Feather Down Farm Days (Hillside Farm)

If you don’t know the Gower Peninsula yet, think brackened heaths with prehistoric remains, tiny villages and lots of castles, most of which are in ruin. This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty 19 miles long is fringed by sweeping bays and precipitous cliffs, caves and blowholes, a place for romantics and lovers of the outdoors. The coastal waters hereabouts are peppered with shipwrecks and tales of smugglers, right up to the present day. Towards the Rhossili end of the beach, at low tide you can see the black ribs of the Helvetia which went down in 1887. Local poets like Dylan Thomas and Phil Tanner wrote some of their finest work close by and we hope the area will inspire you too. Thomas wrote of the “rubbery, gull-limed grass, the sheep-pilled stones, the pieces of bones and feathers” to be found there, and you can follow his footsteps to Worms Head, an isolated string of rocks, accessible for only five hours at low tide. Lovers of the outdoor and the active won’t be short of ideas once based at our farm. Of course there is the sea, an easy walk down the hill. If you fancy a crack at surfing then why not hire your gear at PJ’s shop in the village; the PJ in question, Peter Jones, was once European champion. The less certain of us may want to contact Mike at Hillend surf school for some starter lessons. Once you emerge from the waves you should repair to Eddie’s Cafe, the bistro on the beach, for lunch or just a cup of tea. And what walking there is here. Straight out of the farm gate and you are on Hardings Down with its fantastic views and three iron-age forts within ten minutes of brisk striding. You name an outdoor pursuit and the chances are, you can pursue it here - mountain biking, pony trekking, fishing, falconry, archery, even paragliding, hang-gliding and mountain boarding (skate-boarding down a hill, in case you didn’t know). And if golf is your forte, why not try one of Gower’s many courses.