Gower Society Youth

Meet Dawn at 2pm for our annual Christmas craft event at in Penmaen hall. This year it has been 10 years since Angela M. Brunt took the first GSY activity in April 2000. Celebrate the GSY’s achievements by looking at all the old photos of events and testing your knowledge on our GSY quiz. Can you tell a bush cricket from a grasshopper? Or a fossil coral from a fossil snail? Also there will be the usual material to make cards, crackers, Christmas decorations and mobiles. Mulled wine and mince pies will complete the festive atmosphere.

Directions:
Follow the A4118 past Parkmill. Car park on the left at the top of the hill. Penmaen Hall is through the gate which says “Private no parking”.
Grid Ref: 525 884

Crymlyn Bog Family Fun Day Inter-national Bog Day with activities & walks.
There will be guided tours and fun activities like pond-dipping for all the family. Entry is FREE. And the centre will be open for you to explore as well as the whole reserve.

Directions:
Turn left off Fabian Way (A483) into Port Tennant (Wern Terrace) by the Hooker Dyers pub • At the top of Wern Terrace turn right onto Dinam Road • Drive past the entrance to Tir John tip • The Crymlyn reserve centre and car park is 800 metres further on, on the right hand side.

At 2pm Dawn Thomas of Nature Days will meet you in Parc le Breos through the kissing gate where we will search in the surrounding woods for edible food including Blackberries, Burdock, nettles and fungi. We will take our bounty to the fire and cook up a feast of foraged food. Once full we will play some games such as a mushroom hunt and scavenger hunt.

Directions:
Parc le Breos
Follow the A 4118 South Gower Road until the turning for the Heritage centre at Parkmill. Do not turn into the heritage centre car park but follow a small pot-holed single track road sign posted to Parc le Breos trekking centre. Six hundred meters down this track on the left is a car park. Park here, cross the track and enter Parc le Breos.

Drop in and see our corner of the Gower Society marquee at the Gower Show. Take part in our colouring and competition and look at our displays. Penrice is a fantastic site and at the show there is plenty to see, including livestock, horse and dog shows, also food and craft stalls and marquees.
It’s an all day event. Gates open for the public at about 10.00 a.m. There is a charge.

We will all take part in an Earthwalk. An Earthwalk is a special adventure in experiencing the richness and wonders of the natural world. The emphasis is upon reawakening individual senses and sharpening perception. An Earthwalk is made up of a series of special activities put together in a smooth, flowing way. Thelength of the entire walk is about forty five minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes. An Earthwalk provides just a touch of nature, a new way of looking at familiar things and an interesting introduction to unfamiliar things as well.

Directions:
Gelli Hir
Take the unclassified road north from the B4271 at Fairwood Common towards Cilonen. Gelli Hir is on the right. Parking in the lay-by or car park.
Meet Dawn at 2pm by the main entrance to Gelli Hir.

As there was a clash last year with our knight’s day we are repeating it and attacking another of Gower’s castles, Oystermouth Castle. Design and decorate your own coat of arms on a shield, have a go with a trebuchet, and see if you up to the challenge of “Space Hopper Jousting”!

Directions:
Follow the A4067 Oystermouth Road to Mumbles at the mini roundabout turn right up the hill. Take the next right and the castle is at the end of this road – Castle Avenue. Parking on this road is usually very popular and only lasts an hour. There are three car parks on the front off Oystermouth Road – there is a charge or you can try the residential streets. Buses are very frequent along Oystermouth Road Numbers 2/2A/2B.
Meet on the grass in the castle grounds at 2pm.

We will walk along the beach looking for interesting finds and then head into the sand dunes for a plant succession crawl! We will takes a bugs eye tour of the sand dunes from the beach to the wood and see the amazing array of plant and animals living there. Once we have seen the beautiful spring plants we will head back to the car park via the freshwater marsh and look out for birds and otters!!

Directions:
Follow the A4118 South Gower Road until the turning sign posted to Oxwich. Follow the road down the hill and across the marsh until you come to the car park on the left. Park in the car park – there is a charge.
Meet at the front of Oxwich car park at 2pm.

MEET at 2pm – 4pm on the top of Cefn Bryn Reynoldston.

Explore the heathland and ponds of Cefn Bryn and the mini beasts living there. Come and see the amazing pond life, bush crickets and grasshoppers living in the habitats. Use butterfly nets and fishing nets to catch these beautiful animals and look closely at them using magnifying glasses. Suitable for families.

Direction:
Take the left hand turn after the cattle grid at Cillibion off the B4271 North Gower Road. Follow the road up on to the top of Cefn Bryn. Park in the car park on the right hand side.

Take part in a survival exercise can you follow the hidden clues to reach a safe place to set up camp? Can you build a shelter which will protect you from the rain? Can you find water and make something to eat? Learn new skills and see what it is like to survive in the wilds of Mill wood!
2pm

Directions:
Follow A4118 towards Port Eynon. Take the turning for Penrice just after the turning for Oxwich. Go down the hill and park on the right in the lay-by for Mill wood. We will be going through the gate with the carving of an owl and a squirrel.

Meet on the beach by the slip at 2pm. We will go rock pooling at Port Eynon beach followed by craft activities and storytelling in Port Eynon Youth Hostel. If the weather is really bad there will be less rock pooling and more indoor stuff. I have checked the tides and they should be ok but as they have not been published yet and are just predictions they are not 100% accurate. In the youth hostel we will build our own rock pool out of what we find on the strand line.

Directions.
Port Eynon Beach and Youth Hostel.
Follow the A4118 all the way to its very end at Port Eynon. Park in the car park meet on the beach at Port Eynon, we will be walking towards the Youth Hostel to go rock pooling and then into the Youth Hostel for indoor activities.