Will the Gower Mystery End in Farce?

 BODY ON ROCKS

Will the Gower Mystery End in Farce?

A Sleeping Man?

South Wales Daily Post — July 1924

South Wales Daily Post

A strange and somewhat perplexing incident occurred yesterday upon the lonely coastline between Pwlldu and Hunt’s Bay, where a supposed drowning — reported with all the urgency of tragedy — now threatens to dissolve into something approaching farce.

The alarm was raised by Mr. John Evans, dairyman, of Gower Road, Sketty, who hurried to inform Gowerton police that a man’s body lay stretched upon the rocks, motionless and apparently lifeless. Mr. Evans, convinced he had stumbled upon a drowning, described the figure as unmistakably that of a man cast ashore by the tide. Officers were dispatched at once, and the sombre expectation of a recovery hung over the scene.

Yet upon arrival, the rocks were empty.

The supposed body had vanished entirely, leaving neither trace nor disturbance. The police, after careful inspection, declared that the figure could not possibly have been washed away, for the tide had not advanced sufficiently to reach the ledge where the man had been seen. Nor was there any sign of slipping, dragging, or injury upon the stones.

Thus arose the only explanation that seemed to fit the facts: that the “body” had simply risen and walked away.

One witness, recalling the moment of discovery, quoted the lines:

“Do I sleep, do I dream, Or is visions about?”

The sentiment captured the mood of the district, where the grim expectation of tragedy gave way to bewilderment — and, in some quarters, amusement. The police, though maintaining proper seriousness, admitted that the man may have been asleep, stretched upon the rocks in the warm afternoon sun, and upon waking, departed without realising the commotion he had caused.

Whether the mystery will ever be fully explained remains uncertain. For now, the Gower “body” joins the long catalogue of curious coastal tales — a drama that began in solemnity and ended, perhaps, in nothing more than a misplaced nap.