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.

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