Langland Bay, Gower Peninsula (Wales): A Short Film & Photo Journal

Last updated on April 8, 2022

Langland Bay is arguably the most famous beach on the the Gower peninsula’s southern stretch. And it’s one of the main reasons the village of Mumbles has become a mecca for millionaires looking to live the good life by the sea.

I grew up here and have so many memories from this beautiful little cove. Too many, truth be told.

My dad used to rent one of the little green huts for the summer. I can’t look at them today without remembering him sitting there, his big belly spilling out the sides of a deckchair. Cup of tea in one hand, a paperback in the other. One eye on the boats sailing the silver horizon.

We’d have BBQs on the beach at dusk and play catch with stones. Inevitably I’d get thumped in the face by a pebble, then pacified with a hotdog garnished with flakes of black char, sand and mustard so hot that the tears kept coming.

My happiest memories are of us sailing across Swansea bay to Langland in my dad’s boat, Gwenan. we’d anchor up and zip ashore in the dingy. I realise now how privileged I was, but at the time it seemed like the most normal thing in the world to live that way.

That all ended when he passed away suddenly in a freak accident, aged 50. I was twelve. But the memories live on, and I feel him near me whenever I’m in Langland.

Objectively speaking, Langland is more than just a beach. It’s a whole culture, a world where entire lives are lived. And lived well, I may add.

The surfers, the dog walkers, the coffee sippers, ice-cream lickers. The cold water dippers, Donkey Rock divers, and sundown saluters.

It’s an ideal, a concept to aspire to. But this is nothing new. There are beautiful, big old houses perched on the cliffs that must date back to Victorian times. You walk among the rock pools, looking up at them, and find yourself putting your lottery numbers together.

But anyway, that’s enough of me reminiscing. Here’s a little film I shot on a gloriously sunny evening at Langland Bay – the first of spring. And a few photos.

If this inspires you to visit Langland Bay yourself, be sure to heck out my guide to the best beaches on the Gower peninsula for some practical travel tips.