Llanelli by Clive Tully

It’s been a while since I pedalled any distance on a bike, or at least so my legs are telling me. But as I potter along the red tarmac track which winds across beautifully manicured grassy hillocks, the sea to my left glistening in the sun, it’s hard to imagine that what I’m cycling along is the site of a former power station, tin plate works and numerous steel mills.

Just a short hop by car or train from Swansea, on the other side of the Gower Peninsula, is Llanelli. Once it was the heart of steel production in Wales, and up until the 1980’s it was a massive concentration of heavy industry - so much so that miles upon miles of coastline was effectively a no-go area. When the steel works came to an end, everything else followed. But from the despair of 30% unemployment, Llanelli has recovered to unemployment below the national average, and the hideous scars of the heavy industry which lined the coast have been cleared away, revealing a gem of rare beauty.

The Millennium Coastal Park stretches for 22 kilometres from Loughor Greenway, and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Centre, past Llanelli to Burry Port Harbour, and on to Pembrey Country Park. The WWT was set up in 1946 by famous naturalist Peter Scott (son of polar explorer Robert Scott) to promote the conservation of rare wetland birds and their habitats. The Llanelli reserve has been here for a number of years, but the recent addition of the 200 acre Millennium Wetlands has expanded it into one of the most important wildlife habitats in Wales.

You might think that most hides for bird-watching are not much more than lap-timbered sheds with a flap in one side. The new hide here is far from that - built from Welsh Oak in a distinctive heron shape, it stands on stilts in one of the lakes, providing visitors with a commanding position from which to view the birdlife.

The Machynys Peninsula next door is now home to a new 18-hole links-style golf course, opening this spring. Designed by Jack Niklaus to US PGA standards, its setting provides golfers with dramatic views across the Loughor estuary, with water features which provide a habitat for wildlife as well as a challenge for golfers.

Although a wide tarmac track, the cycleway is just that, for bicycles and feet only. Peaceful, safe, and traffic-free, it’s the longest off-road section of the 186 mile Sustrans Celtic Trail. In a couple of places, you cross the railway line which follows the coast to Fishguard without even realising it. The landscaping actually goes over the line in land bridges, one of which at 100 metres long is the largest structure of its kind in the world.

And the impressively landscaped central section of the park between Llanelli and Burry Port has a 16 acre water park which attracts anglers from all over Wales. This, believe it or not, is on the site of the Duport steelworks. Next door is an outdoor arena, built for the 2000 National Eisteddfod, now the venue for concerts, exhibitions and funfairs. The transformation is ongoing. Electricity pylons are coming down, and there are further developments planned, all very much with an eye on environmental friendliness.

The North Dock, built originally for the ships exporting millions of tons of tinplate, have been turned into Millennium Quays, home to a sail training and water sports centre. There are still a few old industrial buildings to come down, but eventually the area will be a blend of residential and recreational facilities.

The park’s motto is “giving the coast back to the people”. The locals love it, and people from much further afield come to enjoy it. Which makes the achievement of the Millennium Coastal Park all the more remarkable when you think that it wasn’t that long ago that this was one of the most polluted coastlines in Britain.