Day 5 Pembroke to Hazelbeach

Our last day of walking and a later start as we only had to do a 15 minute bus ride to Pembroke. It was a beautiful sunny day but not too hot.
This was the only time we had to retrace our steps as the guide book map was a little misleading and we missed the green acorn sign that was at knee level instead of head height where they had all been previously. But we soon realised that we had gone wrong and a few minutes later we were back on the right track for Pembroke Dock.

A Martello tower

Pembroke Dock 'sea' front

After a brief stop in Asda for provisions we headed for the Cleddau Bridge seen here in the distance

This is a toll bridge for motorists but walkers get to cross for free. Its quite a long bridge and the traffic was very noisy but it was an interesting experience and I took some photos from the bridge.

Neyland Marina

After crossing two bridges we turned sharp left and walked on a woodland path to Neyland where we found a seat in the park for lunch and then on to Hazelbeach. The end of our journey this time. We finished rather early as we didn't have time to get as far as Milford Haven and get back in time for tea! The joys of Milford Haven will have to wait for next time.



We sat on the front for a while watching the world go by before catching the bus back to Pembroke for a visit to the co-op and another cup of tea in Brown's Snack bar.

We had a good time walking the coastal path and didn't have any major problems finding the route. The buses all came as scheduled and we were there on time to catch them. Everyone we met was very friendly and the guest house was excellent. On the last day we even had time for a cup of tea on our terrace, in the sun!

Our journey home went well even though it took a long time and we stopped at many stations. It was very busy till we got out of Wales, standing room only on the train at first. I was going to list all the stations we stopped at but I've run out of energy! Lamphey where we caught the train was a request stop and you had to stick your hand out as if stopping a bus!
We will be back next year a little further north to complete the coastal path hopefully. See you then.



Day 4 Angle to Pembroke

I think we were both quite relieved that this was the last time we would have to walk to Freshwater East to catch the bus. It wasn't a difficult walk as it was on a country lane most of the way but it meant an early start each day. Today the bus was a little late as he had lost a mirror on the way and had to phone for a replacement to be fitted somewhere on the route.
As usual we passed through Bosherston. We worked out that during the course of the week we would have passed through Bosherston either on foot or on the bus ten times in all! We know it quite well now. The mirror was replaced in Bosherston As we left Bosherston for the last time we had to wait for half a dozen tanks being moved on low loaders. The army were on the move again.

The sun was shining as we arrived in Angle and after a trip to the delightful loos and the village shop we set off around East Angle Bay on a nice wide flat path with good views.

Yes we could see oil refineries for most of the day but we did have some lovely woodland paths too although nettles were a bit of a problem as this part of the walk looked as though few people had bothered with it.

Certainly not scenic but interesting none the less.

The path was rather overgrown in places!

After we rounded the point at Fort Popton it got very hot but we were soon rewarded with a nice breeze and a lovely meadow of wild flowers that helped to disguise the distant oil refinery views.



At last Pembroke Castle came into view, much bigger than I imagined it would be. We still had plenty of time to spare before the bus so found a cafe with an outside terrace, Brown's Snack bar, that looked like an old fashioned coffee bar but was very reasonable and had nice fruit cake, apparently.

A very quick bus journey back to Hodgeston as we were now on the main Pembroke to Tenby route 349, our 'local' bus. What a relief not to have to walk the extra mile home any more.

Day 3 Freshwater West to Angle

What a difference a day makes. Freshwater West the next morning, no sun and the tide right in. No walking on the beach today, a good job we did it yesterday. We set off in cloudy but dry weather along the coastal path towards West Angle Bay. The walking was a lot more strenuous than the previous day and there were plenty of 'ups' and 'downs' along the way.

The best bit for me was a beautiful patch of wild flowers on the cliff top full of the sound of bees. Lots of clover, mostly red but some white as well.

We knew there was a cafe at West Angle Bay and were looking forward to a cup of tea, but it had seen better days and was falling apart. We used their table anyway to have our lunch!

