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Places to Visit . . . .
Places to Eat . . . .
Beaches . . . .
Links The Gower Peninsula The Gower Peninsula was the first place in Britain to be designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is one of only five within Wales. Surrounded by the Bristol Channel and Atlantic Ocean, the peninsula is home to a rich variety of landscapes and flora and fauna. Medieval settlements, castles, ancient caves, standing stones and menhirs are evidence of the historical importance of this area and are scattered over the hills, valleys, beaches, clifftops, commons, woodland, dunes and marshes of the area. There is no escaping the ancient history of the area, which can appear almost mystical especially when the wind plays its tunes in the coastal cliffs or the sea mist clings to the hillsides. There are abundant tales and legends of ghosts, lost villages e.g. Llanellan, shipwrecks e.g The Helvetia, it's bare bones clearly still visible on Rhossili beach, and smuggling; ancient iron age earth works, forts and neolithic burial mounds. Caves have been excavated revealing they were inhabited 28,000 years ago, e.g. Cat Hole Cave, Parkmill, and Goats Hold Cave in the cliffs between Port Eynon and Rhossili where the remains of a human skeleton dating back 29,000 years ago were discovered in 1823. The village of Penclawdd is situated in the north of the Gower Peninsula overlooking the Loughor estuary and flanked by extensive marshland on one side and moorland on the other. It was once a seaport, coal mining village and copper smelting centre, but now is most famous for its cockles which have been collected since Roman times, and is one of the most productive cockle producing areas in the UK. These cockles, as well as the other local delicacy - laverbread - are collected from the extensive mudflats in the Burry Estuary and they can be purchased at the stalls in Swansea Market. Blue Anchor is a hamlet situated a mile or so to the south of and overlooking Penclawdd, the Loughor Estuary and with views of Llanelli and towards South Gower. It was possibly named after the Blue Anchor Inn, which has recently been demolished. |