What a beautiful area the Gower is! I went to university in Swansea many moons ago, but never ventured out to the Gower as I was too busy partying/I mean studying, in the city. We stayed at a fantastic campsite called Nicholaston Farm, directly overlooking Oxwich Bay and a short 10 min walk through Nicholaston Burrows (woods then dunes) to the beach. It felt like we had Oxwich Bay all to ourselves all week, there was hardly anyone on it. Had great weather every day except one, where we still ventured out to Worms Head and Rhossili Bay in the rain, sadly we missed low tide and were not able to walk out to the head of the worm, so to speak, but we did discover that the remote country house on the coast in the recent first episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day is the Old Rectory at Rhossili Bay, which was slightly exciting. We also went to Three Cliffs Bay and The Mumbles/Swansea itself, to see some old haunts. Took Dougal the dog of course and our new puppy Darcy the white miniature schnauzer, who adapted to our campervan lifestyle like a duck to water. Pics to come! ps Reilly the campervan did us proud yet again, 1500 miles in 3 weeks (what with Cornwall 2 weeks ago, and short trips to Essex and Shropshire in between). Didn't miss a beat. Had to top up oil a few times, will need to get the oil leak seen to, but cant grumble.
we were next door to you at port eynon!!!!! on the way home we saw the sign for you campsite and were thinking of doing that one next time whats the beach like? bek
It's an awesome beach at Oxwich Bay Bek, I WILL put some pics up today and you will see - we had the beach almost to ourselves, was great. And you can walk round to Three Cliffs Bay around the beach at low tide, or via the coastal path when the tide is on (which makes for great views) 8)
Okay, finally some pics! Firstly, we stayed at Nicholaston Farm - winner of the Swansea Bay campsite of the year in 2010, and most excellent facilities – very hot showers, modern and clean at all times, farm shop and café on site. Definitely somewhere we would go again. The campsite is on a slope though, and they don’t allocate pitches, so you may find yourself on a slope, fortunately we had a nice flat pitch AND a view of Oxwich Bay. Here is a pic of the campsite (taken from their website, not by me): This is Oxwich Bay on the day we arrived – short walk through the woods and over the sand dunes to this awesome, and little used for some reason, beach: Barely anyone in sight in either direction – reminds me a lot of Camber Sands: This is a view of Oxwich Bay from the coastal path over the cliff, which we took to get to Three Cliffs Bay one morning – apparently you can walk to Three Cliffs Bay via the beach, but only at lowtide, which was about 3pm, we didn’t want to wait. The views were amazing: This is Tor Bay, between Oxwich and Three Cliffs – again you can walk there in low tide via the beach, but I am glad we saw it from above, as it is beautiful – reminds me of Porthcurno Beach in Cornwall: And Mr Dougal at Three Cliffs Bay. Fortunately, unlike Cornwall, the bays in the Gower are a lot more dog friendly! Another day we took a walk around Mumbles Bay, seen here from a refreshment stop at the West Cross Inn: and this is the lighthouse at the end of Mumbles/start of Bracelet Bay: This is Darcy, our new puppy, who we threw in at the deep end and brought along to our last summer trip in the campervan, she loved the fresh air and the smell of the sea (but spent most of our many coastal walks in my arms, tired, bless her!): Unfortunately, white dogs are not quite so pretty when wet and covered in sand aka Dirty Darcy! >Here Mr Dougal is trying to teach Miss Darcy to swim, but she wasn’t quite convinced… Mr Dougal was content to paddle on his own, which is progress for someone who only a few weeks ago was also scared of the sea: Beautiful weather leant to some dramatic skies and lighting on the beaches: A holiday is not a holiday, for us, without a spot of paddling: Silhouette of Reilly the campervan, we were blessed with very good weather! Apart from the last day – it rained cats and dogs, but we still ventured out to Rhossili Bay – the white house you can just about see was recently used as a location in Torchwood: Miracle Day (what you can't see was loads of surfers out in the rain, the nutters): Sadly, we didn’t know that you can only walk out to Worms Head at low tide – we were hours too early L Pics of our new campervan curtains, which we finally put up! So much easier than using thermo mats. Oi, that’s not your bed, Dirty Darcy! And finally, three cheers for Reilly the Campervan, for not letting us down once on any of our summer trips, he's a superstar, hip hip, hooray!!
Overall, for anyone who hasn't been, I would say the Gower has a lot to offer - the beaches and bays and beauty of Cornwall, without the tourists and the traffic (and the single-file, winding, uphill country lanes!). Found the Welsh people very friendly, as I remembered from my uni days at Swansea. And don't believe anyone who says it always rains on the Gower - apart from one day of rain, it was proper El Scorchio all week. Will definitely go again (as a trip over to Cork/Ireland is on the cards next summer and you can get the ferry from Swansea, plus a catamaran over to Ilfracombe apparently now), plus would like to explore the Pembrokeshire coast more now. Who needs trips to the Greek Islands anymore, that is SO last year 8)
Excellent pictures M8, I love the Gower & luckily it's right on my doorstep, Pembrokeshire is awesome too we spent 3 weeks there on Holidays last summer, as good as anywhere abroad & prices your used to paying. I can recommend some great campsites if your interested.
nice pics we stayed at 3cliffs bay campsite on the Gower a few years ago,found it by sticking a pen in the map,lovely if exposed campsite,is it still open?
