Gower Peninsula: new buses for Gower Explorer route

The Gower Explorer bus timetable (link opens PDF) is to be expanded, from April 2009. This is a much-needed expansion, and it's good to see such changes being implemented.

From April 12th, a new early walkers' service, serving South Gower, will run on Sundays and Bank Holidays. This additional service will leave Swansea's Quadrant bus station at 9am on Sundays and Bank Holidays, and will serve Oxwich Bay, Port Eynon and Rhossili. The bus will return from Rhossili at 10.07am, via Oxwich Bay, to Swansea.

From April 14th, a new late bus will be introduced, serving South Gower. Every day (except Sundays and Bank Holidays), this new service will leave Port Eynon at 8.37pm, Rhossili at 8.50pm, and Oxwich at 9.10pm, and will end its journey at Swansea's Quadrant bus station.

It's good to see the Gower Explorer bus service being expanded in this way. It means people can now enjoy a day out on Gower, and unwind in a pub or restaurant afterwards, without having to rush off for a ridiculously early last bus.

More information on the new Gower bus services.

Monochrome Monday

I'm really enjoying Monochrome Monday. It gives me a chance to tinker with image editing software, and give some of my images a whole new look. Today, you get two for the price of one kind of.

The image below shows St. Illtyd's church, which sits just above the beach at Oxwich, on the Gower Peninsula. The church is clearly visible when the trees shed their leaves, otherwise, it's pretty well concealed from the summer beachcombers.

The church has an interesting history. The church hails from the 13th century, and is reputedly built on the site of a sixth century chancel cell. The churchyard is said to be haunted by a peculiar entity, which has a man's head and shoulders, but a horse's body. The creature is said to make its way through the churchyard at night, and down onto the beach.


Here's the same shot, given the sepia treatment. I hope to visit this church soon, and get some shots of the interior.


I have a guest arriving for a few days, today, so I have to go off and prepare for them, so I won't be making my rounds until much later today, but I hope to visit as many of you as possible. Have a great week!

If you fancy joining in, visit Monochrome Maniacs, hosted by Aileni.

Gower Peninsula: Pennard Cliffs

If you don't have the time or inclination to travel to the furthermost corners of the Gower Peninsula, why not visit Pennard Cliffs? It's about a 20-25 minute drive from the centre of Swansea, and offers some spectacular scenery.

Pennard Cliffs are easily reached from Swansea, via the A4118, the B4436 Bishopston Road, and then a signposted minor road to Southgate. There is ample parking at the National Trust-owned cliff-top car park, and the nearby combined shop, post office and cafe caters well for most visitors' needs.

Walkers can follow a number of routes along the cliffs. If you head east, along Eastcliff, you will be rewarded with spectacular views of Pwll Du head, and will pass numerous small coves, including Foxhole and Heatherslade. If you head in the opposite direction, along Westcliff, you will enjoy views of Cefn Bryn, Pobbles Bay, Three Cliffs Bay and Oxwich. Whether you head east or west, if you look straight out to sea, on a clear day, you will also be able to see across the Bristol Channel, to the coastlines of North Devon and Somerset.

Heading west, it is possible to access the beaches at Pobbles and Three Cliffs, although part of the route is via steep sandhills, so it's not a walk for the unfit or infirm. For those who would rather not make the descent to the beaches, Westcliff not only offers spectacular views, but also, some literary points of interest. As you head along the path from the car park, towards Westcliff, you will see the Heatherslade Retirement Home. This large house used to be home to the poet, Vernon Watkins, a close friend of Dylan Thomas.

I arrived at Pennard on a nice, fairly mild, spring day. I had hoped for a little solitude, but the cliffs were inundated with visitors. I guess it's understandable, as it is one of Gower's prettiest, and most accessible locations.

The first shot is my favourite from that day. I was still getting used to a new camera, so all my photographs that day were part of an exercise in trial and error.


I was intrigued to notice this little natural structure on the clifftop, complete with its own little fairy grotto of a cave. I was tempted to wander over and peek inside. Having recently been reading up on the folklore of the area, complete with tales of fairies, devils and half-man, half-horse entities, I spooked myself with the thought, "what if someone peeks back"? So, silly creature as I am, I contented myself with zooming in on it with my lens, rather than getting any closer.


