As we found ourselves temporarily based in Swansea, we decided to make the most of a dry but wintery Saturday afternoon and explore the area a bit more. There is so much coastline to explore in this part of the country, so we thought that would be a good place to start.
Read on to see what we did and where we walked!
Langland Bay
Langland bay is one of the most popular and accessible coastal locations West of Swansea, so is a favourite for beachgoers, walkers and surfers alike. Having had it recommended to us so highly, we decided it would be the base from which we would explore on our planned coastal route. Parking was close to the beach, reasonably priced (and took contactless) and when we visited (early November) very quiet – however in peak summer times its worth an early start to make sure you grab a space!
With a number of seaside shops and eateries, Langland bay is well catered for a full days stay, with the sandy beach and picturesque beach huts making it an enticing prospect – but we had a walk planned so set off to explore the coastline!
One of the best parts of the Langland to Caswell walk is the fact that so much of the walk is accessible due to recent stone paving developments along the route. Whilst this redevelopment doesn’t quite yet link the two completely accessibly – the route from Langland to the popular Snaple View view point is completed and provides an accessible route to a beautiful headland view. On from here, the path meanders along the coastline, providing expansive sea views and craggy cliff faces.
Caswell Bay
After walking for a while, we decided to sit down for a while and have something to eat / do a bit of dog watching. This was another sandy beach and doggies are allowed to roam on it in the winter months which is always fun to watch!
Caswell Bay is a Blue Flag beach, with plenty of sand and rock pools to explore at low tide. Apparently it is also a good surfing spot especially for learners as the waves are generally decent and there’s no dangerous rocky areas. Lifeguards are also on the beach in the summer (anyone who surfs in the winter is crazed – and yes that does include David!).
Other useful things to note is that there are toilets here that are free to use, and also the Surfside Café which was serving hot drinks and some hot food like chips. There is also a seaside shop next to the café, but this wasn’t open when we went, probably because of the Welsh lockdown, but just so you know!
Another cool project that was recently completed at Caswell Bay was a DIY SOS revamp of the Surfability surf school building. Surfability is a charity that offers adaptive and inclusive surf experiences to people with additional needs. Their base used to be an old bus shelter which was no longer fit for use, so the DIY SOS team decided to build a new eco-friendly surf centre that was completed on the 24th of September, and was done in just 24 days! It’s a really fab charity regardless and their new centre looks really amazing, it shows that there is still some good stuff and people in the world…
After our break, we walked along the beach away from Langland to carry on our journey. There was a set of stairs on the West side of the beach (next to the apartment block car park) which took us back onto the coastal path. There was also a sign saying that this route wasn’t suitable if it was a high tide, and pointed to an alternative route along Caswell Road. However, if we’re honest we wouldn’t want to walk along that road as it was very narrow and had blind bends, so if you are in that situation be super careful and maybe even consider waiting until you can walk on the beach.
It is a pretty straightforward path to follow from here, we found ourselves stopping often to marvel at the view again and again. In just a short while, we found ourselves at the next bat along, Brandy Cove.
Brandy Cove
Although we didn’t have time to venture all the way down to Brandy Cove as we wanted to get back before it was dark, we did have a quick stop to take in the view. Apparently the cove got its name from the fact that it was a favourite place for smugglers to, well, smuggle things such as brandy!
This area of beach can only be accessed by foot, either from Caswell beach at low tide, or by following the road in Caswell or Bishopston. There is public transport nearby, but again you have to trek a bit to get to the beach. This fact makes this beach a little more off the beaten track and quiet compared to the other beaches we had visited today.
The tide was quite high when we were there, however there were still plenty of pebbles to walk on if we wanted. At low tide, a generous slice of sandy beach is exposed (for all you geographers / geologists out there, this is because it is a Pleistocene raised beach). For those of you interested (I know I (Zoe) was), there is also a rather gruesome true crime story surrounding this cove that we found out about from Wales Online when doing a bit of research.
I think if we had known that this beach was a lot more secluded and peaceful than Caswell we may have waited a little longer to have our packed lunch at Brandy – but we know for next time and, even better, you know now!
Pwll Du Bay
As we didn’t go down to Brandy Cove itself but admired from afar, we simply continued along the same path as before to the furthest point of our walk – Pwll Du Bay. Again, this wasn’t a difficult route navigation-wise at all, but it did start to get a bit harder to walk, possibly because it got a bit more hilly (or we were just getting more tired and feeling it more..!).
Again, unfortunately we didn’t have time to venture all the way down to the beach, but we will definitely be back again because this was by far our favourite beach of the day. This was definitely more of a ‘locals’ beach, again because it is only accessible by foot and it is actually considered to be one of the most inaccessible bays on the Gower so a lot of people simply don’t come this far along, they stick nearer the Langland / Caswell end.
Pwll Du means ‘black pool’ in English, and it got its name due to the dark shingle stopping the flow of water from the river, forming a pool (people that name things can be clever can’t they!). Whilst this isn’t your traditional sandy beach, we really liked the ruggedness and remoteness of it, if we had the money to live in a house with a sea view this would be a very good contender!
If we had more time we would have liked to venture a bit further to Pwll Du head, which offers amazing views of the Pennard Cliffs and Mumbles (if you hadn’t noticed by now, we do love a good view). But unfortunately time was against us, so we had to turn back and walk the other way…
Oh and just something for all you dog people out there, this Pwll Du Bay is open to dogs all year round, unlike the other beaches around here which only allow them in the winter months.
The Return Journey
We decided on a little section talking about the return journey because, despite it being a 1-route-only walk most of the way, we did explore a little detour.
On the Mumbles side of Caswell Bay, there is a footpath that leads up the cliff. We decided to spice things up a bit and head up there to get a different perspective (and some more glute exercise!). Personally we really enjoyed the change in route and elevation, we got some really good pictures and there were a lot less people up there.
One thing just to be aware of though, you do have to walk through some of Langland Bay Golf Club’s course which was fine when we went as no one was playing but be sure to listen out for anyone shouting “FOUR” if they are playing. The path did get a little confusing as there were signs both for the golfers and the public, so just double check where you are going! This path eventually leads all the way to the car park we started at.
Mumbles (just for an ice cream!)
We had both heard of a somewhat famous and longstanding ice cream parlour in Mumbles called Joe’s. There are a few dotted around this neck of the woods, however Mumbles is the original site. As we were in the area, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to try their vanilla ice cream (although it is described as more of an Italian fresh gelato) that is made fresh each day. They say that the recipe for their vanilla ice cream has remained unchanged for more than 100 years, although they do also have other flavours to try too.
Of course we had to try the classic flavour for our first time, and it was very nice. We shared one between us and we were glad we did as the ice cream was incredibly sweet and almost quite dense, and I don’t think we could have managed much more than what we had as it was a big serving!
All in all, we had a lovely day out on the Gower, we hadn’t had much of a chance to get out until now so it was really good for the both of us. I can definitely see the both of us spending a LOT more time around here in the near (and maybe even far) future, and neither of us can wait to see what else Swansea has to offer!
Safe and happy travelling to you all.
Zoe and David x
Written by the both of us
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