Porthcawl – My Happy Place
I am eternally grateful to my parents for providing me with a temporary home in Porthcawl. It always seems sunny here and it is near the sea and is a very happy place to live. My parents lived here after they retired and my Dad used to say it was like being on holiday every day. Since I moved here I swim in the sea, almost every day – it truly is therapy! I have to admit to being a bit reluctant in the winter, but there are plenty of people here who swim all year round – including the female wild swimmers appropriately named ‘The Bluetits’! Most winter swimmers do, however, wear wetsuits, but I can’t wear one myself as I find them too claustrophobic. It makes me appreciate how lucky we are in Wales to be never too far from the sea, and we have bountiful beautiful beaches.
I was walking along the marina on a beautiful July evening, feeling ridiculously happy at the prospect of my swim. I passed Sidoli’s café which was closing for the day; a young man was outside wiping the tables down, and another was standing with his back to me, I could see a paintbrush in his hand and guessed he was standing in front of an easel. I felt eager to see his work, so I glanced over his shoulder while I was passing, and saw it was a watercolour of the harbour, which really did it justice. I thought how talented he was to transfer onto canvas, the splendour of this seaside town, giving the moment permanency. It set me thinking that I should try to paint a picture of this special place, but not with paint on canvas, as I am not in the least artistic – but in words on paper. Writing is something I have always loved.
I was thinking this as I walked to the slip near the Lifeboat Station, where many serious swimmers place their towels and footwear, before walking down and entering the sea. I left my towel and sliders on the wall and walked gingerly down the slip, my feet very sensitive to the sharp stones that get washed there. I always feel like a ungainly hippo on the land, yes I am overweight, and at 61 nowhere near as supple and well-oiled as I used to be. But the minute I step into the waves, all pain seems to dissipate and I am reborn a dolphin! In the water I can be whatever I want to be: a dolphin diving over the waves; a figure skater gliding over ice; a swallow swerving effortlessly through the air; I feel young again, and joyful!
I swim out to what we call ‘the pole’ but is actually a ‘starboard navigational lateral marker, for guiding the boats safely out of the marina (the lifeboat crew is a mine of information). When the tide goes out you can see those rocks which would tear the hull off a boat they didn’t know they were there. The water is so deep at high tide I feel like a cork, bobbing near its surface.
The pole also gives an idea of the depth of the water; When the tide goes out it reveals more of the pole, which is rough with barnacles and limpets and barnacles on limpets, and fronds of bladderwrack seaweed, like knotted fingers waving in the lapping waves, first submerged when the tide is in, then exposed, when it goes out again. Nature always strives to cover up, and beautify, the constructs of mankind.
At the pole I am in the perfect spot to enjoy the evening sun before it sinks behind the Jennings Building. This building has much history in Porthcawl, having been standing there for nearly 200 years on the original dockside, when it was a busy port. It is the only surviving building from the original harbour, and was built as a warehouse. When the docks at Barry and Port Talbot took precedence, due to the wildness of the sea in and out of Porthcawl, the building became a timber warehouse before eventually falling into a derelict state. It was used temporarily as a skate park in more recent years before it was restored and refurbished in 2017, bringing a new vibe to the harbour and becoming a very popular place to meet and eat. It now contains a coffee shop, a pizzeria and a licensed restaurant, and apartments above with wonderful sea views.
Here, almost invisible in the water, I am a voyeur, watching the pigeons cooing and wooing on the pier wall, and the couples eating and chatting at the tables outside the Harbour bar and pizzeria. The harbour teems with a myriad of human and animal life. So many people have adapted themselves to enjoying or even mastering the sea. The marina is full of expensive motor boats and sail boats and their fortunate captains, who look forward to an evening or weekend on the water. I have always loved boats, though never owned one. As a child on many seaside holidays with marinas, I would pick out my favourite boat, usually one with a cabin to sleep in and a deck to bathe on, and also read all the names and decide on the best or choose one of my own for my imaginary boat.
