Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Swansea Museum for Figures
The 'English' of Gower was once a virtually impenetrable dialect to people from outside the penin-
sula. Today it has almost disappeared; but true natives, as in Phil Tanner's time, will still describe them-
selves not as English or Welsh, but as 'Gowerian'. Local names for plants and animals were still in com-
mon use in the 1930s, when Jack Phillips nested on the sands, the fernowl laid its marbled eggs in the
bracken and the lundibirds nested on the sea cliffs, while oakwibs 'pinged against the lamp-lit windows'
along with witches. Today these names are a dusty memory in old topics.
Perhaps the best, and most evocative, expression of the attraction of the peninsula for the naturalist is
that set out by D. E. Grandfield in
Pryer's Gower Directory & Holiday Guide
, published in 1952:
The land of Gower … is a land for which the inhabitants and visitors foster the most jealous re-
gard. Gower … fills forever the memory with thoughts of green hills and valleys and gentle coun-
tryside, summer scents of bracken and sweet gorse, and always the wonderful clear skies and the
running tide … For many there is the added enjoyment of 'place' in that satisfaction which comes
with the acquisition of one or more of the many facets which make up this jewel. It may be an un-
derstanding of the birds whose habitat Gower is, or the fish in the sea, or the flora of the cliffs and
moors. For some it is a deeper knowledge of the histories of Gower's many castles and churches,
and other ancient things. Others find their love of place enriched by an understanding of the sig-
nificance of Gower from the earliest times - the times of the first men; the very earliest men, who
left in Gower so many unique evidences of their existence and their cultures. Surely there are few
places so complete for the pursuit of studies or of thought, or so kindly to those who come over-
burdened by the weight of either.
