Photos.

South Wales

Continuing on from last time...

After Bristol, we went on to Swansea to spend the afternoon with family there. We drove around the town a bit and looked at places where my Dad grew up. This is a picture of the school where my Grandpa taught art (and other subjects). His classroom was at the front left.


We went for lunch at Rhossili, which is at the end of the Gower peninsula. There is a long beach, and a lot of wind, so there were surfers and hang-gliders out.


At the very tip of the peninsula is this bit of land called the worm's head.

That causeway leading out to it is only exposed at low tide, so if you want to walk over to it, you have to make sure you leave yourself enough time to walk back too. Not surprisingly, people get stuck out there somewhat regularly.

We drove back across the hills and found a group of the wild Gower ponies by the side of the road.

Apparently, you can tell if the weather is going to be really bad, because the ponies come down from the hills and hang around in the villages.

After spending the afternoon around Swansea, we went on to St. Clear's to stay with Bill, my step-grandfather. From St. Clear's we did some more touring of family history.
This is Llandawke church, where my grandparents were married:

It dates from the 13th century, but was possibly founded in the dark ages, according to inscriptions found on a stone at the site.

We also stopped at St. Martin's church, in Laugharne, where various family members are buried. You can't go into the church during the day anymore, they have it locked up because of vandals, which I think is very sad. You can wander around the churchyard though, which has a lovely, old, quiet feel to it.




If you've heard of Laugharne, it's probably because of Dylan Thomas, who spent the last few years of his life there. He is also buried in St. Martin's churchyard. If you walk along the shore, you can visit his boathouse and his writing shed, which is still set up more or less as he had it:


Laugharne also has a castle, but I'm saving that for next time.

We stayed several days in St. Clear's, so we got a chance to see a few local attractions as well. We went to the Welsh National Botanic Garden one day. It has an 18th century walled garden which is notable because it is surrounded by two walls. Walled gardens usually had only one wall. They were usually used as kitchen gardens to grow food plants. The wall protects the plants, and blocks wind and traps heat to allow more cold-sensitive species to grow, or to extend growing seasons. Double walls basically do the same thing as one wall, but better. A view inside the walled garden:


Part of it (although obviously not this part) is still used as a kitchen garden.

A major part of the gardens is the huge dome which has been planted entirely with mediterranean-type species. It shows plants from six different areas of the world, that all have a mediterranean climate. It is the largest single-span glasshouse in the world, according to their website.
Outside:

Inside:


The garden also had a kind of pig I had never seen before.

It's called a Kune-Kune pig and is very friendly.

I added another butterfly type to my butterfly photo collection:

It's a Small Tortoiseshell.

On another day, we went to St. Govan's point, where there is a tiny chapel down at the bottom of the cliffs.


Inside:


You have to climb down some very worn old stone steps to get to the chapel. Its origins are associated with various stories involving St. Govan running from pirates, and the rock opening up to hide him, a well with holy healing powers, or possibly Gawain, knight of the round table.


Next time... more local history.

posted by Sian at 12:11 PM