 As we were eating lunch it started to rain and we had to put our waterproofs on, but this was only for a short time and by the end of the walk the sun was shining again. The rest of today's walk to East Angle Bay and the village of Angle was much easier walking. We passed Thorne Island that has a deserted fort on it and looks a bit like Alcatraz.

As we rounded the point we had views of the industrial nature of this area with jetties and pipelines for the oil and gas refineries.

At the start of East Angle Bay there is a pub but we didn't stop there. We hardly saw anyone on the coastal path today just a couple of chaps going the opposite way who had been staying here.

Angle village had the best toilet we had seen and a village shop that sold everything, according to my Trailblazer guide book. Once again we were early for the bus so had plenty of time for sitting on the beach and admiring the view.

The bus gave us a bit of a fright as we were at the furthest point from our base and it came whizzing past us without stopping. What on earth would we do now............ten minutes later it came back the other way. It had been to West angle Bay first to pick up there, phew, what a relief! This was our longest journey back to Freshwater East and by the time we got back the sun was shining as it would for the rest of our trip.

Hodgeston Church

Day 2 Stackpole Quay to Freshwater West

We had to request an early breakfast at 8.00 a.m. so that we had enough time to walk up to Freshwater East to catch the coastal cruiser bus which we relied on quite heavily the first three days. There are two buses going in opposite directions and two friendly drivers.

A short trip took us to Stackpole Quay. I know we had been there before but I forgot to take any photos and wanted to visit again. We were there by 9.30 a.m. before the tea room opened and before anyone else was awake I think.

The weather was a bit overcast and drizzly but quite warm. Next stop Barafundle Bay again and still no-one else around. We had the beach to ourselves.

We cheated a bit on Stackpole Head as we had done it before and took the short cuts this time. Then on to Broad Haven where we were hoping to carry on to St Govans but it wasn't to be as the army were using it for target practice all week.

So at Broad Haven we chatted to The National Trust warden in the visitor centre for a while and discovered that he was married to a Yorkshire woman, he had been on the Worth Valley railway at Haworth, and he was restoring a Spitfire!

He recommended that as we were going to have to go via Bosherston we might like to have a coffee at the Ye Old Worlde Cafe and meet the owner who is now 90 years old and has worked there all her life. She was awarded an MBE for services to tourism. We had a quick chat with her as we were leaving and she was bemoaning the fact that the weather was poor and there weren't any customers and she had three more waitresses arriving in the afternoon.

The next part of the walk was all on roads as the MOD had closed CastleMartin firing range so they could practice shooting each other.





Here's Ann trying not to get shot at!

And here's the army firing at each other!

We had our lunch in the spectator area kindly provided by the MOD but it wasn't very exciting so we didn't stay long.

On the way to Freshwater West we came across a strange looking roundabout in the middle of the road.

This was originally a pound used for containing stray cattle and the owners had to pay a fine to get their cattle back. It has now been restored and has seats and shrubs inside it.

After a bit more road walking we arrived at Freshwater West and the sun came out. Some of the scenes from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows were shot here.

We had plenty of time to walk right along the beach and back, have a cup of tea from the mobile van, watch someone riding a buggy pulled along by a kite, and generally admire the view whilst waiting for the bus back to Freshwater East.

After a lovely meal at the B&B we read for a while and then early to bed ready for the next day.



Barbara and Ann go to Pembroke Day 1

After our great holiday in Tenby Ann Cleminson and I decided to return to Pembrokeshire and walk some more of the coastal path.

We went down by train using our railcards to secure some cheap tickets to Lamphey station on the Tenby to Pembroke line where we were picked up by Tracy from the Rosedene Guest House. This was in Hodgeston just 1 mile from Lamphey and also 1 mile from Freshwater East where we were able to catch the Coastal Cruiser bus. It turned out to be a good choice of B&B as they also did an evening meal on request and had a quite extensive menu freshly cooked by Mike. Absolutely huge portions!
We had a nice twin room with a large en-suite bathroom and our own terrace with table and chairs for relaxing....hmmmm.