Cricket, Tea and Tragedy on the Mixon Sands
by Carol Powell M.A.
Also called Mixen Sands
'The Mixon Sands Adventure, Bracelet Bay, Mumbles, Swansea'
On two occasions in 1928 and in January 1957, it was decided to land on the Mixon shoal and play a game of cricket for the short duration that the sandbank was uncovered
See this fantastic sight, The waves on the Mixon February 2012
Watch this video of the waves on The Mixon Sands
Among the sighing of the gorse came upon a lift of the wind a faint and solemn tolling of a deep bell from seaward.
It was the tolling of the buoy bell moored off the Mumbles, a solemn awful sound,
for the bell seemed to be tolling for the souls of those who had gone down at sea, and warning the living of their graves.
Rev. Francis Kilvert, 19 April 1872There is a place at Mumbles that has been both the scene of rare adventures and much tragedy. That place is the Mixon, a dangerous sandbank, also known as the Mixen, which lies just off the coast at Bracelet Bay and is marked with the large red Mixon Bell.
The Mxon Bell
Every two weeks, the morning and evening ‘spring’ tides are higher, ebb further and move faster than the ‘neap’ ones, which occur in the small hours of the mornings and afternoons in the alternate weeks and which barely reach the beach. When the high tides are especially high and consequently go out even further, the Mixon Sands can sometimes be exposed for about thirty minutes, revealing a firm stretch of yellow sand. This could happen perhaps twice a year or maybe once in fifty years and then only if the winds are in an off-shore direction at the time of the low point of the tide.
On one of these occasions in 1928, Lt. Commander Douglas Probert and his brother, Lt. Commander Phineas Probert together with a friend, Mr. Cleeve Maslin (later killed in action in the Second World War) decided to land on the sandbank and play a game of cricket for the short duration that it was uncovered.
In January 1957, it was calculated that the unusual phenomenon might be about to recur. To mark the occasion a small group, which included Derek Scott (Coxswain of the lifeboat) and his father, Les; Gwyn John, Assistant Secretary of the Lifeboat Committee and his wife; Stanley Poolton, H.M. Coastguard; Tom Way; Jack Gammon (Lifeboat mechanic); Mumbles’ own Harry Libby, Mayor of Swansea in that year and Evening Post photographer, Harry Hynam, planned to hold a tea party on the Mixon Sands. Subsequently on Saturday 19 January, they set off in two small boats from the Mumbles Pier, armed with a folding table, two stools, a thermos flask of tea, some cups and a few sandwiches. Finding the bank was exposed, they discovered it had a sheer drop on its seaward side, but shelving on its shore side. Following a difficult landing made more so as the seas tend to be choppy in the shallows, causing the temporary grounding of one boat on a small ‘pinnacle’ of sand, they set up the table and chairs and enjoyed their tea and sandwiches before the tide soon turned and they had to re-embark for home. Harry Hynam was the last to leave, enabling him to capture his companions on film and to gain the distinction of being the first newspaper photographer to operate a camera on the Mixon.
Tea & Cricket of the Mixon Sands
In the photo above -Derek Scott (Coxswain of the lifeboat) and his father, Les; Gwyn John, Assistant Secretary of the Lifeboat Committee and his wife; Stanley Poolton, H.M. Coastguard; Tom Way; Jack Gammon (Lifeboat mechanic); Mumbles’ own Harry Libby, Mayor of Swansea in that year and Evening Post photographer, Harry Hynam.
Leaving the sandbank, just in time
A few days later, Harry Libby sent a commemorative letter to each of those who had taken part. In it he wrote that:
‘I consider it very desirable to place this visit on record. It was indeed a unique experience and one, which quite possibly will remain so for very many years to come. The fact that we made the journey from Bracelet Bay in two dinghies with out-board motors and only achieved our objective by all the good luck in the world, renders the adventure more praiseworthy. I think that the possession of this letter . . . will serve to establish . . . the fact of the landing as against so many rumours attaching to previous claims to have done the same thing. Thanks for your company and for allowing me to share the experience’.
He signed it ‘Harry Libby, Mayor.
Turbulance on the Mixon Sandbank
The Evening Post reported in 1953 that ‘the sands had been free of shipping trouble because of the efficiency of the Mixon Buoy and the unmistakable turbulance at low tide’. But undeniably, modern tools of navigation, powered shipping and the crews of the Mumbles Lifeboat have also played their parts in contributing to the safety record. This had not always been the case as a catalogue of shipwrecks in the vicinity can testify. In the nineteenth century alone, more than ten ships had foundered on the sands with the loss of many lives. Just some of the victims were The Hope Reed, which went down in 1806 with the loss of all hands; three were drowned from the Lively in 1829; the Feronia hit the bank and sank in 1838 and in 1865, a pleasure boat with a party of eight, celebrating the 21st birthday of Robert Smith, sank. The crew of the Grenfell, rescued three’ but sadly Mr. Smith was not among them.
These paddle-boarders on the Mixon are incredible.
It is not recomended that you try to copy this! February 2011
Acknowledgments
Bill Moore, retired Swansea Bay Pilot
David Poolton and Jean South, son and daughter of Stanley Poolton
Mumbles News, October 1975
Evening Post, 28 August 1953 and 21 January 1957
The Cambrian, 7 June 1806; 21 October 1829; 4 August 1838; 25 August 1865
Photogaphs:
Two of Party on Mixon Sands: Harry Hynam, Evening Post photographer
Mixon Bell: Douglas Comley
Turbulance around the Mixon Sands: John Powell
To discover more of this phenomenon you may visit-
ABC Education - How does the Moon affect the tides on Earth?
https://www.abc.net.au/education/how-the-moon-affects-the-tides-on-earth/13920350
and
Tides What causes tides?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia