Mumbles is the name commonly given to to coastal village on the western rim of the expansive Swansea Bay. Strictly speaking its the name of the headland that juts out into the Bristol Chanel. Mumbles Head is often the windiest place in the area. Listen out for it on the shipping forcast. Anyway, the place a lot of people think of as “Mumbles” is the largest village on the Gower peninsula.
People have lived in the area longer than most places in Britain – 30,000 years if you are asking. I doubt if the ones living there today are related to the people of the stone age who left behind their flint axe heads, now kept in Swansea Museum. Or possibly even related to the Romans who built a villa or mansio at Oystermouth so they could keep watch over the bay and maybe eat oysters.
It is possible that a few might have ancestors amongst the Normans later built a castle at Oystermouth in the late 12th century. The castle was to keep the local Welsh population in check. Apparently the name Oystermouth is a corruption of the Welsh name for the settlement, Ystumllwynarth. When non-Welsh speaking people started to settle in the area, they heard the Welsh name, but couldn’t say or understand it, but they knew there were oyster beds in the area, so they brains turned it into “Oystermouth”. Even today the people of this area seem dont have a strong Welsh accent. Read more about the different accents in the Swansea region here.
Oyster fishing was once an important industry in Swansea Bay, employing 600 people at its height in the 1860s. However, overfishing, disease and pollution had all but wiped out the oyster population by 1920.
Its a bit confusing. A lot of people use the names Oystermouth and Mumbles interchangeably. The distinction between Oystermouth and Mumbles is blurred. Local buses to the area are labelled Oystermouth, despite the fact that most people in the area would say they live in Mumbles. Strangely, I have never come across anyone who says they live in “The Mumbles”. Its people from further away who say that, I think.
Like pretty much everywhere in Britain, two hundred years ago Oystermouth/Mumbles was a few lanes and a lot of fields. Village lane stretched from the coast up a steep hill.
Village lane was (and still is) in the centre of the village but a lot of houses have been built in the fields around it. Built “Mumbles” has also extended to all along the headland with a new cutting and road being built at the end of the 19th century. The new road coinsided with the building of “Prettiest Pier on the Bristol Channel” which attracted large crowds on the newly extended railway from Swansea. Village Lane was increasingly out of the way and probably ignored by most visitors.
Modern day visitors who like their cars will find visiting Village Lane a bit of a challenge. It’s one way (down hill, thankfully) and there is no parking at any time of day. Obviously, residents are allowed to drop off their shopping and deliveries but move on sharply. There are several Air B&Bs along here now. Wales Online wrote and article recently trying to make out that some people were unhappy with the short-term rental properties. They didn’t seem that unhappy to me. One anonymous local said “You just miss having more neighbours,” she said, but added that living in the street is “lush” and the people that do live there full-time “cheer each other on” and perhaps most importantly- “offer each other cake”.
It was clear from the article that ordinary people are still keen to live in these 2 bed cottages and they are not cheap!
Angela Benham is renting the orange house on the lane and she said that “The people on Village Lane are outstanding. When I first moved in, I had two bottles of wine, two bunches of flower and seven cards welcoming me to the lane. That made me feel really part of the community. The whole community is lovely here, it’s a great place to live.”
I am not surprised people love it as its wonderfully quiet and the views are stunning. The cake is definitely a bonus!
Find out more about the area
A lot of my information came from the excellent website The Story of Mumbles. It is really worth looking at for local stories and history.
https://www.storyofmumbles.org.uk
https://enjoygower.com/history-of-the-mumbles-train
https://www.visitswanseabay.com/destinations/mumbles
Vey nice and your perfect!
your art was perfect!
Thank you Eunice
I especially like Up Village Lane and Mubles View!
Thank you, Hein. Its good to know which ones particularly like. My husband like Down Village Lane (with tree) best.
Love your art and the name!
Thank you Cindy – I love your pho
tographs too!