The Gower is a magical place and one which brings back very special memories for us.
Back in 2007, on a wonderfully warm and sunny mid-May weekend, Harri and I put on our rucksacks and walked the coastline from Rhossili Bay to West Cross in Swansea. It was our first overnight hiking trip and, though we’ve been to Gower many times since, we still remember the first time we meandered along the peninsula’s stunning south coast together, our eyes feasting upon gorgeous sandy beaches and soaring limestone cliffs.
The Gower peninsula lies just to the west of Swansea, Wales’s second largest city. Its diminutive size (it measures barely 15 miles long and seven miles wide) belies the astonishingly varied natural beauty which greets the walker: hidden coves, windswept downs, dunes, marshland, wooded valleys and picturesque villages.
Gower also boasts a surprisingly high number of castles for so compact an area: Weobley Castle, a 15th century fortified manor house overlooking the north Gower marshlands and mudflats; Oxwich Castle, with its many glassless windows, and the magnificent Penrice Castle, now unsafe but clearly visible from the footpath that runs through the Penrice estate.
One of our favourite is Pennard Castle, perhaps sited in the most perfect location of any castle on Gower. Perched on the sandy cliff edge overlooking Three Cliffs Bay, the castle ruins are the perfect place to stop for a leisurely picnic or just to relax and enjoy the scenes on the beach far below.
Castle Walks on Gower also includes walks which will take you to Swansea, Oystermouth, Penlle’r Castell and Loughor castles.
This ebook will be available from online bookstores in autumn 2014. However, we couldn’t resist sharing our Pennard castle walk with you now.
