Gower Unearthed CIC was born out of a shared passion for heritage and conservation between two friends. Director, Helen Nicholas, has developed the organisation into an educational community interest company. Helen is a Gower native, born and bred. A qualified teacher with over fifteen years experience teaching and working outdoors .

Helen has worked for both the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) and local schools, and has expertise in literacy, art, history and special educational needs.

Passionate about the outdoors and experiential learning, Helen combined her love and knowledge of Gower with her professional skills, to engage the community via Gower Unearthed. The primary objective is to share local knowledge of flora, fauna, landscape and folklore.

Founded in 2012, Gower Unearthed’s key projects include the ‘Vernon Watkins literacy project’ and poetry competition, judged by the poet’s widow, Mrs Gwen Watkins. This included the installation of a commemorative stone at Pennard Primary School.

Gower Unearthed is a Community Interest Company (CIC), and has an experiential Iron Age roundhouse outdoor educational facility at Parkmill, supported by Welsh Government, the National Lottery Community Fund, Gower Society and the local community.

Helen has written an extensive historical education pack documenting and describing Gower. This information is now being published in pamphlets based on specific periods and places in Gower. The long-term aim continues to be to collate all of this information into one comprehensive book.

Helen has a particular interest in local dialect and the distinct character of the peninsula, formed by the movement of people over and through Gower across the ages. Recently, she contributed to a new book on Gower dialect. A keen and talented artist, Helen has been writing down and illustrating the local fairy stories she grew up with for many years, with many now hanging on the walls of Gower residents. Helen studied Welsh literature and folk tales as part of her degree, and her MA thesis concentrated on Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Dafoe. She is fascinated with stories of resilience, and another key project involves the local hero and polar explorer Edgar Evans, who was one of the small team involved in Captain Scott’s ill-fated Antarctic expedition. The project is based at Rhossili (family home of Edgar Evans) where students explore teamwork and our relationship with the environment. This project is run with the blessing and support of Edgar’s family.

Helen is fortunate to have been given so many rare and special books about Gower and keenly feels a responsibility to offer opportunities to share these and to interpret this history when working as Gower Unearthed.

Helen hopes Gower Unearthed with continue to educate and engage people of all ages and be a haven for all things Gower!