Once Upon a Time – The Old Gower Fairy Tales

We recently stopped by the lovely Cover to Cover, an award-winning, independent book shop in Newton Road, Mumbles, run by the very knowledgeable (and dear friend) Tim Batcup. Tim’s always on hand with recommendations on what books we might buy.

Knowing that we have guests staying at our holiday rental properties at Bayview, Oxwich from all across the UK, he thought we and them might be interested in a gem of a beautiful book, The Old Gower Fairy Tales, by Sian Cornelius.

It’s a wonder of a book – a slim, blue hardback, containing four Gower-based fairy tales, beautifully illustrated in black and white by Beth Marsden. The book also has a fascinating history…

Sian Cornelius is a storyteller in the real sense of the word with a track record of captivating audiences across the world with her relating of tales in the oral tradition. When she discovered her ‘real home’ in Gower, she was interested in discovering its oral traditions and tales that might have been lost to history.

She was blessed in that the tales are based on actual fragments that were found by a friend of hers in the archives of the National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth, and gifted to the author.  With a little help from her friends – in terms of information and finance – Sian worked her magic and has woven the fragments (what she calls the ‘bare bones’) into larger stories and made them whole again, reconnecting them to the land and the people who were lost to the past.

Now they are alive again in a living and lived-in landscape. These are tales to be read by adults or by adults to children. The tales are set in places you can see on the map of Gower, or even better, go and visit when you’re staying with us at Bayview.  

See the starting points for fiction in reality in the atmospheric castle at Pennard, or the secluded Brandy Cove with its history of smuggling. Take a trip to the spine of Gower at Cefn Bryn and take in the 360 degree views and the wonderful Broad Pool at its base, mentioned in the book. And then there’s the wonderful north Gower village of Llanmadoc, the setting for the final tale in the book, ‘Come and Come Again Beer!’.

We reckon reading these tales will add another layer to your experience of your holiday in the Gower peninsula. It would also make lovely gift for friends. It’s set in Wales and printed in Wales by www.gomerprinting.co.uk and it’s available from www.cover-to-cover.co.uk ISBN 10987654321

So if you’re tempted by the old fairy tales and magical locations of Gower, we’d love you to come and stay with us at Bayview. Please call Wanda and the Team who’ll be happy to help you with availability and which of our rental properties would suit you best.