RHOSSILI BAY

On reaching the far west of the Gower Peninsula, the scene you are met with is, in my opinion, one of the finest sights on the whole of the British coast: the curved sweep of Rhossili Bay, backed by the elevated Rhossili Down, and at the far end the higgledy-piggledy shape of Worms Head stretching out into the Bristol Channel. Towards the northern end of the bay, and nestling in the shadow of the Down, is the surfing village of Llangennith which includes St Cennydd's, the largest church in Gower, originally thought to be a 6th century priory.  The name St Cenydd is the origin of the present-day name of Llangennith. From here, you have the choice of a long walk along the beach or a clamber over the Down. For post-walk refreshments with an amazing view, there is the Worms Head Hotel at the southern end of the bay. Worms Head itself is a major landmark on the South Wales coast, visible from many places for miles around.  It is possible to walk out onto the headland, but care should be taken as the causeway leading out to it is only exposed for two and a half hours before and after low tide. Get it wrong, and you could be spending a windswept few hours trapped on the headland waiting for the tide to recede again, a mistake famously made by Dylan Thomas when he fell asleep on the Inner Head. He was a frequent visitor to Worms Head and wrote of the "monstrous, thick grass there that made us spring-heeled". Back down on the beach, there are the remnants of a shipwreck poking out of the sand. This was the Norwegian barque Helvetia which fell foul of stormy weather in Autumn 1887, but now only a few timbers are still visible.

Live streaming webcam of Llangennith and Rhossili Bay.

Map of the area.

Low tide at Rhossili Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1379946. Photo by Trevor Rickard, via Wikimedia Commons