Orientation
If you visit by car on any decent weekend, and certainly in the summer season, be aware that like most peninsulas, there is only one way in and out. However, any delays are certainly softened by that wonderful view. Meeting Mumbles Road at right angles by the White Rose pub, Newton Road is the high street of Oystermouth, as this part of Mumbles is called. It leads to the two European Blue Flag bays of Langland and Caswell. Halfway up Newton Road, the view opens up on the right to reveal Oystermouth Castle, strikingly placed on a green hill. There’s a satisfying mix of shops, becoming progressively more stylish and designer the further up the hill you go, with some good restaurants and cafés.Back down at the junction with Mumbles Road, we are about a mile away from Mumbles Pier.

If your legs are in good order, it’s a comfortable, flat stroll, with much to see and savour along the way. As well as the famous pubs, some of them not much changed since Dylan Thomas’s day, there are restaurants of real distinction, excellent ice-cream parlours, shops selling original crafts, tennis courts, crazy golf and a playground, and the famous Mumbles lifeboat station. Although this is a seaside resort, don’t expect to find much for the bucket-and-spade crowd along the promenade, as the beaches are on the other side of the headland. The pier, however, is a complete family attraction in itself and certainly makes the walk worthwhile.

If you have the energy, detour up any of the streets to catch the true flavour of Mumbles. You will find narrow, winding streets with tiny cottages, where fishermen and quarrymen once lived, and increasingly dramatic views the higher up you get.

Oystermouth Castle © Chris Gill Jones 2002