Also entitled - 'Tom Nicholls' Hole and Ginny's Gut' by Malcolm Webborn

Tom Nicholl’s Hole is the name given to a certain 'hiding-place,' supposed to have been used by men seeking to avoid being 'press-ganged' into military service, a method of enlistment, dating back to the early 13th Century, when men were literally seized. The Navy in particular, relied on this method until about the 1830s, when pay and conditions were improved. The word 'press' is derived from ‘Prest’ or ‘Imprest,’ which refers to money advanced on enlistment.

My Cousin Ron and his Grandfather introduced me to this natural hideaway in about 1938. However, we were forbidden to undertake this venture alone, as it was considered too dangerous. Tom Nicholls’ Hole is situated below Rams Tor (or 'Thistle Bluff’, as this headland was more familiarly known) and is approachable from the 'Ginny’s Gut' side of the headland on the lower coastal path between Limeslade and Langland. (or down the Green Lane, Plunch Lane, Thistleboon). Access was by a crumbling precipitous gully, with very little in the way of foot-holds, until the bottom of the cliff was reached and terminated on a very steep rock-face, on which it was difficult to stand in an up-right position.

From there, the entrance to the 'Hole' is high up on the rock face and its access is by a very narrow aperture between two horizontal layers of rock, which is almost indiscernible from a distance. Our 70 year-old guide was most agile, both in the descent down the cliff-face and the climb up the rocks to the entrance, which took a considerable amount of twisting and turning to negotiate.

Within 'The Hole' we were in a different world, with the sound of the waves constantly washing into the lower reaches of the sea-cave, an ever-present reminder of the forces of nature, which surrounded us. Our only means of illumination was by candlelight, the flame of which was frequently extinguished by the globules of water dripping from the stalactites growing from the limestone roof.

Before ascending to the cliff path, our names and date of the visit were scratched on to the rocks. I made several return visits, the most recent being nearly 60 years ago, and by now, no doubt the writing on the rocks has long since been eroded by the weather. To this day, the story surrounding 'Tom Nicholls' Hole never fails to intrigue me’.

But who was Tom Nicholls? Perhaps it was the name of a person actually seeking refuge from the Gang's activities or maybe a landowner who had rights over a section of the coastline. I doubt whether there are many 'locals' still around who can enlarge on this, let alone who have visited 'The Hole', or even know of its existence.

Malcolm Webborn, August 2001

Now living in Bournemouth

Ed, Note—Someone by the name of Thomas Nicholls appears on the 1845 Tithe map on the area covered by portion 1164, where he kept pigs and grew vegetables.

Recollections

Schooldays and Holidays Between the Wars > by John Jeffers

We also went swimming or going for very long walks or picnics to Langland, Caswell or Pwll Du bays, exploring caves and climbing cliffs. I often walked around the cliffs to Bracelet Bay and Rotherslade, then up to Murton or over Mumbles Hill and back home. We always kept an eye open on the rocks for any drift wood which might come in handy for fire wood or any other flotsam which might prove interesting, especially so if there had been a wreck in the near vicinity. When as an adult I have viewed the cliffs we used to climb, I wondered how we survived. We never were accompanied by an adult. One of the 'caves' known as ‘Doctor’s Mine, which we explored was believed to be man-made and ran into the cliff for nearly a quarter of a mile just north-west of 'Lambs Well' between Rotherslade and Limeslade Bays. The story goes that it came out by the main road at Limeslade. Certainly there is a cave opening at Limeslade (barred off) for all to see to this day.

An extract from her book -
‘Walks along the Cliff Path >’ from the autobiography of Freda Marrison

There was a great deal of iron mining in this area and Mumbles hill had quite a sizeable cleft cut into it running from the Swansea Bay side almost cutting the hill in half and its bottom was level with the main road giving the impression of a valley, this was the more probable connection to the outlet in Limeslade previously referred to. This cleft was filled in during the excavation of rock underneath the hill in the early thirties during the boring if a large tunnel, which now carries sewerage from Swansea and Mumbles. Before the tunnel was brought into use, locals were allowed to walk through it and I remember walking from an entrance located at Southend to another access point that came out in Bracelet Bay. The walls were white-tiled if I remember correctly. All the area now used for parking between below Tutt Hill and the west end of Bracelet Bay was infill from those excavations and was made up of thousands of tons of crushed stone, before then it was just greensward and gorse bushes, ideal for picnic parties that came on the train from Swansea.

After Limeslade the path became wider and more interesting. It was at first flat and had a certain number of low bushes on both sides, though I do not remember them as thick or tall as they later became. My father would point out the Mixon (Mixen) Sands and explain to us that these were quick-sands, nearly a mile long, which could swallow up whole ships as they sailed over them; and he would bid us listen to the tolling of the Mixon (also called Mixen) Bell as it warned ships of the danger ahead. Sometimes, if the tide was very low and the winds high, you could see the white waves just breaking along the whole area. At low tide there was a small stretch of low, flat rocks, mainly grey in colour but here and there with streaks of pink in them. This, we assumed, was probably due to the presence of iron ore because we had been told that somewhere along this part of the cliff there was a ‘Doctor's Mine’. I don't remember that we ever really looked for it; certainly we never found it.’