Excerpt from 'A Diamond Wedding in Gower' by Eileen Plummer

The ring is worn, the hands are thin, the hair is grey and in the eye of a child-like look, what are the memories there? Sixty years of marriage, being a mother, blessed with five children, to have seen so much change - from the boats of sail, to nuclear power. To have walked in the country lanes at Oxwich, lit by glow-worms, to watch a man walking on the moon. What is life all about?

Sixty years must seem a long time, but isn't it all too short, for all to be accomplished? Snippets of long forgotten poems and hymns are often spoken of now, and a much longer poem, 'The Women of Mumbles Head', with twenty-five verses, is recited word perfect and with meaning. The thatched-roofed school at Oxwich no longer rings with childrens voices and is no longer thatched; it is now the museum, visited by many who did not know the Oxwich of yesteryear, two buses only, allowed across the Marshes in one week.

Were they the 'Good Old Days' though, when almost touching one's forelock was expected by Lords of the Manor? Poverty was rife and many an early morning in winter, the rocks were searched for Laver weed if the tide was out. Periwinkles were gathered, making little hands cold and blue. The winkles were boiled and sent to market in a morn, for as little as a shilling. The laver bread was posted to visitors from London after cooking over a coal stove for four hours. It was as tender and yet as firm as anyone would wish, all for one shilling per pound. What was the cost of postage and packaging then, I wonder?

Water from the well in Green Lane , so clear and sparkling and so cold, this was carried by hand and placed in earthenware jars in the porch. No fridges then and yet that water always seemed to be so cool.

The first hikers, in shorts, during the 1930's, "Whatever next?" said Nanna. What would she think of the permissive society of today? "Girls in trousers indeed - most un-lady like."

Mushrooms gathered at early morn from Edwin's field, so delicious when fried with home-cured bacon and home-baked bread, cooked in the 'bake-house' in a coal-fired oven, then eaten with country butter and home-made jam; no dieting then.

The old oak dresser laden with china, the corner cupboard with the 'precious bits'. The old oak settle, where one had to sit straight-backed, for comfort. Was that why Nanna was a straight as a line even when she was nearly 70?

The pink prisms tinkling in the window with the maidenhair fern. The lavender scented sheets where one snuggled down at night, with a hot brick in winter. Lace valences, on brass bedsteads always gleaming. No washing machines then, yet sheets and bed covers were always snowy white, even the old oak chest of drawers was white topped with linen.

Two world wars, 'serving' brothers and sons, bombs dropping, miraculous escapes, children being born, children dying, loved ones dying leaving only love behind.

What a treasure we have in this, our heritage.

What fate made the S.S. Mercur, a Norwegian sailing vessel, sink off Oxwich Point in 1879 - the crew being saved, one of them, Conrad Knudsen meeting a young girl from the village - Eliza Rees. They fell in love and were married at Swansea - my Grandparents.

This is how it all began, off Oxwich Point, over 130 years ago. Caravan and camping sites now cover the green acres, car parks flank the foreshore, yet still the beauty of Oxwich Beach remains, so safe for children. Lots now share in these that once were ours, because our grandparents lived there all those years ago.

An extract from Eileen Plummer's 'Memories of Gower'.

About the writer

Eileen Plummer (nee Howell) was born in Swansea, to Gwyn and Ada Howell, spending much of her childhood with three brothers - Tom, Conrad and Gwyn and sister - Valerie, at their grandparent's cottage on Oxwich Green. Nanna - Eliza Knudsen is buried at St. Illtyd's Church, Oxwich, whilst Grampa - Conrad August Knudsen's remains lie at Bloomfontein, South Africa.

About the Shipwreck

The SS Mercur was a 380-ton Norwegian barque bound, from Boston Massachusetts with a cargo of maize, for Penarth, further east up the Bristol Channel (by a strange coincidence where Barrie Howell, a great grandson now lives.)

On 21st January 1879, the Mercur was stranded and lost in wind conditions, South East x East Force 6, off Oxwich Point. The crew, which included Conrad Knudsen, survived; the ship was driven ashore and wrecked.

The hull and materials of the Norwegian, copper-fastened barque were sold by public auction on 10th February 1879, in Port Eynon Bay. The remains of the wreck were sold by public auction at Swansea, as advertised in the Cambrian newspaper.

The Cambrian Newspaper excerpt

Facts in italics are taken, by courtesy of Richard & Bridget Larn, from their book, 'Shipwreck Index of the British Isles (West Coast & Wales)' ISBN: 1 900839 61X

Oxwich