At the end of the 18th century, Leyshon Rogers of Llangennith wrote about life on Gower:
“January the 17th, 1784, the great frost and snow began, and held till February the 21st, which is 5 weeks before it came to change, there was snow till the 5th March before it went clear off.”
“…the frost began the 7th day of December in the year 1784, came to rain the third of February in the year 1785, Saturday the 18th day of December in the year 1784 was the most dangerous time that was ever remembered in any age by any person that is living, some horses lost their lives, the turnpike roads was all a plate of ice.”
Rogers then writes of a great drought following this hard frost.
“From the 18th day of February 1785 there was no rain of any value till the 1st day of June, that was three months and most three weeks, and after that it was ry, till the beginning of September, and then there was so much rain that the late corn was all most lost…”
[source: A Gower Anthology]