Get up before dawn to watch the early sunlight trickle out over the dunes and beach at Cefn Sidan. On a clear morning, you’ll be repaid with magnificent views as far west as Caldey, over to Lundy, then sweeping round to the Gower Peninsula. At 13km, Wales’ longest beach is a favourite of sun worshippers, swimmers and walkers alike. But low tide reveals a dark history of this stretch of coastline, when the wrecks of a number of ships become visible. Some were caught out by the fierce tides and shallow banks of the Bristol Channel, others lured onto the sands by gangs of looters to rob their precious cargos.