September Walking Fest in Gower
September is a beautiful month in Gower: quiet beaches, the heathers carpeting the downs, blackberries hanging in the hedgerows. And it’s also the month that sees not one, but two wonderful walking festivals. So lace up your boots and get ready to walk this wonderful peninsula.
First off is The Gower Walking Festival – the now widely anticipated annual celebration of Gower, the UK’s first ever Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB 1956). From Saturday, 2nd September until Sunday, 10th September, the Festival will offer walkers of all ages and abilities, 9 days and 30 diverse walks that showcase Gower’s unique landscape and rich heritage.
If you’re reasonably fit and can take the pace, the Festival has 2 designated walks that between them cover the 40-mile Gower stretch of the Wales Coast Path: one walk covers the path from Penclawdd in the north of the peninsula and the other, to Mumbles in the south.
If you’re not up to a marathon treks like this, then there are plenty of walks to suit your level of fitness and your specific interests. There are castles and cemeteries, old farmhouses and old tracks, geology and archaeology, land forms, rock-pooling and pub-to-pub walks taking in the many aspects of Gower, including its bays, valleys and reservoirs. Of special interest to us here at Bayview, is walk 27 to Oxwich Point on the final Sunday of the Festival, which takes walkers through a churchyard, wonderful woodland and expansive coastal scenery.
The Gower Walking Festival website www.gowerwalkingfestival.uk has the details of all the 30 walks, each graded for difficulty and level of challenge, length, times, prices and information about the walk leaders who will share their knowledge of Gower’s special landscapes with the participants.
When you’re done with the Gower Walking Festival you’ll have plenty of time to re-boot until the second of Gower’s September Festivals takes place over the weekend of 23rd and 24th September. Now in its second year, the acclaimed Gower Pilgrimage Festival 2023 will see a weekend of Open Churches, pilgrimage walks and church services based on the Gower Pilgrimage Way, a 50-mile walking and cycling route linking historic churches in Gower. For more details on this, please visit https://gowerma.org/festival-2023/
So make Bayview Oxwich your home in September. We still have limited availability in our luxury rental contemporary cottages and fabulous flats. So if you enjoy walking and want to be part of meticulously organised, diverse and sustainable programmes of events designed to educate, encourage – and sometimes challenge – we’d love you to make Bayview Oxwich your base. We promise you accommodation that is second to none, coastal views to take your breath away, and rest and relaxation and space to put your feet up after your walk is done.
Please contact Wanda and the Team here at Bayview Oxwich who’ll be happy to talk you through the range of accommodation options and answer any questions you might have.
Imagery: © Gower Walking Festival