My Childhood Memories Of Caswell Bay

A Memory of Caswell Bay.

I apparently spent my early years during WW1 in the Mumbles where my mother came from. She had moved to London before the war to find work and married a Londoner. Our holidays when I was a child (in the late 40's and 50's) were 2 weeks on the Gower; we stayed initially in a wooden chalet in Owens Field and then Holts Field where my parents eventually purchased a wooden chalet.
Initially we travelled there by train and then by car. Caswell was just a walk down the valley which is now a nature reserve. In those days there was a large building at the end of the valley which had a cafe where several of my aunts worked during the summer. The beach started with an area of stones that were difficult to cross and there was a deckchair hire place to the right hand side in an old building that was built to provide accomodation for soldiers that patrolled the beach area against invasion. I would have seen them in my younger days but have no memories of this. Caswell was and still is a lovely beach where I explored with my Welsh cousins, crawling through the narrow horseshoe cave on the right of the beach and climbing up the cliffs.
In later years we went crabing and collected winkles and mussels. The area of the beach adjacent to the road has now been paved with steps down to the sand which has improved it greatly. There is also now a car park where the large cafe used to be, a shame but where else would we park. We caught the bus or walked there then, but not now. I was never too keen on sand castles but liked to dig canals in the sand. There is also, to the right of centre, a sink hole where we used to stand and sink up to our knees in the sand. On the left of the beach were several cafes that provided hot drinks, soft drinks, pies, pasties, chips etc. We used to walk around the cliff path to Langland Bay and back.
It was a wonderful area for children to explore and enjoy. The car gave us the freedom to explore the rest of the Gower but Caswell was and still is my favourite bay. I introduced my wife to the Gower in the early 60's and eventualy took our children there for our summer holidays, they loved it as well. Our children grew up and we discovered Spain and the daily sun not the rain. We visited the area now and then mainly for family funerals until 2010 when we went there again for a weeks holiday with our son and his family, they all loved it there and the children, when asked where would you like to go, would say Caswell Bay, we have been there again every years since for brief holidays and to see what is left of my family.
It still excites me to visit again (70 years old now) and has wonderful memories of my childhood and my children's childhood as well. My aunts and uncles are no more but I still have cousins who live nearby who I keep in touch with.

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