Cosmeston Lakes and Sully

 

Cwtch at Cosmeston Lakes

Son the Younger: There were lots of red Astras, but I knew which one was yours as soon as you came around the corner because of the way you drive.

 Me [suspicious]: What d'you mean, because of the way I drive?

Son the Younger: Oh, you know ... ♬ 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 ...

Yes, it's that time of year when Son the Younger's car needs servicing and MOT-ing in Newport, because that's where he was living when he leased it, and I have to meet him at the appointed Industrial Estate and entertain him for a few hours while he waits for it to all to be sorted.  

We've had some memorable trips over the years ... Porthcawl in 2019 and St Fagans National Museum of History in 2020, with a break for lockdown in 2021 and Son the Younger sitting it out on his own, then Chepstow Castle in 2022. This year I considered going all the way to Neath, as Cwtch's mam, Skye, had gone missing and I thought maybe scenting one of her pups might draw her out of wherever she was hiding, but thankfully she turned up safe and sound on Monday. So instead we stayed a lot closer to base - which was as well as I have a trapped nerve in my shoulder, which makes driving painful - and went for a leisurely wander at Cosmeston Lakes, just outside Penarth.

The site of the lakes were formerly four quarries for limestone, with a big cement works nearby; then, in the 1970s, two of the quarries were used for landfill, with the other two being turned into lakes when the Country Park was developed. 

jelly ear fungus

It being an overcast, quite cold day, there wasn't an awful lot of wildlife about in the woods, apart from squirrels and some very bold robins and great tits.

There was, however, a detectible air of expectation, of all the spring and summer to come.

The best thing about our visit, though, was the trees of Cogan Wood, many of which were either magnificent or in magnificent states of decay.

Son the Younger, possibly rather fashionably dressed for a muddy dog walk 

Bracket fungus

After a while we started to glimpse the lakes through the trees, which meant we were nearly back at the point we started from.

No time to stop and explore the reconstituted mediaeval village if we wanted a pub lunch, which we did. And so on to the Captain's Wife at Sully, where muddy paws and boots are welcome, and we were well fed for reasonable cost, while Cwtch was fussed over and lavished with dog treats, much to her pleasure.