Penarth and District Ramblers walk Cefn Bryn on Gower

A small group of four walkers joined Joy from Penarth and District Ramblers at Penmaen on a gorgeous sunny autumn morning and climbing up onto the Bryn which is also known as ‘the backbone of Gower’ they were immediately rewarded with views down to Three Cliffs Bay and back towards Swansea.

Reaching the highest point at 188m they tramped along the ridgeway for almost three miles whilst enjoying the glorious views to Rhossili Down, Llanmadoc Hill, along with Hardings and Ryer’s Down, Cwm Ivy Tor and Whiteford point. Reaching and crossing a minor road with a small car park where ponies and cattle that graze under commoner’s rights gather, a wide grassy track led them northwards to the site of Arthur’s Stone. This Neolithic chambered tomb dates to 2,500BC with a capstone that originally weighed 25 tons, but a piece broke off and now lies on the ground beside the tomb.

After hearing some of the many legends that surround this stone including the fact that during the 16th century it was listed as one of the three mighty achievements of the Isle of Britain (the other two being Stonehenge and Silbury Hill) they paused for morning break in warm sunshine whilst gazing across the River Lougher towards Llanelli, Burry Port, Pembrey Burrows and Cefn Sidan Sands with the misty Carmarthen Bay beyond.

A small detour through a narrow path in the bracken led to the Great Carn, a huge pile of stones measuring 20m across which dates to around 2,000BC - late Neolithic and early Bronze Age. Retracing their steps to the road a gentle descent through the thick bracken clad slopes of Cefn Bryn brought them to Little Reynoldston, across the A4118 and down a rough track to enter the Mill Wood.  Originally part of the Penrice Estate with its 18th century tree planting, it is now owned by the Forestry Commission and after visiting the ruins of an old water powered corn mill and its adjacent round pond, sadly now completely overgrown, where fish were bred to feed the Penrice Estate, a steep climb by road then a sunken track led them to St Andrew’s Church.

A pause to view the ‘murder stone’ to the memory of Mary Kavanagh from Penmaen who in 1829 at the age of 75yrs was murdered and a space was left for the perpetrator’s name which was never filled. The 12th century church in 1720 lost its entire roof during a huge storm and was rebuilt at the end of the 19th century but sadly was locked, so exiting onto a grassy bank a stop was made in very warm sunshine for lunch whilst overlooking Penrice village green. The village once held as many as four annual fairs and twice weekly markets on the green which contained the ‘crying stone’ that originally supported a cross which disappeared and from where the opening of the markets would be announced.

Following part of the newly opened Gower Pilgrimage Way, an almost 50 mile linear route linking seventeen Gower Churches, a descent on a recently cleared path with stunning views towards Nicholaston and the east end of Oxwich Bay brought them through fields into woodland. Exiting into huge open meadows a narrow track led to a road for the short journey down through Oxwich village to the coast, passing the Oxwich Bay Hotel which began its life as a rectory. With the tide at the ebb, the huge sandy Oxwich Bay led them to a footbridge over the Nicholaston-Pill River for a short afternoon stop where one member enjoyed a paddle before moving on along part of the Wales Coast Path.

Narrow sandy paths in the dunes led them through Nicholaston Wood followed by the slog uphill on a soft sandy path with steps, to reach the clifftop overlooking Great Tor with the sheltered and almost empty Tor Bay below them. Taking one last look at the blue skies and across Oxwich Bay with the tide already flooding in, they turned inland following a rough track, then a quiet road to return to the start after completing eleven glorious sun drenched miles.

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