Following a day of heavy rainfall a group of eight walkers joined leader Joy making their way to south Gower and after travelling through showers of rain and overcast skies, bright warm sunshine lit up their arrival.
Setting off from Parc le Breos originally a 2,000 acre deer park, the pungent smell of wild garlic already filled the air and tramping down the lane to a ford over the brook and past the site of an old 12th century toll mill, oats to feed animals and barley for making bread was ground with the tolls being paid to the estate.
Crossing the road, a narrow path led to a footbridge over the stream and up steps set in the hillside, where the woodland floor was covered with the delicate white flowers and contrasting green leaves of wild garlic, with bluebells nestling in between.
Exiting from the wood, a steep climb by road and past yellow Welsh poppies, led to a rough pathway and then sand dunes adjacent to Pennard golf course which overlooks the stunning Three Cliffs Bay and where young cattle were freely grazing.
A narrow path running between houses and a school led into open buttercup-filled meadows, through a small wood and then down to the coast at Southgate and finding a sheltered spot at East Cliff for morning coffee under clear blue skies, the stunning views stretched westwards towards Oxwich Point.
Following the cliffs eastwards past a pool containing wriggling black tadpoles, then Deep Slade and Hunts Farm to Pwlldu Head, where during the 19th century extensive quarrying of limestone was carried out that was burned in kilns before being shipped across the channel to Devon, produced the first clear view of Caswell Bay and Brandy Cove.
Then time to pause and gaze down across the steep hillside below where a circle of limestone denotes the site of a maritime disaster. In 1760 the naval vessel the Caesar which was on press-ganging duty was forced onto the wrecks below the point and wrecked and whilst most of the officers and crew escaped, the men locked in the hold below were not so lucky and around 68-men perished and are buried nearby.
Descending rough stone slabs set into the steep hillside above Graves End, their first sighting of an early purple orchid with its brown spotted leaves beside the path and clambering up a rough stony eroding track, a gate led into a field and on past the splendidly refurbished Pennard Farm.
Descending via a rough stony path through trees, the curved pebble beach of Pwll Du or Black Pool lay ahead which can be accessed via a footbridge over the Bishopston stream, but deviating along a narrow path on the west side of the stream into the delightful garlic filled Bishopston Valley, the pathways ahead were very muddy in places.
About halfway up the valley is the Guzzle Hole where the stream disappears underground beneath a small cave, with its name deriving from the noise it makes and nearby is the site of Long Ash Mine, an old silver lead mine prone to flooding and home now to the Greater and Lesser Horseshoe bat.
Carefully picking their way up the slippery rocky dry riverbed, a final uphill climb along narrow garlic edged path led to the village of Kittle for a well-deserved lunch on a grassy bank in warm sunshine.
Continuing up Kittle Hill Lane, then into fields past the poultry farm and back onto the road, where two parachutists were spotted slowly descending above Swansea Airport, before crossing the very busy A4118 onto a farm track leading across a ford, a rough track led gradually uphill to Courthouse Farm.
Following a delightful but slippery sunken lane to the small hamlet of Ilston, a gateway led into the churchyard of St Illtyd’s Church, built on the site of a 6th century cell and as the church was open, the chance for a peep inside.
St Illtyd’s was built during the early 13th century by the de Breos family of Pennard and granted to the Knights Hospitallers in 1221. After King Charles I was executed, the Royalist minister at the church was ousted in favour of John Myles, a staunch Parliamentarian whom Cromwell introduced as minister and who followed a form of Puritan worship holding meetings for his congregation.
When this was frowned upon Myles moved further down the cwm building a small chapel in the woodland which was known as Trinity Well Chapel and which was a meeting place for the Baptist Cromwellian Church in 1649. However, when King Charles II was returned to the throne this form of worship was declared illegal and Myles was hounded out, taking his followers with him to America and settling in a place they named Swansea in Massachusetts.
Entering the church straight in front of the door is a huge bell which relates to the 15th century, whilst two other bells hanging in the bell tower and relating to 1716 are still rung.
There are some delightful stained glass windows including one of the Patron Saint Illtyd whom the church is dedicated to and Christ’s Ascension into heaven as well as a small chapel built underneath the original bell tower.
Then following muddy tracks beside the winding Ilston Brook through more garlic filled woodland and over a series of footbridges, before deviating uphill into open meadows at Lunnon where a young Palomino who was a bit nervous at first soon made friends with certain members of the group.
At the gate ahead a local farmer was keeping an eye on three cows due to calf at any moment, stopped for a chat explaining they were having trouble with TB in the herd as many badgers live in the Ilston Cwm.
A short road walk through Lunnon led back down into more garlic-filled woodland where there was a sighting of their third orange-tipped butterfly of the day, before the short trip back to their start, followed by a swift drink at the Gower Inn prior to the journey home.
