Following their first biodiversity lunchtime walk in January, the School of Applied Computing’s Green Impact Team have arranged another one for Tuesday 17th May 2016. Do join us! We’re meeting at 1.10 pm at Reception.
Mount Pleasant forms the eastern fringe of Mayhill – as well as providing a great opportunity to stretch your legs and admire the stunning views across the bay, Mayhill is surprisingly full of history. “People don’t realise just how much is there!” says lecturer Sue Maw, a former Mayhill resident. Here’s her run-down on what you can find just a stone’s throw from the campus …
Mayhill was originally open countryside, which was divided into a patchwork of hedged fields following the 1762 Enclosure Act – in places, old banks and walls can still be seen. Just off Creidiol Road lies the old Washing Pond. Fed by springs, it was used in the Middle Ages for washing laundry, later becoming the source of water for Swansea’s Victorian Workhouse. Although the pond has silted up in recent years, it’s currently being renovated by local volunteers.
Further along is an old burial ground, established in the mid-1700s for Swansea’s then-sizeable Jewish community. It was located outside the city limits on a hillside facing towards Jerusalem in accordance with tradition. Out of use by the 1960s, it’s recently been restored and is an important are for wildlife.
In more recent times, Mayhill became the location for the first social housing estate in Britain – Mayhill Garden City. The first six council homes ever built can still be seen at numbers 2 to 12 Islwyn Road.
UWTSD Applied Computing Blog 
Written by Sue Williams
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