I recently saw a cache in my area that said it was placed "as there are no caches nearby", so I've decided to help my fellow Geocacher by adding some. This is a series of eight caches (and a bonus - note the number on the log) that I will place to highlight some hidden gems in Sketty. With that...
de la Beche Park
I suspect that most people who live in Sketty know this park. For the wider community though it would be easy to miss this little gem nestled between two church micros. Another site that was once threatened with housing, this one is defiinitively safe as determined locals discovered documentation confirming that the whole park had been donated as a war memorial. The park was donated by Lieutenant-Colonel John Illtyd Nicholl in rememberance of the locals who died in World War One. There are two memorials in the park - one a bronze plaque on the side of the pavillion & the other a more recent (2014) freestanding addition.
The modern park hosts a 100-year old bowling club with a clubhouse, tennis courts, a childrens play area in one corner, and a small hall that is a regular meeting place for elderly coffee mornings. You will often see volunteers from the Friends of de la Beche Park working in the park & their Chair is aware of the cache. Like so many of Swansea's parks it benefits hugely from this volunteer activity - they raised £130,000 in 2014 to restore the tennis courts & the park more generally.
On a Summers day its great to come and sit on the benches and enjoy the fierce bowls competion - it can also be muggle-central with the proximity of a large secondary school & its pleasant status as an oasis of calm.
Strong advice: avoid the afternoon as school finishes. Traffic can be chaotic as some people park in all the side roads for an hour+ in their cars to collect children & muggle density can go through the roof.
Congratulations to StantheMan! on FTF in just 27 minutes!