Mumbles, situated on a headland, is on the western edge of Swansea Bay

Mumbles' Ancient Woodlands 

by Carol Powell M.A

It's about cherishing the woodland at the bottom of your garden
and the stream that runs through it. It affects every aspect of life. 

Ystumilwynarth, meaning a wooded bend is the Welsh name for the Oystermouth area and describes its most notable feature of long ago-its heavily wooded nature. Once upon a time, the edge of the seashore was far out in the bay beyond the Green Grounds where there were marshy, dense forests of silver birch, alder, oak and beech, which now lie buried under sand and sea. These green spaces and those on land formed part of our historic heritage, perhaps concealing facets of the past, such as mining or quarrying. 

Over time, most of the woods in the parish have been harvested and Victorian photographs of the area, show a Mumbles Hill denuded of trees (although there is some green re-growth there today). However, a few of these old beautiful green tracts still remain intact, such Clyne Forest where, In past centuries, coal was worked and shipped. off from a small quay at Blackpill and small furnaces extracted naphtha from wood: Others include Castle Woods, the Washing Lake stream (Lake was a Gower dialect word for stream) at West Cross and the glades alongside Overland Road, Tiddy's 'Ood at Southend and the copses on Woodland Avenue and Mayals Wood. 

Another surviving example is West Cross Woodlands, where it is known that there were once several coal-mines e.g. in December 1577 one was described as... One other mine doth lie at a place within the said manor called the Grange... The 1803 map marks 'Grange Lane, leading to the shore near Lilliput Hall and the 1844 Tithe map shows 'The Grange just south of the lane and Dan-y-coed House Just north of it. Behind Dan-y-coed is now an estate of houses called The Paddock and it was near there. in the area now known as West Cross Woodlands, that the mine was believed to have been situated. Indeed. Plot 283 on the 1844 Tithe map gives the name of this field as 'Coal Pits: It is said that the ancestors of some of the oaks, which now grow in these old woodlands, were used to build the wooden ships for the first Queen Elizabeth's Navy, which fought the Spanish Armada 

Today, an oasis of peace in the middle of a residential area, it is a park close to Mayals County Primary School and used extensively by locals. Over the years, teachers, pupils, cubs and brownies have regularly used this valuable amenity for environmental studies and recreation. The woodlands have a variety of trees including Oak, Beech, Ash, Alder and Birch and, in season wild flowers such as Bluebell, Buttercup, Campion, Celandine, Dandelion, Lady's Smock, Wild Orchid and Wood Anemone. It is a haven for fauna such as squirrels, woodpeckers, jays and starlings, which find homes in the 'secret woods at its centre. 

We must treasure these green 'lungs' while we still have them.