Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas became a part of the history of Wales when he flourished as one of the country’s greatest poets. From humble beginnings in Mumbles in 1914, Dylan Thomas went on to write some of the most celebrated poetry of the last century.

His works included ‘Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night’, ‘Fern Hill’, and ‘The Hunchback in the Park’, and the former family home is still open to the public for regular tours. As is the case with most poets, Thomas sought inspiration from the places he knew and loved, so many areas of South Wales are referenced and recognised throughout his poems.

Mumbles Railway

The Mumbles Passenger Railway made it not only into the Wales history books, but also onto the pages of world history! When a railway was constructed to shift limestone quarries of Mumbles, it became the first passenger ferry in world history in 1807. Benjamin French paid to run a wagon along the railway line for one year so that he could transport passengers for a (then very expensive!) fare of two shillings each. Steam trains began to use the line in 1877, and although for a time they operated around the horse-drawn buses they eventually phased them out.

Swansea Copper

The Hafod Copperworks stood beside the Swansea Canal from 1810 – 1924, making them a huge piece of the history of Wales.

The 1940s saw Swansea’s Vivian & Sons rocket to become the UK’s biggest exporters of finished copper.

As the century progressed, the copper works gradually built a whole settlement dedicated to their workers called Trevivian, and terraced houses, a school and church can still be seen in tact today. This makes Hafod Copperworks a surviving example of Victorian and Welsh history.

Mumbles Lifeboat

All Saints Church in Oystermouth is home to a stunning stained glass window, but few realise the story behind the lifeboat and crew depicted by it. The window was created in honour of the SS Samtampa, a mumbles lifeboat which was capsized in a storm in 1947, losing all of the crew.

In total, 47 men were lost to the storm, and 18 lifeboatmen have given their lives to their duties since the Mumbles lifeboat station was first opened in 1835, having saved 797 lives. We should also note that most of the lifeboat crews are voluntary.