Approximate
Distances:
Llanrhidian
village 1 mile, Penclawdd 3½ miles, Gowerton 6½
miles, Bishopston 8½ miles, Rhossili
Bay 7 miles, Fforestfach is about 9½ miles,
Swansea 10 miles, Llanelli 12 miles, The Mumbles 12½
miles, Neath 18½ miles, Carmarthen 27 miles, Cardiff
51 miles.
Access
to the A484 (Swansea-Carmarthen-Cardigan) road 7 miles. Access
to the M4 Motorway (Junction 47) 10½ miles. Cardiff
International Airport 45 miles
The
Gower Peninsula, with its
diverse and beautiful topography, was the first designated
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Britain (in 1956),
a region rich in history, nature reserves, glorious landscapes
and vistas, with a magnificent coastline that includes wildlife
estuary seashores, sweeping sandy bays, secluded coves, and
dramatic limestone cliffs. The inland countryside is a delight,
with hills and moors where wild Gower ponies can be seen,
valleys and woodland, and there are castles, standing stones,
ancient churches and delightful villages to visit. The Gower
is ideal for walking, riding, cycling, bird watching, and
a range of water sports including swimming, surfing, sailing,
water skiing, canoeing, and windsurfing. There are several
golf courses in lovely settings. Warmed by the Gulf Stream,
the peninsula has a mild climate.
The
property is situated to
the south of Welsh Moor Common on the outskirts of Llanrhidian
village, which borders the edge of Salt Marshes and Sands
on the Loughor Estuary (Burry Inlet) on the northern coast
of the Gower Peninsula, benefiting from spectacular views.
Llanrhidian
village is about
a mile to the west of the property, an ancient settlement
dating back to the 6th Century, with two standing stones on
the village green (reputedly whipping stones in bygone days).
To the north-east of the village
near a woodland common, Cilifor Top with its Iron Age hill
fort oversees the community. The village has a fine
13th Century church, dedicated to St. Rhidian and St. Illtyd,
a petrol station with shop/post office, garden centre, primary
school, the North Gower Hotel with public bar and restaurant,
the Greyhound Inn, and the Welcome To Town Restaurant. There
are plenty of other pubs and eateries in the general area.
Llanrhidian Holiday Park is about a mile north of the village,
with a restaurant and fish & chip shop.
Llanrhidian
Sands stretch along the
tidal Loughor Estuary on the northern coastline of the Gower,
where many nature reserves can be found. The River Loughor
forms part of the boundary between Swansea County and Carmarthenshire,
and the estuary is well known for its cockles. Llanrhidian's
salt marshes have long been used for common grazing and cockling,
and wild ponies and sheep can often be seen here. In past
times, donkeys were employed to transport the cockles, but
no longer. The marshes extend from The Groose at the western
edge of Llanrhidian north-eastwards up to Crofty near Penclawdd.
With its diversity of habitats, this region is a haven for
wildlife, and large numbers of bird species visit the marshes,
wetlands and woodland areas a treat for bird watchers, artists
and photographers. Much of the Gower is owned by the National
Trust and the Glamorgan Wildlife Trust.
Also
along the northern coastline, about 5 miles west of Llanrhidian
Sands, is Whiteford Burrows, a National Trust nature reserve
with pine trees and sand dunes and numerous birds and plant
life. There is an old lighthouse at Whiteford Point at the
tip of the Burrows. Beyond Whiteford's expansive sands is
Broughton Bay at the north-west of the peninsula, popular
for water sports, with another huge sandy beach. Between Broughton
Bay and Rhossili Bay (on the west coast) is Burry Holms, which
becomes an island at high tide and contains the ruins of an
ancient monastic community. The beautiful 3 mile beach of
Rhossili Bay, some 7 miles west
of the property, offers dunes, rocks and streams with
Rhossili Downs behind, and is well-liked by the surfing and
water sports fraternity. Rhossili village is about 9½
miles to the south-west of the property. The southern coast
of the Gower offers cliff top walks and wonderful beaches,
including Port Eynon, Oxwich Bay, Three Cliffs Bay, Caswell
Bay, Langland Bay and Limeslade Bay. The Mumbles on Swansea
Bay is 12½ miles to the south-east of the property,
with a lighthouse, fine Victorian pier and majestic Oystermouth
Castle.
