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Tuesday 9thJune
Kidwelly to The Gower
At least we had a lovely downhill ride into Kidwelly to start the day with great views along the coast and over to the Gower peninsular. The castle at Kidwelly is well preserved and is well worth a visit. The lands in this area were granted to Roger, Bishop of Salibury, who is responsible for this castle which was built in the early 12th century. By the middle of the century Maurice de Londres and later his sons William and Thomas de Londres may have had ownership (after the death of Roger in 1137). There followed a period of Welsh control and eventually Llywelyn the Great was instrumental in restoring the castle to the de Londres family. Thomas only had one daughter so the castle passed to Hawise de Londres in 1220 and onto Walter de Braose whom she married in 1225. Walter was killed in 1233/4 and after another short period of Welsh control the castle was recovered by Patrick de Chaworth whom Hawise had married in 1244. Patrick was also slain in battle, and so eventually the castle passed to their sons Payn and Patrick de Chaworth. The younger son left a daughter Maud (Maltilda) who inherited Kidwelly and Ogmore (near Bridgend). Maud married Henry Duke of Lancaster (the nephew of Edward I).
From Kidwelly through to the Gower there is an off-road cycle path for most of the way. We gave the first few miles a miss, as it twists and turns through Pembrey Forest adding a few miles to the journey, preferring instead to stick to the main road which wasn't very busy. We picked the cycle route up again at Burry Port and continued on it along to Loughor just east of Llanelli. This is a well maintained flat track with beautiful views across the estuary and also a Wildfowl and Wetlands centre along the way. 
The map indicated that Loughor castle remains were just south of the main A484 close to where we crossed the River Loughor but we failed to locate anything that looked like a castle so we took the road into the town. One hundred yards down this road Tony W remarked on the mound on the right - and lo and behold there were the remains of the castle on the top. This area of Wales was controlled by Henry de Beaumont, the Earl of Warwick in the 12th century (brother of Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester). In the 13th century John de Braose became the new owner of the castle, and later his son William de Braose had lordship and it is he who constructed the stone tower which now dominates the site.
Our route now took us through Gowerton and along the north Gower coast - partly on cycle track and partly on minor roads. Tony W's chain problem was now getting worse and the chain cleaner solution was no longer working. On closer inspection we found that one of the teeth on the middle chain wheel was slightly bent - a tweek with a pair of pliers did the trick. We arrived at Weobley Castle, which has some grand views overlooking the Llanrhidian Sands and River Loughor estuary with Llanelli and Burry Port in the distance. The history of the castle is a little uncertain as it seems that part way through construction the plans were radically altered. Most of the work was done by David de la Bere in the early 14th century.
Up and over the Cefn Bryn - the hills which form the backbone of the Gower in this area - passing by Penrice Castle and Oxwich Castle to the south. Our next aiming point was Pennard Castle just south of Parkmill, but I had underestimated how difficult it was to reach it with the bikes. In the end we aborted and made do with a telephoto shot. Henry de Beaumont is associated with the building of this castle in the 12th century and in the late 13th and early 14th centuries the castle was rebuilt in stone probably by the de Braose family. Aline de Braose married John de Mowbray so the castle passed to the de Mowbrays in 1321.
Only a few miles left now to reach our B&B on Fairwood Common. Just across the road from the B&B was a golf club which fortunately served meals - so we didn't have far to walk for our evening meal. The landlady warned us that dress code might be an issue - we donned our cleanest clothes and fortunately were accepted without a problem.
The mileage at the end of the day was 47.2 miles.
Castles visited - 4