This turned out to be a walk for the doggies who kindly brought some of their owners with them.

There were 21 of us which included 6 new members,plus 8, yes 8, dogs--quite a record.

They came in all different shapes and sizes, short haired, long haired and yes, curly haired too.

They all got on very well,-- the dogs that is-- and had endless fun racing around, in and on the dunes, and enjoying the wide open expanse of the nearby beautiful beach.

I had reckoned before we got there, that going by the weather forecast we had about 90 miutes to do the 9 mile walk before the rain was going to descend on us!!

As it happened luckily the rain came much later with just one rather long shower accompanied by a bit of painful hail.

The walk started through the dunes and onto the beach where we made our way to a wreck--no-one from our group!!!--but the remains of a ship wreck on the beach.

We then ventured inland to complete one circle of the figure eight walk.

We had lunch in amongst the dunes and afterwards Garry returned to the car with his sous chef, right hand woman and best friend Margo, to do the most important job of the day, to prepare the refreshments for us, which consisted of about five or more different sorts of scrummy cakes with lashings of tea and coffee.

The walkers continued on their way with Sker house coming in to view and we eventually got to the edges of Porthcawl.

Just as we were making our way onto the coastal path, right by the  sea and with little cover, the rain began to fall lengthways and some sideways with the wind that was blowing in from the sea.

Bravely we carried on, with Sker house emerging out of the wind and rain eventually, re-assuring us that we were nearly back to where we'd started and Garry's offerings.

By this time the rain had stopped and we were able to enjoy the aforementioned scrummy cakes and drinks, all laid out impressively on a table in the car park.

The newcomers were so impressed by the refreshments but we had to make it very clear that unfortunately not all walks ended this way.

We lingered, chatting and eating and drinking and then eating and drinking some more until bit by bit people started departing for home.

Many thanks go to Garry and Mark for a splendidly sussed walk and for the lovely treats at the end which celebrated St Davids Day in style.