route gains the coast via Bishop’s Wood Nature Reserve at Caswell Bay and then runs along the base of the cliffs to Brandy Cove and Pwlldu Bay. Tales of smuggling and ghosts abound here and one can just imagine the locals dodging the excise men by bringing their illicit booty ashore under the cover of darkness. Pwlldu Bay is also steeped in industrial history, as is Bishopston Valley which once had a working lead mine. The stream plays cat-and-mouse by disappearing and reappearing again a number of times.
From the car park in Bishopston walk up the road, past the Valley Inn and Joiners Arms on Bishopston Road.
The house called Marston, no. 133, was Dylan Thomas’ father’s home when he moved from Cwmdonkin Drive following his retirement from teaching at Swansea Grammar School in 1937. Dylan and his wife Caitlin were frequent guests and it was here, in 1941, that Dylan wrote the poem The Ballad of the Long Legged Bait.
Turn left just past the Spar down Providence Lane. Follow this and cross over a road in a housing estate to the Plough and Harrow Pub. Bear left and then right around the pub to Murton Green. Turn right just past the Wesleyan Methodist Church and follow the road to a bend. Follow the footpath sign to Caswell Bay ignoring the turn to Clyne Common.
The track comes to a Y-junction where you bear left and keep left again a few metres on. Drop down the sunken track, and when it bends to the right, continue on the main track between the two hedges. On your left you can see a stone building which is the remains of a chapel at St Peter’s Well. Further along this sunken lane you can see a turf-roofed roundhouse. This is Lanwell where courses in traditional woodland management are run.
Once you reach the valley floor turn right, pass the roundhouse and follow the path to Caswell through Bishop's Wood Local Nature Reserve. Cross over the road and see if the tide is low enough to walk around the rocks on the right. If not, walk right up the road and turn left onto the Coast Path next to the entrance to a majestic house.
Caswell Bay at low tide
Drop down to the beach and skirt along the base of the pebbles and climb up the steps in the corner. Turn left at the top and follow the path above the tops of the cliffs, taking care here as there is a steep drop adjacent to the route.
Coming around the point, if the tide is low, there is a superb view of the inclined rock layers in the intertidal limestone reef. On your right is Redley Cliff, a nature reserve owned by the Wildlife Trust for South and West Wales and is part of the Caswell Bay Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Continue along to the next inlet of Brandy Cove which gets its name from stories of smugglers using the bay to unload their illegal tobacco and alcohol during the 18th century. There is a raised beach exposed below the path and an area of scree on the western side above the path.
There are a couple of legends of the supernatural associated with the beach. One is about a witch called ‘Old Moll’ who lived in the caves near the beach and spent much of her time wandering through the many small villages and farms on Gower. The other story is connected to a chilling real-life murder that took place near the beach in 1919. Nearby villagers claimed that they could hear screams coming from the caves near the beach at night.
Coming around into Pwlldu Bay there is a good view of the tilted limestone rock strata along the foreshore at low tide and the old quarry in the cliff on the western side of the bay. Turn left where the path joins a track and cross the stream using the bridge. The bay is worth exploring by turning left here for its shingle beach and past history associated with quarrying and with smuggling (see Walk 3).
PWLLDU QUARRYING
The cliffs to the west of this beautiful bay have been extensively modified by quarrying up to the beginning of the 20th century. Rights of ‘cliffage’ were awarded to farming tenants who could quarry the limestone from the slopes of Pwlldu Head, which was then shipped across the water to Devon where it was burned to make agricultural lime.
The quarried stone was piled a short way from low water and marked with a post. Ships then sailed into the cove at high tide, located the posts and remained there until the tide dropped, leaving the ship beached and ready to be loaded before the next high tide. Some of the ships may have actually been scuttled by opening the sea cocks before the tide had fully dropped. As the ship beached the sea cocks would be closed with water partially filling the hold of the ship, breaking the fall of the cargo of rock as it was loaded. The remaining water would be drained out before the tide returned.
The houses nestling at the head of the beach were once four pubs serving the thirsty workers. The large white house was the Beaufort Arms and opposite it was the Ship Inn, but the Bull and New Inn are no longer in existence.
Continue by turning right once over the bridge, following the path past the National Trust sign along the western bank of the stream. Ignore the sign to Southgate where a valley joins from the left, once used to smuggle contraband to the Highway Farms in Southgate, and follow the sign to Bishopston and Kittle.
Continue following the path in the valley signposted Kittle Church, ignoring the two bridges. Look out for where the stream divides into three and disappears underground. Shortly after, ignore the sign for Kittle and continue along the valley floor, signposted Church Lane. Notice that the stream-bed is dry but it will hold water in extreme spate conditions.
The dry stream-bed upstream of Guzzle Hole
The path crosses the stream-bed and passes over an old stone wall. Look out for some stone ruins well disguised with moss. Just beyond up to the right is an old mine adit.
Listen out for the sound of falling water which is coming from Guzzle Hole over to your left. Again, in times of spate, water gushes out of this cave, and also comes in from the right if the massive sink hole further up the valley cannot cope with the extreme flood.
Continue along the dry stream-bed, ignoring the sign for Kittle on the left up the steps. Just after this, turn right and climb the steep slope out of the valley. Once you have climbed out of the valley, ignore the footpath on the right and continue following the wall to a stile. Follow the footpath across the field and, at the dwellings, take the track straight ahead which brings you to the Joiners Arms and The Valley pub in Bishopston.
Alternatively, it is worth carrying on a little way further up the stream-bed in the valley to see the sink hole and, if conditions have been dry, you can continue to follow the stream-bed to St Teilo’s Church where you turn right and up to the Joiners Arms and The Valley pub in Bishopston.
Turn left back to the start.
WALK 3
Bishopston Valley
| Start/Finish | St Teilo’s Church, Bishopston (SS 5774 8937) |
| Distance | 6.5km (4 miles) |
| Total ascent | 180m |
| Time | 2hrs |
| Refreshments | Joiners Arms and The Valley pub in Bishopston. |
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