Category Archives: Landscape

Hidden Gems of South Gower

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My walk this week revealed some hidden gems on the Gower Peninsula. This first shot of bramble blossom may be very common and out in the open but that makes it no less of a gem (I love these flowers and their fruit later in the year). Other aspects of this walk were definitely hidden – whether they are gems or not is up to you to decide but I recommend a visit rather than judging by my photos.

bramble blossom

bramble blossom

We had to battle through heavy bracken to reach the Pen y Grug ancient burial chamber and Gower Unearthed presented it well along with and another nearby site, that of an old church now well and truly overgrown. The Pen y Grug page linked to above also advertises a good iPhone app for finding ancient sites like these around the world – the Megalithic Portal, Pocket Guide to Megaliths, check it out.

The other hidden gem for today is well know to locals but may be less so to others. Three Cliffs Bay was the turning point for our short walk and we had some great views down to it from above.

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overgrown footpath
bramble blossom
Pen y Crug burial chamber
overgrown site of an old church
Three Cliffs Bay

Big Tor

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On the Taste of Gower walk this week from Nicholaston Farm, before you get to Three Cliffs Bay, you skirt round the cliffs of Tor Bay.  The walk has its ups and downs as you might expect on this South Gower coastline but none of us were going to attempt the scramble up onto the top of Big Tor. Somebody was up there but it wasn’t one of our party.

Tor Bay cliffs

Another even more aerial viewpoint than this would be from the seat of a light aircraft . . . and someone was enjoying just that, as you can hear in the sound clip below. I like this clip with the inevitable clifftop wind and the faint voices of walkers and birds ahead of me. The airplane gradually approaches and flies overhead.

Clifftop and Aircraft

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grasses and clouds
foxglove and clouds
Tor Bay, South Gower
Big Tor, Tor Bay, South Gower

My Walk this Week – Taste of Gower, Nicholaston Farm

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My walk this week is the Taste of Gower walk from June. The walk starts at Nicholaston Farm and follows the footpath along the cliffs to Three Cliffs Bay. The walk was led by Steve Lancey who organised it for Gower Landscape Partnership and we had Helen and Charlotte from Gower Unearthed as guides and providers of information on aspects of the walk such as Pen y Crug burial chamber.

Oxwich Bay

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Nicholaston Farm
Taste of Gower walkers at Nicholaston Farm
Oxwich Bay
Nicholaston Walk

Barring the Way and Reviewing the Walk

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The sheep that accompanied me on the last stage of my walk were barred from continuing by the effective but simple design of a kissing gate and a cattle grid. My geology walk this week with geographer Geraint Owen and other walkers was both thoroughly enjoyable and informative. The walk was arranged by our local library and I imagine they may be involved again in the arrangements for a second outing to complete the walk route.

gate and route home

gate and route home

Geology Walk Soundscape

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My starting point
Looking for evidence of plants
Bog cotton
Bog cotton detail
Geraint Owen
Foxgloves
Hammer test
conglomerate rock
plant fossil
Loughor Estuary from Cefn Drum
Looking north from Cefn Drum
Looking to Twyn Tyle
Twyn Tyle detail
Foxgloves and footpath
sheep in the way
Buttercups
gate and route home

Scratching the Surface

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My walk this week followed the route of one of the geology walks described by Geraint Owen in Scratching the Surface leaflets. Geraint led a group of about 12 of us but we only managed to complete half the distance. The information he delivered at various stopping points along the footpath up Cefn Drum was fascinating and as a result slowed our progress.

Twyn Tile

Twyn Tyle from Cefn Drum

Had we continued on from the summit of Cefn Drum we would have reached the end of Twyn Tyle in the image above. The pattern of scars seen along the slopes of of the hill are old mine workings – closer shots can be seen below.

The full walk is estimated to take about 4 hours but when you take into account the interest of walkers in listening to the walk leader talking about the lie of the land and the make up of the ground beneath your feet, more time needs to be allowed. None of had brought a packed lunch so we decided to descend again and arrange a new date to complete the full circuit.

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Cefn Drum footpath
Looking to Twyn Tyle
Twyn Tile from Cefn Drum
Twyn Tyle detail
walkers descending Cefn Drum
Foxgloves and footpath

Perspective on the Landscape

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Looking across to the Gower Peninsula from Cefn Drum shows the Loughor Estuary and the dip of the rock strata made up of Pennant Sandstone on top with coal measures below, Carboniferous Limestone and lastly Old Red Sandstone. It is the Old Red Sandstone that forms the ridge of Cefn Bryn on the Gower and further north, the upland of Mynydd Du. Being on top of Cefn Drum we are right in between these two.

Loughor Estuary from Cefn Drum

Loughor Estuary from Cefn Drum

The sounds on top of Cefn Drum are typical of this landscape with a warm wind blowing from the south west and the skylarks entertaining us above.

On top of Cefn Drum

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Hillside footpath
Standing on the top
Group discussion
Loughor Estuary from Cefn Drum
Looking north from Cefn Drum

Rocky Details of the Landscape

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My walks up Cefn Drum, Cwm Dulais and Graig Fawr are some of my favourite local routes. The opportunity to find out from an expert about the geology of the area was not one to be missed. The landscape is beautiful at any time of year and just now it is particularly green.

Looking at the landscape as we walked up the side of Cefn Drum the colour of the non native rhododendrons was passed but similar colours were showing themselves in the foxgloves.

Cwm Dulais landscape

Cwm Dulais landscape

Our next stop on the walk allowed Geraint to show us more plant fossils and also a visitor to the area in the form of a rock that had been brought here from the Gower Peninsula not by truck but by glacier.

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Evidence of Plants

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At the next stop on my walk this week the geology walkers took a closer look at the stones that made up the track under our feet. Geraint Owen showed us further examples of stones that revealed evidence of plant life.

Evidence of plant life

Evidence of plant life

Geraint also performed a simple test to prove whether some of the stones were limestone or not – the test was positive as can be seen by the fizzing acid on the surface. From this we were able to deduce that at least some of the stones making up the track had been brought in from elsewhere.

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Geology walkers
Geraint Owen
Evidence of plant life
limestone test
Proof of limestone