Is Mumbles beginning to speak up? The lovely Welsh, um, settlement – I’ll explain – is embroiled in an argument over whether it’s a town or a village. The council decided last month to upgrade the Mumbles area, which comprises 17,500 people and four electoral wards, from a village to a town, prompting irate townsfolk/villagers/locals (delete as appropriate, no way am I getting involved) to demand… a referendum. I guess it’s been a while since we last had one. Perhaps they’re addicted to the sweet fix of internecine strife. Stockholm syndrome meet Swansea Bay.

Anyway, the only difference conferred by the “town” title, according to the councillor who proposed the change, would be that Mumbles would have a mayor rather than a chairman. Some residents feel that their home is a “village”; others, I presume, care only to the extent that it’ll affect their bin collection (which it won’t). Vladimir Putin has not yet picked a side.

I visited on a chilly day at the end of November. When a fancy-dan foreign player comes to the Premier League, macho pundits always question whether he can perform “on a rainy Tuesday night in Stoke”, and this uncompromising measure of all-round durability is, I think, a useful way of analysing day-tripping venues. Mumbles is nice in the summer, sure, with its pastel-coloured houses, coastal walks and crystalline blue sweep of a bay. But can you day-trip there on a freezing afternoon in November?

The pier awaits hardy souls Credit: GETTY

The answer: yes! I mean, bring a coat, because it’s pretty exposed, but yes. Fortunately, the pier is fully geared up for wintry weather. If you are a hardy soul you can venture to its end, buffeted by wind and beset by rain. Or you can sit in the amusements building instead, and look out at the bay from the comfort of the Crazy Taxi arcade machine. Up to you.

Close to the pier are the two hillocky islands that might have given Mumbles its name. French sailors, the story goes, spotted that the islands looked a bit like a pair of boobs, called them “Les Mamelles”, and the town/village/settlement eventually ended up being called “Mumbles”. Lake Titicaca was taken, I guess. Or maybe they had an Anglo-French town-twinning programme with the city of Brest. LOL! Actually, hold up a second. Forgive me – what I said just then was inappropriate, and I don’t mean to cause offence to the good people of Mumbles. What I should have said was… “village-twinning”.

Mumbles Lighthouse, completed in 1794 Credit: GETTY

The thing is, neither “town” nor “village” quite sums up this place. A village might have a crossroads at its centre. A town might have a market square or a river crossing. Mumbles, though, has a long, finlike shape that hugs the bay. Pretty much every building is constructed to look Devon-wards over the water.

“It’s the best view in the world,” a well-travelled local cabbie told me, and if Bonnie Tyler and Catherine Zeta-Jones agree (they both have houses here), then what business does an interloping Englishman have disagreeing?

What this means is that everything you do here is enhanced by that majestic view, whether it’s popping to the bakery, downing a pint, going to the shops, or playing Crazy Taxi. The town/village thing won’t change that in the slightest: with or without the upgrade, Mumbles is one of those lucky places that don’t need to shout about themselves.

Five good reasons to visit Mumbles

1. The gallery

The Gower Gallery, run by Arwen Banning (right) has arresting ceramics and prints for sale.

2. The castle

Oystermouth Castle, a Norman ruin that looks over the bay, is closed until April 1 but worth a visit when it reopens.

3. The pier

Mumbles Pier has stood since 1898 and today offers (aside from the amusement arcade) a bar, a restaurant, an ice cream parlour and a bowling alley.

4. The restaurant

You can get hearty, tasty Welsh-inflected cooking from Patrick’s, a restaurant-cum-hotel on Mumbles Road.

5. The pub

Mumbles Ale House, on Dunn Street, is small but friendly, and well-regarded by the cask ale community.