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Swansea
The name Swansea was said (by a chap named Camden) to have been derived from the abundance of porpoises that frequented Swansea Bay and as porpoises are called sea pigs by sailors, swine of the sea, so Swansea got named. I don't buy that! I believe that the name Swansea derived from Scandinavian roots. Across the North Sea inlets are called eycks. Swansea's inlet has now got a barrage across its mouth but in the days of the Vikings the River Tawe dried out at its mouth and could be forded at low water springs - a perfect eyck!
Long before Saxon invaders forced British Celts to retreat into Wales, Swezn was a Viking war lord who explored as far as the Tawe inlet, except that the inlet was barely inhabited and Swezn decided to make the eyck the perfect refuge for his marauding band. In time Swezn's eyck became corrupted to Swain's Eye and then Swan's eye and from there it's not hard to see how Swansea got its name! The more modern name for the city is Abertawe, a more recent Welsh word which means 'At the mouth of the River Tawe'. However, the Celts were not the first to use the Tawe inlet as a major settlement. That honour goes to the Vikings.
Swezn's Eyc is situated at the start of the so-called Welsh Riviera, on the edge of Gower, a peninsular of outstanding natural beauty. This spacious green park city spills on to the edge of the sea where a coast road sweeps adventure seekers around to Mumbles, a coastal resort where water sports are enjoyed throughout the summer months, especially sailing and surfing. Restaurants, ice cream parlours, B & B, hotels and public houses all abound within Mumbles. Many of Swansea's most famous sites are situated alongside this coastal road, including Swansea University, Oystermouth Castle, Mumbles Yacht Club and Mumbles Sailing School (07792 484813).
Driving to Swansea? The coast road spur for Swansea City, the A483 - A4067, can be picked up at junction 42 of the M4 Motorway, which sits amidst the industrial belt of Neath and Port Talbot at the Western end of a new road bridge. From this junction, London is less than three hours in the other direction (East). The A4067 starts at the The National Waterfront Museum of Wales, which sits next to a marina where rich boys' toys lie moored to pontoons. Tourists parade their Bermuda shorts on their way to Swansea Museum, Plantasia, the River Tawe pleasure boat trips or the Dylan Thomas Theatre. A few sets of traffic lights further West and you are rewarded with golden sands and scenes of yachts with real sailors tacking across Swansea Bay to Mumbles Head.
You may decide to charter a yacht for the day from Broad Reach Luxury Catamarans (07792 484813) and explore Swansea Bay and the Gower coastline in style.
Past Swansea University, Singleton Park boating pond, King George VI Playing Fields on your right, Blackpill boating and paddling pools and the rows of Scots pines on the foreshore to the left of you and you are greeted with a sign which proclaims Mumbles to be the home of the first passenger railway in the world. A promenade, upon which two lanes separate bike riders and roller bladers from gentle strollers, sweeps around Swansea Bay, from the city to Mumbles pleasure pier. Take time to watch the yachts racing, to marvel at the newly acquired skills of novices under instruction with Mumbles Sailing School (07792 484813) and then savour Italian ice cream or pasta from Verdi's.
The name Mumbles is also said to derive from a Viking word, the word for breasts. Long before the hills around Mumbles were quarried for their limestone, two hillocks stood out into Swansea Bay at high tide. The local legend states that sailors coming in on the flood tide, up what is now called The Bristol Channel, could imagine a giant woman asleep on the seabed, her breasts heaving out of the water. The sailors were said to look for these breasts when navigating towards the eyck within the bay. I have another possible explanation for the name 'Mumbles'.
As a sailor, I am well aware that every fortnight, on low water springs, in the middle ebb, the sea to the south east of these Mumbles mounds gets very lumpy. Local sailors call the area The Cherry Stones. When the outgoing tide bubbles up, like someone tipping a ton of cherry stones down a hill, you can hear the sea mumbling. That's my best bet! Whatever the truth, The Mumbles most certainly refer only to the two mounds and their surrounding water at the south eastern tip of Swansea Bay, near to the village of Southend and Mumbles does not start at the villages of West Cross, or Norton or Newton or even Oystermouth but further south east even than Mumbles Pier!
If you can drag yourself away from the lovely breasts, take time to explore Gower (NOT 'The' Gower - you wouldn't say 'The London' or The Bristol' would you!). Gower's golden beaches, glistening white foaming surf and spectacular cliff-top walks were designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty by The National Trust long before Cornwall and The Lake District were designated as such - and quite right too!
When you visit Swansea, visit the Grand Theatre, Taliesin Theatre and The Glyn Vivian Art Gallery and don't forget to stop off at Swansea Indoor Market for your cockles, lava-bread and souvenirs of Wales.
Principal, Mumbles Sailing School
Charter Skipper Broad Reach Luxury Catamarans