Then there are the serious wild swimmers, usually in groups, in their wetsuits, brightly coloured caps and tow floats, who power through the water in crawl, from one side of the harbour to the other and back. They often go for a well-deserved coffee or a pint afterwards and discuss their times or the conditions of the tide. I often chat to these mermen and women and learn a lot from them – like where the best coffee shop in Porthcawl is (thanks Steve!). Grow and Grind is situated on the edge of the High Tide car park, overlooking Sandy Bay. It is simply the best location and the coffee is manna from heaven. It is not just coffee – but healthy coffee – and after visiting it myself to check it out, I discovered it really does have magical properties! There was so much choice but I eventually settled on Turmeric and Ashwagandha latte ‘to repair my worn and depleted adrenals’, with a shot of immune-boosting superhero mushrooms – and I have never felt so energised and alive in a long time! I decided there and then to try a different one each visit. There are beetroot ones for anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular health, Matcha for liver, brain and metabolism (I’m trying that one next!) Charcoal cures hangovers and reduces bloating, as well as the superheroes; Himalayan Gold, Brain Storm, and Immune boost, which have too many amazing healing properties to list. No wonder the flotilla of bobbing buoys are dragged along so swiftly through the choppy waves by their coffee-charged humans.
Humans master the waves and sea like they are amphibious, and in so many inventive ways. There are the jet-skiers, roaring furiously over the waves; the more serene canoeists, in their brightly coloured canoes and life jackets, so as to be easily visible to those on the bigger boats. I can see Sandy Beach from the pole, and the many surfers, fearlessly riding the waves as well as the sun-kissed children on their body boards, dinghies and inflatables. I can even hear their shrieks of joy carried to me on the wind. Nowadays the art of paddle boarding on the surface has become extremely popular, with some making it look so easy, gliding over the water effortlessly, while it actually requires skill and balance. There are also wind-surfers and jet-skiers further out; so many people enjoying the sea in so many inventive ways.
For me, there is nothing more pleasurable than swimming, floating and exercising in the water, wearing no wet suit so I can feel the silky water against my skin like a sweet caress. Breast stroke is my preferred stroke because I can keep my head above water and see everything around me – but I do have fun inventing my own strokes, like ‘The Mermaid’ and ‘The Bicycle’. From the pole I can still see the sun in the evenings, before it sinks behind the Jennings Building. I can also see as far as Ogmore which always seems bathed in gold. I can watch all the activity on the beach at Sandy Bay, where I see the patient donkeys, chomping and stomping under their canopy, reins jingling and tails flicking, resigned to taking excited children for short walks down to the sea and back. Even more joyful to see is their excitement and new lease of life at the end of their shifts when they buck with joy as they head back in tandem to their sweet-smelling field for a well earned roll or graze or rest. I share their joy.
The music blares from Coney Beach where the rides are whizzing around lit up like fireworks, best seen at sunset. You can hear the screams of the thrill-seekers, and it take me back to the days when I loved the rides too, although now I’d far rather ride the waves.
You are never lonely in Porthcawl. I live alone but never want for someone to talk to; the sea people as I call them always stop for a chat while treading water. We always stay near the pole when the boats are entering and leaving the marina and the ‘captains’ always give a wave of appreciation and greeting. Even the lifeboat crew returning from missions give a friendly wave and I always want to applaud them. Up in his tower the ever-alert coastguard watches over us like a shepherd watching his flock. We are all united by our love of the sea.
The pier/breakwater is being renovated following storm damage in recent years; it began construction in the 1820s and is a listed building and is currently covered in scaffolding and a hive of activity with hi vis teams and machinery working on it. The pier is populated with fishermen, patiently sitting for hours, watching their lines, occasionally becoming excited by a catch. Nearer to the slip, summer is full of children and teens at high tide, leaping off the side of the pier, shrieking with excitement, the more daring doing forward or backward somersaults. Some families sit on the edge of the slip and fish for crabs which they examine gleefully in their brightly-coloured buckets, before returning them safely to their natural habitat. This is a joy to behold, seeing children and teens outside enjoying the natural world, just as I did when I was a child – but not so common these days in ‘the society of the spectacle’ (Dubord) with so many competing technological distractions on offer. Children need to learn to love and respect nature and enjoy the health benefits of being outside in the fresh air and sunshine. I remember examining creatures with my Dad at the rock pools, but always told to put them back as they wouldn’t survive without the sea. I feel like one of these creatures now, I don’t think I could survive if I lived too far from the sea, and I am so grateful to my parents for providing this temporary home for me, and I will enjoy every minute while I can.
In the walls of the pier are many tiny ‘caves’ from which you can see the odd pigeon, cooing softly and contentedly, safe in its man-made home. I am happy to see Man and other creatures coexisting peacefully. July 2022 has been even more special; because Porthcawl has been visited by a pod of dolphins and I was actually in the sea when I saw them leaping out of the water so close by! It was an amazing experience and I pray that the dolphins love being in Porthcawl too and make it their permanent home.
For me, I have finally found ‘my happy place’ in Porthcawl.
©Lorraine Surringer 2022
