WELL, Summer 2008 turned out to be a real washout, with very little sunshine and a whole load of rain spoiling everybody's hard-earned holiday break.

The steady decline in Britain's Summer weather over the last few years raises all sorts of questions regarding the Gower Peninsula's future as a major tourist attraction.

When the sun shines warmly from a clear, blue sky, there truly is no other holiday location in the UK to rival the diverse beauty of Gower's beaches and countryside and I am sure that everyone who visits the area during such idyllic conditions returns home with nothing but glowing reports of the area.

I am not too sure, however, what this year's Gower holidaymakers made of the peninsula.

From the few reports I have read on the various blogs I have come across, most will have been disappointed with how few wet-weather attractions the area has to offer.

The Gower Peninsula is crying out for more indoor attractions and amenities. Some might say that Swansea City is close enough to Gower to offer such facilities, but I would argue that people holidaying in Gower want to stay in Gower.

Despite the money that has been ploughed into the slick advertising campaigns and websites which try to promote the city as a vibrant, modern, tourist attraction, Swansea is hardly a place where people want to spend their hard-earned holiday time when they have paid good money to stay on the Gower Peninsula.

Anyway, despite the atrocious weather which has dominated the last few months, I did manage to attend a couple of successful Gower events this summer, the first of which was held at the Gower Heritage Centre in Parkmill.

Despite the heavy rain, which barely relented all evening, the Gower Heritage Centre Ghost Hunt drew in a decent-sized crowd.

There was also a good range of sexes and ages at the event and, if you'll pardon the pun, there was a definite spirit of excitedness in the air as we all gathered in the courtyard to hear the story-tellers, garbed in medieval attire, entertain us with their chilling tales.

The story-tellers were very entertaining and they began their talk with an interesting new take on the Pennard Castle and the Verry-Volk legend (which was very well staged and included some fun audience participation), as well as a chilling ghost story set in (as well as around) Chepstow Castle.

After setting the mood for the evening ahead, it was then time for us to hear four spooky tales, all set within the grounds of the Gower Heritage Centre.

I won't go into any details about these stories as it may spoil the fun for any readers wanting to visit any future ghost hunts at the Centre.

When their talk was complete, it was then our task for the night to head out and, using our psychic abilities, locate the four spots where these various ghosts have been spotted over the years.

Each team had four differently coloured 'Post-it' notes - each with the name of one particular ghost or ghosts we were looking for written on it.

When we came to the spot where we thought those particular spirits usually manifested themselves, we then stuck our corresponding postie to that location.

The team that correctly identified the ghostly locations would then win a prize at the end of the night - one prize for each ghostly spot found. Great fun.

The rain was falling heavily throughout the ghost hunt but the wet weather gave the proceedings a certain gloomy charm and I didn't see a single face that did not show enjoyment as we all bustled around the Heritage Centre's grounds, despite the sodden condition of most of us.

We all met up again in the Courtyard at nine o'clock to hear the announcement of the night's winning teams.

Unfortunately, my team, of whom my wife and brother were also members, were unsuccessful in our ghost hunting prowess. But I felt a great delight when my two children, who had decided to form a team of their own, were announced as winners for discovering the spot where ghostly Matilda most often chose to manifest herself.

I really can't recommend the Gower Heritage Centre's Ghost Hunt highly enough. Very modestly priced, the event is not just money spent well but it really is three hours out of life that is pure, timeless entertainment.

After a gap of too many years, I also finally made it to the Gower Show again this summer.

Whilst I have been otherwise engaged on Gower Show day for the past few years, it was the on-the-gate entrance fee of £24 (for my family of two adults and two children) which had originally put my mind against attending the event this year. Thankfully, however, the General Secretary of the show advised me that if my family became members of the Gower Agricultural Society (at a more than reasonable fee of just £15), then not only would we gain free entrance to this year's Gower Show, but we would also be able to make use of the member's car park, and take advantage of the various Members Only areas set aside at the show.

