Welsh Boundary Walk - Llantwit Major to Porthcawl

Monday 30th May - day 41
I made my escape over the wall safely this morning at 6:00am. The public conveniences in Llantwit were locked; less said about the solution to that problem Heavy drizzle persisted. Llantwit is not one of my favourite places.
I trudged down the road to St Donats and had Hob Nobs and cheese in the church sheltering from the rain. I am pleased with the performance of my waterproofs - cheapish Mardale overtrousers and expensive Marmot shell jacket.
From the church I went out onto the coast path up an incredibly steep, muddy banking. At the lighthouse I came back onto the road and trudged and trudged in the wet.
Today's highlight was a surprise cafe at Ogmore-by-Sea. At first I thought it was closed but when I entered it was full of people, save for one small table sporting a reserved sign. Everybody was eating breakfast. The lady said I could sit at the reserved table which would not be occupied until later by the reservees. I reckon this place is so good you have to book.Only breakfast is served until 12:00, I think. I had a bacon and egg bap, toast and marmalade and two pots of tea, and a piece of home made shortbread to munch on the road. The atmosphere was warm and friendly and I was reluctant to leave to go back into the rain.
The OS map was not clear in this locale, but I found a good shortcut by stepping stones across the river leading to Merthyr Maw.
From there a cross country path wended across to Porthcaw; this started off alright but after a mile or so my gps told me I was precisely on a path/ track junction but there was no stile, gate, or footpath sign. I took a compass bearing and made across the field only to be faced by barbed wire and no exit even though the gps confirmed I was exactly on the path. After circling two field perimeters I ended up tackling a combination barbed wire fence and hawthorne hedge and managed to get through with not much damage. I would certainly carry wire snips but for the weight (I did investigate this once and found the ones good enough to cut barbed wire are too large and heavy).
Battling through the rain I was pondering about this aspect of walking. At home I would not normally set off for a walk if it was pouring down. I reckon that the project must be big enough in concept to justify its adversities.
I am now established in the Porthcawl Hotel where I was able to have a bath and do my laundry, and I am getting a full 3G signal so I can also have a posting fest.

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