Thread by @OwsWills, Cefn Sidan ("Silken Ridge") is a spectacular 8-mile long golden beach on [...]

Cefn Sidan ("Silken Ridge") is a spectacular 8-mile long golden beach on the Carmarthenshire coast.

But its beauty belies a savage past, dating to its time as a major shipping route, exporting coal and tin from booming industries.

This is Wales' Skeleton Coast…

THREAD

Since 1668, a total of 182 ships are officially recorded as wrecked at Cefn Sidan, although more than 300 have been counted.
Vessels were blown off-course or ran aground, as strong southwesterly winds, shallow water and ever-changing sand bars made navigation immensely difficult.

Folklore tells of a band of mercenaries known as Gwŷr y Bwyelli Bach (Men of the Little Hatchets).

The clan lit fires to strand ships, and employed a unique clawed hatchet to break open cargo, tear off jewellery, even cutting off casualties' sea-swollen fingers to steal rings.

The vessel Le Jeune Emma, bound from Martinique to Le Havre carrying rum sugar and coffee, came to an untimely end on the sandbars in 1828.

13 people drowned, including Adeline Coquelin, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's 12-year-old niece.
She is buried at St Illtyds Church, Pembrey.

Several of the beach's shipwrecks are frequently exposed by stormy weather.

Constant changes in the deep, shifting sands unearth scores of wrecks, plus flotsam and jetsam artefacts - including huge anchors, unexploded bombs and even grim human remains…