Worm's Head
Worm's Head is a serpentine tidal headland extending approximately 1.5 kilometres into the Bristol Channel from the western end of the Gower Peninsula in South Wales, its low, ridged profile giving it the appearance from the shore of a great sea creature partly submerged, from which the name derives: the Old English word wyrm meant dragon or sea serpent, and the headland's sinuous shape and exposed position above the Atlantic swell make the comparison entirely natural. It is one of the most dramatic tidal features on the Welsh coast and the experience of crossing to it and back is one of the most memorable short adventures the peninsula offers. The crossing to Worm's Head is possible only for approximately two and a half hours either side of low tide, and the timing must be taken seriously. The causeway of rough limestone rock that connects the headland to the mainland at Rhossili can be crossed on foot when exposed but is quickly covered as the tide returns, and the tidal range here is one of the largest in the world. Visitors who misjudge the tide and become stranded on the headland must wait for the next low tide, sometimes several hours, before returning. Dylan Thomas famously spent a night stranded on the Head as a young man, an experience he described in his essay Who Do You Think Was With Us. The headland itself divides into the Outer Head, the Inner Head and the Devil's Bridge connecting them, a natural arch of limestone through which the sea surges even in moderate conditions. The Outer Head is the highest point, rising to around 46 metres, and from its summit on a clear day the view extends north across Carmarthen Bay toward the Pembrokeshire coast and south across the Channel toward Devon and Somerset. The cliffs support nesting seabirds during the spring and summer breeding season, including guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmars. The clifftop at Rhossili above the causeway provides the most dramatic viewpoint over the headland and the sweep of Rhossili Bay below, one of the most celebrated coastal vistas in Wales.