|
Above: The name Mumbles is possibly derived from the French word "mamelles", meaning "breasts", which the two islets at the end of the Mumbles headland resemble.
On the furthest islet stands Mumbles Lighthouse.
It may also be derived from Latin "mamillae" with the same meaning, or from Middle English "momele" (to mumble), describing the sound of the sea against the rocks, or it may be from the old Norse word "múli" (snout or promontory).
Prehistoric Settlements
The Mumbles (Welsh: Y Mwmbwls) is a large village suburb of Swansea with adjacent headland stretching into Swansea Bay. It is situated at the beginning of the Gower Peninsula and is popular with tourists.
There is archaeological evidence that an ancient forest was located on what is now the foreshore of Mumbles Bay. The bones of bears, wolves, hyenas, deer, rhinoceros and mammoth have been discovered there. The first human crop growers arrived in Mumbles over 3,000 years ago
The Mumbles Train
There is evidence that the Romans were based in Mumbles in a villa on the site of the present All Saints Church in Oystermouth. In 1806, the Oystermouth Railway was built between Oystermouth and Swansea with the intention of carrying coal to Swansea.
The World's First Horse-Drawn Railway Passenger Service: The potential for carrying passengers was soon seen and a horse-drawn railway passenger service was started on March 25, 1807, making it the first such service in the world. It became enormously popular and was commonly called 'the Mumbles train'.
Following the development of the rail service, Mumbles became a very popular tourist destination. To capitalize on this, the Mumbles train was extended and a pier was constructed and opened in 1898 to serve as the new terminus.
Beautiful parts of the world don't only draw creative and interesting people to them, they also very often have their own home-grown talent and colourful local characters. Wales is no different, and a few of the Celebrities associated with the area around The Mumbles are:
- Catherine Zeta-Jones was born and grew up in Mumbles
and she and Michael Douglas have a house here. - Bonnie Tyler lives in Mumbles (originally born in Neath,
the daughter of a coal-miner. - Joanna Page, Welsh actress was born in Mumbles
- Ian Hislop was born in Mumbles. English satirist, writer, broadcaster and editor of the magazine Private Eye.