perambulations?

And so, as I got half way through the path, I came to the sad sight of the post that once held the Stag. Similar to the boar, it stood in pride of place atop another post... but all I was met with was the broken stump of the stand.

Through to the end of the path, and no sign of any other sculpture. the Owl that I recalled was nowhere to be found. No other animals or relics of Mabonigion tales to be seen . Only the simple post at the other end of the path. this too held the legend of the path... but no suggestion that the path had been denuded.

As I left the path, I met with one of the groundsmen, clearing some rubbish from the site. I asked about the stag.
"It is safe" he told me. "The post was vandalised but we managed to keep the stag and it is in the depot while we wait to see what we are going to do with it." I will try to visit the depot and see where it is...
"But the owl", he confided, "we never found.... The post was broken and the owl stolen. We haven't seen it since"

Once more, I leave my walk a little saddened.


From the Barkeep's Blog