Education:
The nearest primary school
is about a mile westerly in Llanrhidian, whilst Llanmorlais
primary school is 1¾ miles north-easterly, Penclawdd
primary school is 3½ miles north-easterly, and Knelston
primary school is 5½ miles south-westerly. Gowerton,
some 6½ miles to the north-east, provides infant, junior
and comprehensive schools. Another comprehensive school is
8¼ miles to the south-east at Bishopston. Swansea city
is about 10 miles east, and offers primary and secondary schools,
as well as its University near the sea front. Other universities
are located at Carmarthen, 27 miles north-west, Lampeter,
44 miles north, Cardiff, 51 miles south-east, Newport, 59
miles east, Aberystwyth, 68 miles north, and Bangor, 147 miles
north.
Crofty
village has a general
shop/post office 2½ miles north of the property, and
the cockling town of Penclawdd is
about 3½ miles north-easterly with a small supermarket,
post office, doctor's surgery, chemist, and hairdresser. At
high tide, the sea comes in as far as Penclawdd's cockle beds.
Fforestfach is about 9½ miles north-easterly with a
Retail Shopping Park and Tesco supermarket.
Some
2 miles north of the property is the sadly lost village
of Llanelen', hidden beneath the woodland of Welsh
Moor Common. A long, long time ago a few stranded sailors
found their way from the shore to the village for assistance,
but unbeknown to them and the inhabitants, they carried the
plague, and the whole population subsequently died. The impressive
remains of the 14th Century Weobley Castle
are 2¼ miles west of the property, in a picturesque
setting looking out across the estuary, whilst the famous
landmark of King Arthur's Stone is about
3 miles in a south-westerly direction a Neolithic burial
chamber situated high up on the wild moor of Cefn Bryn. The
Gower Heritage Centre is 5½ miles
to the south-east on the A4118 road, with a working 12th Century
water mill, rural museum and craft shops.
The
residential village of Gowerton is some
6½ miles north-easterly (almost midway between Llanelli
and Swansea) with shops, schools, a medical centre, dentists,
pub and restaurant, as well as a golf course on the outskirts.
Gowerton's railway station has train services
to west and mid Wales and to Swansea-Cardiff-Paddington. The
station is also part of the scenic Heart of Wales line that
runs from Swansea to Shrewsbury over 121 miles through wonderful
countryside. Near Gowerton is a cycle route leading to the
Swansea Bay coast, travelling down through the wooded Clyne
Valley Country Park to the Bay, and on to Swansea Marina in
one direction or the Mumbles in the other.
Swansea,
the second largest city in Wales, is about 10 miles to the
east of the property, with plenty of shopping and leisure
amenities, a large indoor market, schools and university,
general district hospital, the Wales National Swimming Pool
(Olympic-size), theatres, concert halls and museums, bus and
railway stations, and a good night life with numerous clubs,
bars, cafes and restaurants. Beautifully set on the sweeping
Swansea Bay shoreline, the city has sandy beaches with safe
bathing, an excellent Yachting Marina and Maritime Quarter,
waterfront bars and eateries, museums, art galleries, the
National Literature Centre (dedicated to Dylan Thomas, who
was born in Swansea), and an observatory. Swansea has a number
of fine public parks, including the extensive Clyne Gardens
& Country Park with follies, streams, bridges, and a castle,
as well as superb views across the bay, and Singleton Park
which has a Swiss cottage, boating lake, and botanical and
herb gardens. The Welsh name for the city is Abertawe (at
the mouth of the River Tawe), and the English Swansea is
believed to derive from Sweyne's Eye taken from the name
of a 10th Century Viking ruler, Sweyne Forkbeard. From the
13th Century up until the 17th Century, Swansea was a shipbuilding
centre and important port, exporting copper and other minerals,
and a producer of fine porcelain. Stained glass was also a
successful business, and this tradition still thrives today.
There are several golf courses around Swansea and the Gower.
Ferries
Swansea provides a ferry
service to Cork in Ireland. Ferries to Rosslare in Ireland
are available from Pembroke Dock, 59 miles west, and Fishguard
Harbour, 62½ miles north-west. Cardiff International
Airport is about 45 miles to the south-east.
