Tourist & Leisure Attractions: Gower Peninsula

On the third day of our holiday we hit Rhossili at the western end of the Gower Peninsula.  And with a view like that of the bay from the coffee shop there we just had to stop by and contemplate our proposed walk over Rhossili Down, just in view on the far right.

The only way is up!  The moorland walk over Rhossili Down is reckoned to be the best dramatic coastal walking in Wales and rises to over 184 metres - good job we stopped for that coffee then.  It reminded us a bit of our Brean Down walk a few years previously.

Apparently Rhossili Down has a number of prehistoric remains ... hmmm, we see what they mean!  This is looking back towards Rhossili, the rocky outcrop is Worm's Head which we were to return to a few days later.  Watch out for daredevil hang-gliders here!

The Beacon is the highest point on the Gower Peninsula, ah!, so that's why we found the walking so strenuous, phew!  From here we enjoyed uninterrupted views in all directions and found a sheltered spot from the intense wind for our picnic.

Yes, we can report that it was extremely windy up on Rhossili Down.  Still, from there the only way was down, heading for Burry Holms, the little island outcrop seen jutting out at the end of the bay.

The sandy beach runs for three miles along Rhossili Bay and is popular with wind surfers.  We climbed down over the vast sand dunes, called The Warren, and continued towards Burry Holms.

Burry Holms can only be accessed at low tide.  Our reason for visiting was to find a Geocache, one of many we searched out using our handheld Sat Nav during our Gower holiday walking.  Rather than...

...return over Rhossili Down we took the more sheltered lower level path and spotted the skeletal remains of the 1887 shipwreck Helvetia poking out of the sand in delightful Rhossili Bay.

It would be too much to expect every day in Wales to be rain free.  So when it bucketed down on the forth day we had to make the best of it so took ourselves off to The Gower Heritage Centre in Parkmill.

Here's the 800 year old working water wheel that powered the original sawmill.  Gower Heritage Centre runs guided tours throughout the day around the museum's many interesting displays and exhibits.

We were enthralled by the corn mill cottage, laid out with typical household items as it would have been in times past.  Then we braved the weather and...

...ventured out into the open part of the rural life museum and headed to the farming museum section with its animal pen, stable and farming machinery.

The mock-up of an Anderson air raid shelter contained some second world war memorabilia and a land girl - steady on there Mike!

Our final port of call at Gower Heritage Centre was the fascinating blacksmith's workshop, where the blacksmith admirably demonstrated how horse shoes and other metal items were cast in the furnace and bashed into shape.  Wonder if that's where the expression 'to strike while the iron's hot' came from?

Relaxing with meal and wine in our comfortable Gower holiday cottage after a hard day's touring.

We thought Gower Heritage Centre well worth the visit, especially when there's little else to do 'indoors' in Gower on a wet day.

Tourism resources for the Gower Peninsula and other areas we visit are on our UK tourist websites page.  See our review of our new digital camera, used to take many of these Gower photos.

On our final Gower holiday page we head to the stunning Three Cliffs Bay and pay another visit to Rhossili and Worm's Head >>>