On a quest

Lunchtime yesterday I was thinking half-heartedly of doing some gardening but feeling lackadaisical when GrandDaughter2 phoned me. She was bored so I said, "Do you want to come on an adventure with me?"
"Yes! What are we going to do?"
"We're going to look for a stone."

More specifically look for the stone commemorating the Battle of Gower. Until yesterday I didn't know there was a battle of Gower, let alone a stone commemorating it, but I'd seen a reel on Facebook.

Following William's successful invasion of England in 1066 the Normans gradually spread west and in 1106 Henry de Beaumont was granted Lordship of Gower. He immediately began building castles, including Oystermouth and Swansea, as his bases. There were plenty of small uprisings but by 1130 the Normans were well established and ruling - until the Battle of Gower in 1136. Henry 1st died in 1135 and political instability provided the opportunity for the battle, which the Welsh won. It was regarded as the catalyst for the Welsh rebellion.

It's thought the battle, which happened on January 1st, was fought in the vicinity of what is now Garn Goch common, and the Chronicles of John of Worcester record that 516 men died in the battle.

You have to look carefully to spot the signpost.

Then make your way through trees and brambles, across a swampy tussocky field.

The monument - the stone - is on a slightly raised patch with two plaques, on in Welsh, one in English, below.

Then GrandDaughter2 and I sat on the base in the sunshine and had a lovely discussion about war, Hitler, Trump, and money. 

When we'd finally made our way back to the car I suggested we investigate the ruins of the old hospital, before heading to McDonalds for ice cream.

It was a good adventure.