Llanelli
is to the north of the
property, some 12 miles distant by road. This attractive town
stands at the mouth of the river Loughor, and provides good
shopping amenities and a large covered market (the origins
of the marketplace date back to the 13th Century), schools,
college, cinema, railway station, and a hospital at the edge
of town. There is an indoor bowls centre, and a leisure centre
with swimming pool, spa and sauna facilities, sports hall,
squash courts, gymnasium, etc. The impressive Parc Howard
Mansion, built in 1885, and bestowed to the town in 1912,
is now home to a Museum and Art Gallery, providing historical
information about the town and area as well as collections
of art and Llanelli pottery.
Opened
in 2002, the Millennium Coastal Park is
at Llanelli's shoreline, offering beaches, dunes, salt marshes,
water sports centre, fishing lakes, woodlands, public art,
a golf course, visitor centre, superb views, and a long connecting
footpath and cycle track. Some 2,000 acres of neglected wasteland
was reclaimed along about 14 miles of coastline to bring back
the natural seashore environment for people and wildlife to
enjoy, along with the Millennium Coastal Path
which runs between the National Wetland Centre and Pembrey
Country Park, providing a splendid traffic-free route. The
National Wetlands Centre near Penclacwydd is about
4½ miles north of the property a nature conservation
reserve at the edge of the Burry inlet (Loughor estuary),
with lakes and reed beds where the little egret, ducks, swans,
geese, and a variety of other wild birds can be seen.
Pembrey
Country Park is 17½
miles north-westerly, with the 7 mile expanse of Cefn
Sidan Beach stretching beyond across the Pembrey
peninsula. The Country Park provides hundreds of acres of
parkland and forestry with walks, nature trails and picnic
areas along with attractions such as pony trekking, cycling,
a dry ski slope, and a saltmarsh nature reserve. Past Pembrey
en route to Kidwelly is the Pembrey Circuit, a centre for
motor sports, autocross, go-karting, and 4x4.
To
the north-east of Swansea are the Vale of Neath
and the waterfall country of Afan, popular areas with cyclists
and walkers. Melin Court Waterfall is 23½ miles and
the famous Pontneddfechan Waterfalls in the upper Neath valley
are about 29 miles to the north-east at the southern perimeter
of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The
National Park offers spectacular scenery including high mountain
peaks, gorges, waterfalls, lakes, open hills and moorland,
wooded valleys and lowlands with soft rolling farmland and
clear meandering rivers, as well as romantic castles.
The
town of Neath is 18½ miles to the
north-east of the property, with a variety of shops, sports
and leisure centres, schools, railway station, Norman Castle
and ancient Abbey ruins, and a museum and art gallery, as
well as a golf course on the outskirts of town.
The
ancient town and commercial centre of Carmarthen
is 27 miles to the north-west, combining an old world charm
of quaint narrow streets and traditional shops with bustling
markets and modern shopping amenities, along with art galleries,
theatre/cinema, leisure centre, university college, hospital,
heritage centre, and the County Museum on the outskirts at
Abergwili. The town is served by good rail links through Swansea
to Cardiff, and main roads radiate out to all regions, including
the A40, A48-M4 Link, A484 and A485. The ruins of a Roman
Amphitheatre are a town attraction, and the remains of a Norman
castle built circa 1094 are an impressive sight, overlooking
the town and the river.
The
capital city of Cardiff has excellent shopping
and entertainment amenities and is about 51 miles to the south-east
of the property. Situated on the Bristol Channel, Cardiff's
development and wealth came with the industrial revolution,
though it has a longer history dating back to Roman times
the name is derived from Caer Didi, meaning Fort of Didius
(after the high-ranking Roman, Aulus Didius). Once a great
international port exporting coal and iron from the valleys,
the city and waterfront have been regenerated in recent times,
blending the old with the new, and is a lively place to visit
with plenty to see and do, including Cardiff Castle, Llandaff
Cathedral, the impressive architecture of the buildings in
Cathays Park, the Art Gallery and Museum, the Science Discovery
and Visual Arts Centres, the Millennium Stadium with its retractable
roof, and Mermaid Quay with restaurants, bars and shops at
Cardiff Bay, where a tidal barrage has been built across the
Taff and Ely rivers spanning the mouth of the bay, forming
a great freshwater lake with boat moorings. The renowned Museum
of Welsh Life is on the outskirts at St. Fagan's, and the
turrets and towers of Castle Coch will be seen just north
of the city. |
