Up until the end of the nineteenth century, Penclawdd was a flourishing sea port, with several coal mines, and tinplate, copper and brass works. It was a bustling commercial centre for much of North Gower. There was a time, almost within living memory, when it had a railway station, a forge, twenty grocers, three butchers, three drapers and four fish and chip shops, there were eleven pubs and a cinema, three chapels and a church. But above all else, Penclawdd was synonymous with cockles and cockling, and this is the only one of the old industries to survive. The famous low-tide cockle beds on the Burry Estuary sands have always produced a good quality harvest.

Penclawdd today, however, is a much quieter place and gives the visitor views across the salt marshes of north Gower, for the ornithologist the north coast edging the Loughor Estuary is renowned for its bird life.

Penclawdd from Pen-y-gaer Digital Panoramic Copyright © 2003 Julian Herbert