Walking on the Gower. Andrew Davies
in the footsteps of Dylan Thomas. This was the route of the old Mumbles Train which ran along the promenade to the terminus at Mumbles Pier.
THE MUMBLES TRAIN
The Oystermouth Railway was built in 1804 to move limestone from the quarries of Mumbles, iron ore from a mine near Knab Rock and coal from the Clyne Valley to Swansea and to the markets beyond. It carried the world's first fare-paying railway passengers in 1807 and later became the Swansea and Mumbles Railway.
The first carriages were hauled on tracks by horses but a turnpike road was established alongside the railway in the mid 1820s that deprived it of much of its business, and the passenger service ceased in 1827. The track was relaid with conventional rails in 1855 and the horse-drawn passenger service was reinstated between Swansea and the Dunns, Oystermouth.
Steam-powered locomotives were introduced in 1877 and the line was extended to Southend in 1893 and to the pier in 1898. From 1900 to the 1920s the railway usually carried up to 1800 passengers each single journey, another world record at the time, but the enormous load meant a maximum speed of 5mph.
The pier was built in 1898 and, at 225m long, is a fine example of Victorian architecture. It was the western terminus for the Mumbles Train, linking it with the White Funnel paddle steamers that carried passengers on routes along the River Severn and the Bristol Channel.
The train line was electrified in 1929 and passengers were carried by a fleet of double-decked cars, each with a capacity of 106. An astonishing 5 million passengers were carried in 1945. Sadly, the last train ran in 1960, and despite many campaigns to resurrect it, it seems that it is lost for ever.
Dylan Thomas, Swansea’s famous poet, was a frequent visitor to Oystermouth and describes his evenings there in his early biographical letters. He was supposed to be rehearsing with the local amateur dramatic group, the Swansea Little Theatre, with short breaks for refreshment in one of the many pubs along the seafront. In reality, he spent much of his time drinking ‘oystered beer’ in the Antelope, The Marine (now the Village Inn) and the Mermaid which was destroyed in a fire.
Leave the promenade just before the George Inn where there is a footpath sign ‘Mumbles Hill Local Nature Reserve’ indicating the route up some stone steps alongside a row of old cottages. This steep climb brings you to a path at the top where you turn left. Follow the top of the cliff with a great view of the sweep of Swansea Bay and Port Talbot.
The beauty of Swansea Bay has often been compared with that of the Bay of Naples and was described by Dylan Thomas, as ‘a long and splendid curving shore’. Part of the Bristol Channel, it has one of the largest tidal ranges in the world at 10.5m and the tide literally appears to go out for miles due to the beach’s shallow gradient.
This area is a Local Nature Reserve and habitat types include maritime heath, limestone grassland, limestone scrub and woodland, each supporting different plants and animals. Over 200 species of plants and fungi, 40 species of birds and hundreds of species of insects have been recorded on the Hill.
A Neolithic stone axe head was discovered in an allotment in 1938 and a fissure on the hill has also revealed prehistoric human bones and teeth. A military camp was established during the Second World War and remnants of the 623rd Anti-Aircraft Battery gun emplacements and control bunker are still visible.
Drop down the seaward side of the hill along the obvious track to the road above Bracelet Bay.
This bay is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest and is worth exploring. The rocky outcrops provide excellent exposures of geological structures formed during the Variscan mountain-building episode up to around 280 million years ago. The exposures provide a cross-section through the core of a major upward fold structure, the Langland Anticline, which extends across the whole Gower Peninsula, bringing the Carboniferous limestone to the surface. This fold, and its associated minor structures, have been studied in considerable detail, making a substantial contribution to the understanding of the geological structure of the Variscan Orogeny in South Wales.
Turn west to return to the start.
WALK 2
Caswell, Pwlldu and Bishopston Valley
| Start/Finish | Car park, Bishopston (SS 5791 8926) |
| Distance | 9km (5½ miles) |
| Total ascent | 255m |
| Time | 2½hrs |
| Refreshments | Joiners Arms and Valley Inns and Spar in Bishopston; The Plough and Harrow Inn and Village Stores in Murton; cafés in Caswell. |
This route gains the coast via Bishop’s Wood Nature Reserve at Caswell Bay and then runs along the base of the cliffs to Brandy Cove and Pwlldu Bay. Tales of smuggling and ghosts abound here and one can just imagine the locals dodging the excise men by bringing their illicit booty ashore under the cover of darkness. Pwlldu Bay is also steeped in industrial history, as is Bishopston Valley which once had a working lead mine. The stream plays cat-and-mouse by disappearing and reappearing again a number of times.
From the car park in Bishopston walk up the road, past the Valley Inn and Joiners Arms on Bishopston Road.
The house called Marston, no. 133, was Dylan Thomas’ father’s home when he moved from Cwmdonkin Drive following his retirement from teaching at Swansea Grammar School in 1937. Dylan and his wife Caitlin were frequent guests and it was here, in 1941, that Dylan wrote the poem The Ballad of the Long Legged Bait.
Turn left just past the Spar down Providence Lane. Follow this and cross over a road in a housing estate to the Plough and Harrow Pub. Bear left and then right around the pub to Murton Green. Turn right just past the Wesleyan Methodist Church and follow the road to a bend. Follow the footpath sign to Caswell Bay ignoring the turn to Clyne Common.
The track comes to a Y-junction where you bear left and keep left again a few metres on. Drop down the sunken track, and when it bends to the right, continue on the main track between the two hedges. On your left you can see a stone building which is the remains of a chapel at St Peter’s Well. Further along this sunken lane you can see a turf-roofed roundhouse. This is Lanwell where courses in traditional woodland management are run.
Once you reach the valley floor turn right, pass the roundhouse and follow the path to Caswell through Bishop's Wood Local Nature Reserve. Cross over the road and see if the tide is low enough to walk around the rocks on the right. If not, walk right up the road and turn left onto the Coast Path next to the entrance to a majestic house.
Caswell Bay at low tide
Drop down to the beach and skirt along the base of the pebbles and climb up the steps in the corner. Turn left at the top and follow the path above the tops of the cliffs, taking care here as there is a steep drop adjacent to the route.
Coming around the point, if the tide is low, there is a superb view of the inclined rock layers in the intertidal limestone reef. On your right is Redley Cliff, a nature reserve owned by the Wildlife Trust for South and West Wales and is part of the Caswell Bay Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Continue along to the next inlet of Brandy Cove which gets its name from stories of smugglers using the bay to unload their illegal tobacco and alcohol during the 18th century. There is a raised beach exposed below the path and an area of scree on the western side above the path.
There are a couple of legends of the supernatural associated with the beach. One is about a witch called ‘Old Moll’ who lived in the caves near the beach and spent much of her time wandering through the many small villages and farms on Gower. The other story is connected to a chilling real-life murder that took place near the beach in 1919. Nearby villagers claimed that they could hear