14 - 24 July 2018
We’ll keep a
welcome in the hillsides
Post from John
The required rest (see last blog entry) did not materialise. The end of
May saw the arrival of our granddaughter Jocelyn, so June and early July meant
that we (particularly Ruth) made several trips up to Scotland to be with Louise
and the baby, especially when Steve’s paternity leave finished. Therefore it
wasn’t until late July that we were able to load up Amelia for another trip.
Keen readers of this blog (you all are, aren’t you???) will remember
that we aborted a trip to Pembrokeshire in 2015. With the forecast looking
good, and now living 2 hours nearer, we decided to give it another try. We left
in the middle of the heatwave, but arriving in St Davids we found the
temperature to be several degrees cooler. Still nicely warm and sunny, though.
Our base was the Caravan and Motorhome Club site at Lleithyr Meadow, a
few miles outside St Davids. The site is on the route of the Celtic Coaster
bus, which, over the next four days, we used frequently. We spent one cloudy
and slightly damp day in St Davids, the smallest city in the UK. The beautiful
cathedral is the main draw, but it is discretely tucked in a hollow on the edge
of town, not dominating the skyline.
The warm and sunny weather returned, and we enjoyed several walks along
the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path. We walked from the site out to Saint Davids
Head, then back to Whitesands bay. We took the bus out to the lifeboat station,
and walked round the coast to arrive back at Whitesands from the other
direction. Finally we took the bus out to Porthclais, then walked along the
coast, past St Nons Chapel, to Caerfai Bay, and back to St Davids.
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| Saint Davids Head |
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| Whitesands Bay |
Having explored that area, it was time to move on to the southern part
of Pembrokeshire. For the next three days we stayed at Tudor Lodge campsite, at
Jameston, between Tenby and Pembroke. Whilst a pleasant enough site, we are
rather spoiled by the high-quality facilities at Club sites.
Our first trip was to Pembroke, where after a pleasant wander along Main
Street, we walked back alongside the Mill pond for a delicious meal in the
Watermans Arms. After lunch we headed for the main attraction – Pembroke Castle.
Birthplace of Henry Tudor, later Henry VII, the castle has a turbulent history,
from Norman times to the Civil War. Plenty of displays and guided tours made
for an enjoyable and informative visit.
The next day we took the bus in the opposite direction, to Tenby.
The NT owned Tudor Merchants House was an interesting insight into life in
Tudor times, but otherwise we walked around the town and the promenade,
watching the influx of visitors (first day of the school holidays).
On Sunday we put our walking boots on again, heading
southwest from the site, through the fields to Swanlake beach, then along the
coast path to Manorbier. Refreshments in the tea room in the village were most
welcome, before we headed back to the site.
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| Swanlake Beach |
Monday morning we moved on, heading towards home, but breaking our journey first at Aberdulais, where the old tin works and waterfalls are now NT owned. Once again, films and displays educated us, this time in the making of tinplate, a hard and sometimes dangerous task in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
We finally moved on to the Caravan and Motorhome Club site
at Pandy, on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National park. Sadly, this was just
an overnight stop, but Brecon is on our “to visit” list for another time.
Tuesday saw us heading home, ready to start the next of the
major house projects.
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