Three Cliffs Bay on the Gower Peninsular, South Wales.
29th October 2019
Yesterday Susan and I went for a drive down to the Gower peninsular situated just west of Swansea Bay. This area is only just over an hour’s drive away from the Brecon Beacons and it really is an area of outstanding natural beauty, much visited by tourists and locals alike. However, now that all the holiday makers have dissipated, the beaches and headlands are much quieter and there is more chance of a photograph without people.
At the little hamlet of Parkmill there is a small shop and tea rooms called Shepherds and you can park in their parking area outside the shop at a cost of three pounds for the day - this is better than searching around for a place to park. We bought two cheese and onion pasties there, which looked quite tasty and after packing everything into my rucksack we started our walk to Three Cliffs Bay. This bay is very famous and popular and rightly so because it is very beautiful there – but it is best avoided in the summer months if you want any solitude!
When we arrived it felt quite cold but after walking for about half a mile the weather had really warmed up and we both took a layer of clothes off. We didn’t want to walk to the beach because there would be too many people there and it is awkward to take a photograph, so we made our way up onto the hill where the old Pennard Castle stands looking out over the bay.
It was nearly lunchtime by the time we were up on the headland so we sat on a very convenient bench and ate our pasties, which were every bit as good as they looked and washed down with a cup of coffee were very welcome indeed.
We walked on about another half a mile until we were right up on top of a rocky outcrop looking down on the three cliffs which give the bay its name.
I took a couple of photographs and we admired the view for half an hour before retracing our steps back as more and more people started to arrive.
We walked back to the car in about forty minutes and had another coffee and a mince pie there, which was also very nice and we then took a leisurely drive home before the Swansea ‘rush hour‘ started - a very nice day.
At the little hamlet of Parkmill there is a small shop and tea rooms called Shepherds and you can park in their parking area outside the shop at a cost of three pounds for the day - this is better than searching around for a place to park. We bought two cheese and onion pasties there, which looked quite tasty and after packing everything into my rucksack we started our walk to Three Cliffs Bay. This bay is very famous and popular and rightly so because it is very beautiful there – but it is best avoided in the summer months if you want any solitude!
When we arrived it felt quite cold but after walking for about half a mile the weather had really warmed up and we both took a layer of clothes off. We didn’t want to walk to the beach because there would be too many people there and it is awkward to take a photograph, so we made our way up onto the hill where the old Pennard Castle stands looking out over the bay.
It was nearly lunchtime by the time we were up on the headland so we sat on a very convenient bench and ate our pasties, which were every bit as good as they looked and washed down with a cup of coffee were very welcome indeed.
We walked on about another half a mile until we were right up on top of a rocky outcrop looking down on the three cliffs which give the bay its name.
I took a couple of photographs and we admired the view for half an hour before retracing our steps back as more and more people started to arrive.
We walked back to the car in about forty minutes and had another coffee and a mince pie there, which was also very nice and we then took a leisurely drive home before the Swansea ‘rush hour‘ started - a very nice day.