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...
Cwm Farm Lane & Sketty Green
Sketty Green is another of those places that people tend to drive past - or park at. It's a pleasant area, but people tend to head to the larger, more beautiful, Singleton Park which is just across the road. From the car park on Sketty Green there is actually a small road, Cwm Farm Lane, that meanders into the woods behind the large block of flats on The Bryn. This hidden little gem is a pleasant walk from Sketty Green to the sea if you want to avoid the heavy traffic on Sketty Lane or the residential Derwen Fawr. It meanders peacefully past the Civil Service Cricket club, a couple of secluded houses, and some fields that actually feel farm-like before meeting up with the Tennis Club & Ashleigh Road playing fields.
I couldn't find much history. It is, after all, a quiet and almost forgotten lane. But I did find an interview with a former resident of Derwen Fawr on the Clyne Valley Community Project website (full interview here). How times change:
In the fields, all grass was farmed by Evans the Cwm — Cwm farm being in the lane known as Cwm Lane between the Ashleigh Rd football pitches and the top of Sketty Lane by the roundabout. He was a registered potato grower so I visited him again in the mid-70s with my job at the Potato Marketing Board. I don’t think he ever grew spuds in my time.
The cache is accessed from Cwm Farm Lane, note that my GPS was a little jumpy so yours might be too. Parking nearby, but bear in mind it can get quite busy on a working day.
Congratulations to raynruth for the FTF in just 55 minutes. It sounds like there was quite a party with four cachers arriving at the same time!