Fishing the Heron Ponds

Burry Port: Tranquil haven

See that concrete 'platform' below the train? That is the exact spot where my friends and I would go fishing for flatfish and mullet (only ever caught a flattie) in Burry Port. Looking at it again, after all these years of relying on smoky memories, is like opening a door to another realm and getting fired back into the ages. Ah, such sudden, blissful jolts of remembrance! What a soothing picture that sends the memories cartwheeling back through my mind like foxgloves falling on a freshly mowed lawn.
The spot itself is long gone now of course, having been replaced by the new Millennium Coastal park, but as you can see by the hilly background, it was a very peaceful place to go and set up rod and reel. Or with a good book on a summers day. Just beyond the railway line, was what we used to call the "Heron Ponds", and it was a haven for wildlife; herons, coots, moorhens, swans, rabbits, weasels, cormorants, wild geese, the list was almost endless as to what one could see there. And with the wild estuary looking out toward the beautiful Gower, it truly was one the best spots to visit in Burry Port (that ever so softly 'touched' the blink-and-miss-it Pwll.)
There was a sandy cove nearby too, and I used to think of it as my own private beach. Save the odd dog walker, it rarely saw much humans, for young boys growing up it was paradise. Swimming, fishing, camping, hunting; no prizes for guessing where a lot of the summer holidays were spent. We used to set up tents and pick limpets from the rocky shore to boil on a camp fire while the sun sank behind the distant hills. Oh how the city boys missed such magic moments! I keep saying it, and I always will but I am truly blessed to have grown up in this thorny, barnacled town in west Wales.

Penscynor Wildlife Park

Vintage: Penscynor car sticker

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Penscynor Wildlife Park is home to some of the world’s most endangered and beautiful animals, all of which nestle amongst the trees, streams and gardens. Parrots, penguins, monkeys, apes and more are all just waiting to be discovered by visitors. You can touch and hold the animals in the Zoo Centre, feed the trout, llama, donkeys and deer, as well as experiencing the famous Alpine Slide. There is a playground in the grounds for children, as well as Bumpa Boats and much more. Visitors can enjoy a picnic or try the delights in one of the four cafes, as well as finding a special gift in one of the souvenir shops.

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When I saw that car sticker last night for the first time in years, I felt dizzy such was the rush of emotion/memories that flooded my brain upon seeing it. This wildlife park was one of THE places to go in the summer.
No it wasn't in Burry Port but Penscynor does bring back warm waves of joy to many 'Burryites' (as I discovered on Facebook last night when I uploaded photos) and therefore it deserves to be mentioned in this blog.


Chico in her enclosure

The park was in Cilfrew, Neath, not an especially long run up the motorway from Burry, and like Porthcawl it has a very dear place in my heart. Sadly it closed down in October 1998 and like many places, lives on only in peoples memories. I certainly does in mine. I have many many stories from Penscynor. One being the Alpine Ski Slide which was there, where children would hurtle down tracks shaped like toboggan runs on plastic carts with a brake lever sticking up from inbetween your legs. Of course being daredevils, my brother and I would barely touch the brake, letting the carts (and ourselves) almost shoot up the side of the run and flip over into heavy wilderness. And as we smashed into the tyres at the bottom (which were there to aid with stopping) our mum and the rest of the family would shriek in alarm. Fun!
Another time my dear grandmother handed a sweet to one of the chimpanzees, little knowing it was actually a toffee. The sight of the poor chimp sitting on a post, chewing this toffee was something which had to be seen. Im laughing now. One highlight was watching the seals in their enclosure, a concrete island surrounded by dark green water and whenever they submerged to swim underwater I would wish I was in there swimming alongside them in the murky waters.
Great place for picnics too, as long as you were away from the spitting lamas. And I remember the souvenir shop sold rubber chimps, snakes, and pens with Penscynor stencilled on the side. Wonderful times.
But looking at the photos (below) of how it is now, an empty shell, is so very depressing when one thinks back to how alive the park was, buzzing with sounds of families and animals. Im genuinely sorry that children f today will never know the delights of this wildlife park. For me Disney World had nothing on Penscynor.


Alpine slide


And the past withers