Day 8 The Journey Home

As usual on these trips the day of departure was sunny and warm, but we certainly can't complain about the weather we've had this week.

Tenby is a great place to stay and the Park Hotel seems to be the best in the area. Many thanks to Mike Smith for finding it and persuading the owners that we were a well behaved group! Also thanks to all who were involved with planning and leading walks. The scenery was magnificent and the beaches as good as anywhere I've been before. I certainly hope to return before too long to complete some more of the coastal path.

The journey home passed very quickly, thanks to Steve the driver who seemed to enjoy the trip as well.
Next year the Isle of Man in June if you get your booking in quick!
See you there (hopefully!)

Day 7 Manorbier to Tenby

I didn't do the club walk today that was going to the Preseli Hills as I wanted to fill in a bit of missing coastline. I thought I would do it on my own but Ann and Carol had other ideas about that and came with me!
We set off on the bus from Tenby and all went well until just after Lydstep when the bus driver pulled up and said the bus was broken. We had the option of returning to Lydstep and doing the walk from there or walking about a mile into Manorbier. That was what we chose as otherwise Ann and I would have had a gap in our coastal path. Carol came along as well which is just as well because after a few minutes walking the bus driver pulled up beside us and we got on again much to the amusement of the other passengers. He also picked up Mick Melvin a little further along the way as he was doing a similar walk to us. The driver was most apologetic and dropped us off at the nearest point to the coast even though there wasn't a bus stop there!

It's amazing how different Manorbier beach looked today compared with how it looked on Sunday in the wind and the rain. Today the sun shone all day and the temperature reached 25 although there was a slight breeze on the cliff tops.

We made steady progress and had our lunch watched by a herd of cows on Lydstep Headland before descending to Lydstep Haven and making our way through the hundreds of static caravans.

 That was the only part of the walk that was difficult to follow the but eventually we found the right path and proceeded onwards and upwards before descending to the south beach at Tenby.

 By this time my blisters were giving me problems and I was very pleased when we eventually arrived at the harbour. I rewarded myself with a turkish delight ice-cream before returning to the hotel for a shower and a lovely sit in the gardens.

Nearly half the group had done other things today and quite a few people had taken the opportunity to have a swim in the pool.

Nothing more to do now than have dinner and pack the suitcase ready for off in the morning.

Day 6 Strumble Head and Fishguard

Today we started at Harmony and went via the North Pole to the coastal footpath at Porthsychan and then on to Goodwick. The 'A' party took in Strumble Head as well and the 'C' party did a shorter circular walk finishing on the coastal footpath.

The weather was warm and the sun threatened to shine all day but it didn't quite make it until the walk was over. Back in Tenby it was a beautiful day from about 11.00 a.m. Well you can't win them all and it would have been very hot walking.

We stopped for lunch at Carreg Wasted Point where there is a stone marking the last invasion of Britain by the French in 1797. Follow this link for more details.

We saw the occasional ferry leaving Fishguard for Ireland but the main event of the day was the sighting of a number of seals in Aber Felin Bay. We could hear them calling to each other as some basked in the sun and others swam around them.

Soon after this we caught up with the 'C' party having a tea break on the cliff top.

We arrived in Goodwick, which looked as though it was ready for anything, with about two hours to spare so had plenty of time for cups of tea and cake, or a drink in the pub as well as a stroll along the breakwater and a sit on the front in the sun before departing for Tenby.

Day 5 Free Day or Amroth to Tenby

Today was the driver's day off so everyone had different plans for the day. Some went sailing and seal spotting, others caught a bus and did some touristy things, I went walking for a change with a few others on the bus to Amroth and walked back to Tenby led by Stuart.

The bus journey was entertaining in itself, a lady driver who hurtled round the narrow lanes at great speed. Once in Amroth we walked along the promenade to the start of the Pembrokeshire Coast path which was a little disappointing to say the least, just a sign post pointing the way with the mileage on it, 186 from Amroth to St Dogmeals.

The beach was a bit bleak with breakwaters along it and the scenery was nothing like we had experienced on previous walks. The path went up through the trees onto the cliff top and then along a track to Wiseman's Bridge. From here the path follows the route of an old colliery railway and you have to go through three tunnels before arriving in Saundersfoot. The first one was quite dark although you could see the light at the end as you went along.

By the time we arrived in the bustling town of Saundersfoot it was time for a lunch break and a sit on the prom watching the sailing dinghies racing in the bay. There is a lovely sensory garden in the centre full of lavender and rosemary bushes.

On leaving Saundersfoot the path climbed steeply up through woods and there were glimpses of lovely sandy bays through the trees. There were plenty of ups and downs on the way to Tenby some of them quite challenging. We met up with Ray and Jackie en route who had taken the bus in the other direction to Lydstep and were walking to Amroth, quite a challenge.

Once back in Tenby a cup of tea was the priority and after checking out Molly's tea room and finding it derelict we went to St Theresa's tea room for welsh cakes and tea and then I spent some time in Tenby looking around and bumping into other CHA members. They get everywhere!!

The day stayed dry and sunny on and off but was quite cool later on