Coastal reconnaissance then and then

Garn Fawr, looking west. It's a cluster of rocky pinnacles overlooking the sea. This is the highest point but behind, on the landward side, ramparts of stony rubble bear witness to its role as a defended fortification in the Iron Age. All among the crags and boulders low drystone walls, barely distinguishable from the prehistoric constructions, twist hither and thither to create tiny enclosures, an interlocking field system that has persisted from ancient to modern times, although what age are the different elements is impossible to distinguish.

Here where I am standing the natural rock has been surmounted by a small concrete cubicle, roofless now, that acted as a look-out point in the World War One. It must have been bitterly cold in the winter and barely large enough for one man - a bleak posting but better surely than that other western front. The names of the two naval officers of the coastal watch are stamped here - the men who served their time on this eyrie remain anonymous. The dates 1914-15 are faintly visible.

JWW Calderon turns out to have been awarded medals in the Somaliland campaign and to have had a moderately distinguished naval career. His second-in-command JW Edwardes was a member of a local gentry family. They may have been retired or invalided out before they were called upon to perform this last unexciting duty.

This wartime look-out was focussed on maritime approaches but the prehistoric watchers would have turned mostly to the land east and south whence would come their rivals for this ravens' territory.

It was a perfect day for a walk. Now my feet are sore and my face is burning and my mind's eye is filled with clifftop flowers: gorse, thrift, bluebells, spring squill, spotted orchids, foxgloves, campions white and red.