Fortunately the overnight rain had stopped and on a cool but dry morning six walkers and Pepper the spaniel joined Joy for a trip down to south Gower where watery but pleasant sunshine greeted them.
Beginning from Little Reynoldston which is thought to derive its name from Reginald de Breos and following a rough track they entered the Mill Wood, ancient woodland that was once part of the Penrice estate. This lovely old woodland contains ponds, streams and a variety of trees including oak, ash, beech, small-leaved lime, pine, spruce and larch. Passing the pond and turning east they reached the remains of a 16th century corn mill which gave the wood its name and the pond to the side of the ruined building is a quartered circular stew pond. These stew ponds were often attached to monasteries to supplement the meagre winter food and this one was used to raise and store fish, probably carp, for use by the Penrice estate.
A carved squirrel and an owl adorn the gateposts leading from the wood and joining a lane opposite a gated entrance to the long drive into the Penrice estate the group headed uphill towards Penrice village.
Diverting up a muddy sunken lane to Penrice village church which is dedicated to St Andrew, they paused to look at the lovely 13th century church (unfortunately locked) which overlooks the wide sweep of Oxwich Bay which during a terrible storm in 1720 lost its entire roof and had to be restored.
The church was once owned by the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem an order which grew from a brotherhood that cared for sick and injured pilgrims in Jerusalem, who were visiting the Holy Land. After the last Crusade in 1100AD the order became a military one which was charged with defending the Holy Land.
At the rear of the church stands a massive yew tree and to the south-west of the front porch lies the ‘Murder Stone’ on which is inscribed… To the Memory of Mary, wife of James Kavanagh of Penmaen, who was murdered by on 3rd October 1829 aged 75 yrs. A gap was left for the inclusion of the name of the culprit, this was supposed to prick the conscience of the perpetrator of the crime to make them come forward but as the gap was never filled one can only suppose the guilty person was never caught.
Because of weeks of heavy rainfall in order to avoid boggy fields and woodland that is always wet even in summer leading down to Long Acre, the leader decided to take a firmer route and the group continued along the lane passing an old stone built animal pound on their way to Pitt Farm.
This 17th century farmhouse was probably built by David Bennet who died in 1666 and a monument in St Andrews Church records him as a tenant of Pitt in a survey carried out in 1632. In 1670 it was recorded that the farmhouse contained six hearths and the Bennet family descendants remained there until the late 18th century. As the group passed the farmhouse they could see at least three of the windows had been bricked up no doubt to avoid the window tax in years gone by.
Reaching Oxwich village a pretty clump of snowdrops had been encouraged to open their petals by the sunshine, a first sighting of snowdrops for some and further along they reached an old stone thatched cottage bearing a slate plaque, stating that the Rev John Wesley lodged and preached in the cottage on five occasions between 1764 and 1771.
Next came the old village school with the schoolhouse attached, now private dwellings and further down the lane the group made their way onto the beach. The two and a half mile sandy sweep of Oxwich Bay had been freshly washed by the ebbing high tide and the slipway, some nearby rocks and a washed-up tree trunk were utilised as seating to enjoy morning break.
The group gazed eastwards across the beach towards a huge cliff known as High Tor where Oxwich Bay ends and where at low tide it is possible to walk around into Threecliff Bay and further on to Pobbles beach before the cliff path leads to Pennard.
Refreshed they continued past the Oxwich Bay Hotel and along the narrow lane leading to St Illtyd’s Church which is painted white and stands surrounded by trees above the rocks. This is the smallest of all the Gower churches and the chancel marks the original 6th century Celtic cell.
Legend speculates that St Illtyd himself brought the Sutton stone font to Oxwich and the present building dates back to the 13th century with a 14th century bell tower. In the upper churchyard stands a well that has long since dried up but according to folklore the well is haunted. A ghostly white horse or Ceffyl Dwr (water horse) was seen in the churchyard before it apparently vanished into the well, fact or fiction – who knows?
Joining the coastal path a series of steps in Oxwich Wood led the group steeply uphill which was followed by the undulating and muddy journey on narrow slippery paths which eventually led them around Oxwich Point from where there were glorious views along the craggy coastline towards Horton and Port Eynon Point.
They passed several other walkers enjoying the sunshine and scenery as they continued westwards along the Wales Coast Path before stopping beside the low cliff for lunch overlooking the rocky beach as the sun was lost for a short while behind clouds.
Continuing on they reached Slade Bay or The Sands as it is known – a small cove nestled between rocks and below fields and rocky cliffs where the pathway has eroded and has been completely lost. Letting your imagination drift it is not hard to picture that years ago this beach was used by smugglers and casks of brandy and illicit supplies of tobacco were hauled up the cliff with chains by horses to be sold locally.
The path at this point has long since been diverted in order to keep it viable and the group turned inland near the hamlet of Slade and continued on to Horton as the sunshine returned. The pretty sandy beach is shared with neighbouring Port Eynon but in the centre of Horton beach are two buoys that mark the remains of the Prince Ivanhoe. On 3 August 1981 this pleasure craft hit something that was submerged whilst off Port Eynon Point and water began pouring into the 60-foot gash in her hull. The quick thinking of the skipper saved the passengers and crew when he turned the craft around and landed the boat on Horton beach. During the Second World War an American camp stood near Horton leading up to the Normandy landings and the sand dunes were fenced off for the duration of the war as they were mined by the British Army. Most were removed but it still might be a case of ‘Keep calm and be careful where you are digging!’
The village is reached by a steep hill which the group climbed passing a caravan park before crossing a main road onto a rough track leading to a bridleway which had been and was in the process of being used by several youngsters on ponies and as a result the mud had been churned up and care had to be taken to remain in the upright position as it was very slippery.
Crossing a stile from where there were brilliant views of Cefn Bryn, the ‘backbone of Gower’ which at a height of 186 or 617 feet is the second highest point on Gower, several fields led downhill to woodland.
Entering the wood and tramping more muddy paths they reached the millpond where a great deal of work has been carried out with pathways that were overgrown being cleared and information boards being set up. The pond is home to mallard, moorhen, kingfisher and heron and it has been said – otter!
All that was left was the short trek back up the rough track with its grand views towards the huge lump of Rhosilli Down in the west which led them back to their start point and having removed muddy boots there was still enough sunshine left over to accompany the first part of the journey home.
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