To the west
of Swansea, the Gower Peninsula stretches into the
sea on the north side of the Bristol Channel. It
is bounded by the Lougher Estuary (also known as
the the Burry Inlet or Burry Estuary) to the north
and Swansea Bay to the south.
In 1956 it was designated the UK's first Area
of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), with its
sweeping beaches, craggy limestone cliffs and pounding
surf. About three quarters of the coast is owned
by the National Trust (NT) and although there is
not a continuous path, you can hike around most
of the coastline.
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The Gower has the best surfing in Wales,
after the Pembrokeshire coast, the most
popular surfing beach being the grand 3-mile
sweep of Rhossili Bay. This is also the most
spectacular beach, and is where you would come
to see the sun set over the iconic Worm's Head.
The "Worm" referred to here being the
dragon which this rocky promontory resembles.
It is about a mile long and a few hundred yards
wide and is joined to the mainland by a causeway
which is only walkable 2 hours each side of high
tide ( so take care not to get marooned there for
hours). The Worm's Head is part of a nature reserve
that includes the Limestone Nature Trail. You can
get details of walks around the Gower from the
National Trust Centre at Rhossili.
The highest point on the Gower peninsula is The Beacon at Rhossili
Down at 193m/633ft overlooking Rhossili Bay.
The southern coast of the peninsula consists of
a series of small, rocky or sandy bays like Langland
and Three Cliffs, and a few larger beaches like
Port Eynon, Rhossili and Oxwich Bay. The main family
beaches which are patrolled by lifeguards during
the sunmer are Langland Bay, Caswell Bay and Port
Eynon. Much of Gower's Northern coast is salt marsh
facing across the Burry Inlet, which is an important
area for wildfowl and wading birds. There are fewer
beaches on the north side, and this part of the
coast includes the famouse cockle-beds of Penclawdd.
There are six castles on the Gower peninsula,
Oystermouth (in the Mumbles), Bovehill Castle (also
known as Landimore Castle), Oxwich Castle, Pennard
Castle, Penrice Castle and Weobly.
It has been inhabited since very early times and
has Neolithic stone monuments scattered across
its countryside. There are also many standing stones,
such as Arthur's Stone and burial tombs such as
Giant's Grave, and a variety of evocative carved
and engraved stones. Its many strange and unexplained
features have encouraged tales of its indigenous
race of faeries, known locally as the "Verry-Volk",
adding to its air of myth and magic. |
