From the southern sandy shore of Rhossili Beach in Gower, the cliffs tower overhead, bearing the village itself. Sheep with bright red and purple markings nonchalantly graze the craggy upper slopes. Visitors to the Worms Head Causeway are minute figures among the hummocks of a former castle, peering recklessly over the edge to the beach below.
The path down from the village to the beach has been disrupted by last winter’s land slip, and heavy machinery continues to make a new, easier way to the shore. The red earth scars of the recent and many previous movements are visible along the face of the fault-line valley that separates the Carboniferous Limestone Rhossili headland from the greater height of the Old Red Sandstone in Rhossili Down. Boulders litter the beach at this point. Some loose rocks are red sandstones and conglomerates from the Down. Many of the larger boulders are composed of angular limestone fragments (something to do with glaciation I think – maybe till) held together by a crystalline matrix that formed from calcium-rich groundwater percolating between the stones. Some boulders are huge chunks of Black Rock Limestone or similar from the headland and must weigh many tons.
Standing far out on the shore allows a panoramic view of the cliffs, from the soft red soil and erratic turf of the land slip area, along the bare rock exposed strata of the basal third of the cliffs, to the tidal island of Worms Head beyond. The cliff face is scalloped in and out by early quarrying activities. The distinct diagonal arrangement of the dipping rock layers contrasts with the horizontal colour banding caused by the colonisation of the rock surface between tide levels by organisms with different tolerances to exposure.
In places, tidal pools of strangely blue water skirt the pale, barnacle and mussel encrusted rock. Sand ripples like the lans and grooves of massive fingerprints decorate the beach, and create intricate arrangements around isolated boulders, reminding me of Japanese Zen gardens. Rounded smooth limestone pebbles in caves and alcoves bear fossil Sea Lily stems. And everywhere, sharp-edged fragments on the beach are evidence for the continuous weathering of the cliff face where each rock fall is signified by the fresh exposure of frequently orange-coloured stone
Jessica's Nature Blog 
Great piece of writing and images Jessica – a place that means a lot to you?
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Thank you, Adrian. Yes, Rhossili has great significance in my life. I first visited as a student from Swansea University in the 60’s. I wrote my degree dissertation on the rocky shore zonation of Burry Holms – the tidal island at the north end of Rhossili Bay. Nowadays, I get an emotional surge each time I visit, and each time I visit it has changed, over the years and even between tides. I love to document the changes.
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You can definitely sense the connection in your writing.
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