Journey 5
Gerald of Wales
Aberavon
Why did the trip nearly end in disaster here?
The area round the River Neath has long been colonised by industry, but in Gerald’s time it was notorious for
its perilous estuary.
Their plan was to ford it at low tide. But they got their timings badly wrong, and then there was the quicksand…
“One of our pack-horses, the only one possessed by the writer of these lines, was almost sucked down into the abyss.” The whole party – some two dozen people, plus horses – is trapped. Another wrong step could be fatal.
“In the end it was pulled out with some difficulty, thanks to the efforts made by our servants, who risked their lives in doing so, and not without some damage done to my books and baggage.”
Behind schedule, the group presses on to the river, just as the tide turns against them. With fording no longer guaranteed, they instead detour upstream to cross by boat at Briton Ferry – and safety at last.