Hiraeth

Low Tide at Laugharne (detail).
Acrylic on gesso primed board. 335mm x 245mm.

This small West Wales town was my home for almost three years from September 1982 until April 1985. For an artist and naturalist it was ideal, with wide open views across the estuary of the River Taf south across Carmarthen Bay to Rhossili Down and Worms Head on Gower.

Inland the woodlands held breeding Buzzards, Ravens Badgers and Foxes. In winter Black Redstarts could be found on the castle ruins and all manner of wildfowl and waders on the estuary. I saw my first Hen Harriers here, hunting the saltmarshes during the winters and once came across a Grey Phalarope feeding on the mud flats.

Originally a Norman fortress, the castle passed through a variety of owners including The Lord Rhys. It was destroyed and rebuilt twice during the thirteenth century. In the late sixteenth century Sir John Perrot turned it into a mansion house with a formal garden but like many castles it was finally vandalised by Parliamentary cannon fire during the Civil War.