MUMBLES ICE CREAM

Sean strolls barefoot along the sands of Tor Bay, his favourite beach

Tor Bay is enclosed by a horseshoe of limestone, culminating in the jutting Great Tor

Fringed with palm trees and beach huts, Langland Bay has all the charms of a Victorian seaside resort

Sean enjoys a mint choc chip ice cream in Mumbles to celebrate his completed tour it is in the summer. I’ve been warned not to let my inquisitive dog off the lead around the thick ferns as eager adders lie in wait. But on the beach there are no such dangers. The two small car parks, and the walk down a narrow path and a steep rocky trail to the sand, give you the impression this stretch of sand was meant to be protected.

The reward for those who make it is a fantastic beach, a dreamy place that I find refreshes and recharges me in a way no other place can. My wife and I enjoyed some of our early dates here – a seaview to savour with a glass of wine. It doesn’t get much better than that. down the road at Langland Bay. It’s picturepostcard pretty with Victorian-style beach huts perched perfectly on the border between firm land and sand that’s rockier than Tor Bay. It’s everything you would want from a trip to the seaside, so bring your bucket and spade and enjoy an ice cream or fish and chips on the front. Many people come in the summer but I know others who rent an apartment for New Year’s Eve and there can’t be many better places to see the year in. If there’s only one place to have an ice cream, save it for our final stop. Anyone who knows me well knows I enjoy mint choc chip a bit too much – and I rarely go to Mumbles without stopping off at either Verdi’s Café or the sweeter Joe’s Ice Cream parlour at Mumbles. You can burn off the calories with a long walk along the coastal path before heading home

Gower has given me so much over the past 20 years. You could say it was the initial spark to my marriage. It’s certainly a place for me to refresh and recharge my batteries.

It’s untouched. It’s clean. And it still feels like a secret. So let’s keep it between ourselves. Sean Fletcher