As I took this shot, I thought, one day, when I have more time, I'll head down on to the beach at Three Cliffs and Pobbles, and maybe even wander across to Oxwich.


There's actually a very rough-hewn track down the cliffs to this little beach, but I wasn't wearing hiking shoes, so I decided not to risk the descent. It's a very steep scree, and the gradient, and the looseness of the material making up the path looked like an invitation to fall headlong, so I chose to remain on the cliffs. I decided to head along Eastcliff.







The clifftops were dotted with numerous clusters of these tiny little violets. I tried my best to get good shots of them, but trying to crouch down with an arthritic back proved a bit of a nightmare. These are the only two shots that turned out with any degree of detail or clarity - the others were disasters.




This next shot was taken looking towards Oxwich Point, the furthest headland you can see below.




Is this Pwlldu Head? I guess it must be. Pwlldu's another place on my "to visit" list, but not on one of my solo trips, way too risky given the isolation of the place. Not that I think it's a dangerous place to be - but I'm prone to falls, so don't wish to risk falling in a lonely location.



There's good old Cefn Bryn in the distance - planning a visit to Arthur's Stone soon, and maybe a Guinness in the King Arthur afterwards. But if the Bryn's suffering a cow invasion on the day, I'll be staying on the bus. Hate the smelly, poopy old things.


What collection of springtime images from Wales would be complete without the national flower of Wales, the daffodil?


On Saturdays, there's a very handy bus service between Oystermouth Square and Pennard Cliffs, via Caswell Bay? Here are the details of the 14B, operated by Veolia Transport [remember, Saturdays only]. It leaves Oystermouth at 11.15, 14.15 and 16.15, reaches Caswell at 11.32, 14.32 and 16.32, before terminating at Pennard Cliffs at 11.50, 14.50 and 16.50. On the return journey, times are as follows: Pennard 09.50, 11.50, 14.50, 16.50; Caswell 10.04, 12.04, 15.04, 17.04; Oystermouth 10.22, 12.22, 15.22, 17.22. It goes via Bishopston and Kittle. The timetable also says it runs via Limeslade, but the bus I got didn't. Also, the one I caught on Saturday was six or seven minutes early, so that's something to watch for.

You can get details of all services to and from Pennard Cliffs, and other Gower Peninsula locations, via the Traveline Cymru site. You can also download and print all Gower bus timetables by clicking the link on the sidebar of this page.

Monochrome Maniacs

I thought I'd engage in a little time travel for this week's Monochrome Maniacs. However, I don't possess a Tardis, or similar time-travelling machine, so I had to do it with software. This shot is one I've featured a few times on various blogs. It shows a thatched cottage at the coastal village of Oxwich, on the Gower Peninsula. The cottage dates from the 1700's, and is best known for the fact that John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, stayed there for a while.


In order to make the above shot look like a genuine old photograph, I first airbrushed out all signs of modern living, such as TV antennae, phone and power lines, and shadows thereof. Then I applied a filter to get the olde worlde effect. You can see the original shot below.


Quite a difference, eh? Which do you prefer?

That's it for this week. Visit host, Aileni, to join in the fun with all the other Monochrome Maniacs. Be good!

Gower Peninsula: Oxwich

I took these pics three or four years ago at Oxwich, one of the Gower Peninsula's most popular locations, using my old, basic digital camera. John Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism, stayed at this cottage. It's since had a makeover, and the external woodwork is now a rather muted Wedgewood blue colour. I think I preferred the cheery red colour.

In fact, it's more or less the same blue skirting the exterior of the shop and tea rooms pictured below.

I don't remember much about this particular day, except that it was during a really warm September.

I do recall poking about in a few rock pools, before settling down on a rock at this location, to read.

I also remember being grateful for the shade of the overhanging trees, something you don't see very often on a beach.

A bleak winter day at Oxwich

Taken in late November, 2002, a couple of days after my lovely old tomcat, Noddy, was put to sleep. The bleakness of the day matched my mood.

The first pic shows storm clouds massing over Oxwich Point.


This next image shows the thirteenth century St. Illtyd's church, peeping through the defoliated trees of winter.

Church at Oxwich

A foggy November day at Oxwich, in 2003, I think. Enlarged from a small image taken on an old 2.2 MP camera, hence the slight fuzziness.