Despite it then being only days away from Show Day, I wrote off my cheque to the Gower Agricultural Society and within two days our family passes arrived through the letter-box. What an incredibly fast and friendly service!

Of course, the trouble with paying in advance for any kind of outdoor activity in this country is the unpredictability of the weather.

Whilst we really did not want to waste £15 should it rain heavily on the day of the show, none of us fancied a total drenching either. But, ay, we all survived the torrential rain which had engulfed much of the recent Pagan Federation Summer Camp down in Llanmadoc last month, so we had proved to ourselves that none of us were made from sugar.

We also survived the infamously wet and muddy Glastonbury Festival of 2007 and if anyone is in any doubt as to just how difficult those conditions were, visit my entry on our time spent there on my Glastonbury website (www.welcometoglastonbury.co.uk).

Anyhow, despite these fears concerning the weather, the morning of the Gower Show day arrived with a very nice ratio of sunshine to light drizzle and during our whole time in Penrice at the show, we only received one brief, albeit heavy, showering.

It was great being led into the Member's Only car park, which was situated right at the side of the show.

One memory I have always taken away from events like this and the Swansea County Show, held at Singleton Park, is the aching feeling of tired feet.

The fact that there would be no long traipse back to the car when it was time for home and the surprise that the Gower Show was rather more compact than I remembered made me a pretty happy man that day.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing the Gower Show here - there were just as many stalls as I remembered there being, there just seemed to be a welcome shorter distance between them all.

Now I sound lazy, don't I? It's just that my feet didn't half end up hurting as I was taken around these local shows as a young boy.

I loved the atmosphere of this year's Gower Show. I have only ever attended the event once before as an adult and so the show was a real wallow in nostalgia for me as my family and I made made our way slowly around the various events and stalls.

It was great watching the odd balloon drifting idly into the sky, browsing through the second hand book stalls (where I bagged myself a real bargain of a book for just £1), queuing for a bag of sweet and sticky pink candy floss and visiting traditional Gower Show exhibits such as the Honey Bee display - which this year even allowed visitors to don a protective bee suit and enter a net room full of the little creatures!

The Gower Show was an important social occasion for early 20th Century Gowerians.

The event provided a focal point where the various villagers and farming families from all four corners of the peninsula could meet and make friends with people they might only ever meet again on future show days. The show therefore generated much excitement and a real feeling of anticipation across the peninsula at that time.

The show, first held in 1906, has developed a long and illustrious history.

It has been held at three venues on the peninsula - the Penrice Estate, Kilvrough Home Farm and at the small airport on Fairwood Common.

Most locals, however, would agree that the show's true home is in Penrice, in sight of Gower's largest Norman castle.

More than a century after the Gower Show was first held, the event is still truly loved and cherished by Gower's local communities.

This was evidenced in both the number of attendees who took a chance on the somewhat ropey-looking weather to make a day of it at the event and the quality of effort that had been put into the organisation and running of all the various stalls, displays and exhibitions at the show.

It really was a delightful experience wandering around the various flower, vegetable and cooking displays at this year's Gower Show.

It was here, especially, where the amount of time, energy and skill which so many people had put into making this year's show a success could really be identified and appreciated.

I, apparently, was not alone in my admiration for these displays as the marquees which housed them were busy throughout the whole day with people enjoying the sheer beauty, skill and variety of the numerous entries. What was especially interesting about these displays was seeing which of the entries had won prizes and comparing the judge's decisions with your own thoughts on the various presentations. Some of the entries also had the judges' comments written on a piece of card next to them and these made for fascinating reading.

I had quite a smile on my face as I walked around the displays as the experience made me feel like I had stepped into the village of Dibley - and I don't mean anything bad by that.

There was a strong and very real sense of community evidenced in these exhibits, a warmth that made visitors yearn to live down Gower themselves.

And can there really be a better accolade for a small country fayre than that?

Anyway, here's hoping that all is not lost with the British weather and that we have a beautiful Indian Summer awaiting us in the next few weeks.