teqniq
DisMembered
St David's not so much else to see apart from the cathedral but loads of lovely walks round the peninsula. Footpaths everywhere. I can recommend the Sloop Inn in Porthgaen and there's a lovely art gallery there
Carmarthenshire & Pembrokeshire
- Thread starter Paulie Tandoori
- Start date
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
Right, I’m staying near Newgale beach in St Brides Bay, Pembrokeshire in the middle of June. My first visit to this part of Wales
My plans are to walk part of the coast path from Martins Haven to St David’s peninsula using the coastal buses to get “back” to the start. I’ve also got some circular walks in a guidebook. The countryside and coastline looks wonderful but my plans feel like they lack a wet weather alternative
I will probably spend some time mooching around St David’s one of the days, see the cathedral. Anything else to see in St David’s, and are any of the other towns worth a visit?
What else is there thats a must do? I’ve read about boat trips to the islands but will need to check the cost as on a bit of a budget. I’ve also found there’s a coracle museum which sounds intriguing but it’s about an hours drive away from my digs and I’m keen not to drive that far if I can as I am on holiday
Lastly - on my final day (a friday) I have to drive across Wales to Hagley in the West Midlands - is there anywhere interesting to stop on the midpoint of this journey? Google map suggests I’ll be passing close to the Brecon Beacons so what I’m after is really a circular walk of a few hours or an interesting museum if the Welsh rain has got to me.
Er Martins Haven to St David’s is a massive walk. If you don’t make all of it I’d at least suggest you make Little Haven one of your stops, it’s quite lovely there.
An hours driving in Wales is nothing, you generally have to drive an hour to get anywhere. Everywhere is beautiful (apart from Llanelli).
I live on the edge of the Beacons, it’s all good. Don’t know where your drive takes you but if you can get near Llyn y Fan Fach that’s a nice walk to the top, not circular but just there and back, probably 4 miles and about 1000ft. But it takes some finding. Sort of near there, in the middle of nowhere near a place called Llandeusant is a red kite feeding station, birds fed at 3pm. That’s my kind of thing though, don’t know about yours.
Theres a great little museum on the edge of Carmarthen in a village called Abergwili specialising in social history, miners, fine art, world culture. Great little place. Carmarthen is also an ok town to look around though you may get lost in the car parks. For the museum you would drive to Abergwili as it’s too far out of town to walk.
Elpenor
a clown’s heart and a mandolin
I meant to do the walk over several days - I should have been a bit clearer
Plan to use the coastline bus that caters for walkers to get me from where my cottage is to and from the start & finish point each day. Noted about Little Haven.The museum and the walk sound great. Thank you!
Elpenor
a clown’s heart and a mandolin
I’ve had a marvellous week in Pembrokeshire
Hard to put it into words, but highlights for me were:
how quiet it is - very peaceful even though the summer season was starting to kick in
amazing tropical style remote white sandy beaches with clear blue water - they all needed walking to which must kept the crowds away - surrounded by dramatic coastline with sharks teeth rocks. Most of these beaches were just the beach - none of the other tacky add-one that make a day other expensive
the sort of British pastoral countryside (fields of wheat, hay bales etc) that I find soothing and relaxing - probably a bit of a personal thing there
I will be back
Hard to put it into words, but highlights for me were:
how quiet it is - very peaceful even though the summer season was starting to kick in
amazing tropical style remote white sandy beaches with clear blue water - they all needed walking to which must kept the crowds away - surrounded by dramatic coastline with sharks teeth rocks. Most of these beaches were just the beach - none of the other tacky add-one that make a day other expensive
the sort of British pastoral countryside (fields of wheat, hay bales etc) that I find soothing and relaxing - probably a bit of a personal thing there
I will be back
orient slacker
Well-Known Member
I’ve been down in West Wales for nearly 4 years now. It’s a bit different to Shoreditch, where I’m from! Home now just outside Haverfordwest, the County Town of Pembrokeshire. My link to the area is via the wife, who grew up in Neyland and I met at Uni in Cardiff…40ish years ago.
I doubt there’s many (any?) other Urbanites down in Pembs, but I know it’s a popular holiday spot, so I’ll make a few posts about places to see, eat & drink. I’ll include some bits about South Ceridigion and West Carmarthenshire, as I get about on walks with the hound, and put up a few pictures along the way: some of the spectacular coastal scenery, and some more mundane/grotty bits ones too.
Also, happy to answer questions from prospective visitors.
I doubt there’s many (any?) other Urbanites down in Pembs, but I know it’s a popular holiday spot, so I’ll make a few posts about places to see, eat & drink. I’ll include some bits about South Ceridigion and West Carmarthenshire, as I get about on walks with the hound, and put up a few pictures along the way: some of the spectacular coastal scenery, and some more mundane/grotty bits ones too.
Also, happy to answer questions from prospective visitors.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Laugharne resident here. There's a few of us around the 'shire - perhaps it's time for a West Wales meet?
davesgcr
Reading books
A targetted meet up in would be very much appreciated....sometime !
Rebecca Riot
Well-Known Member
Sounds like a good plan. I'm a Llansteffan resident myself.
orient slacker
Well-Known Member
As it happens, went to Inn At The Sticks in Llansteffan for lunch today. Not cheap, but very nice vibe and food - plus a couple of decent local ales on tap. Even dared to take our pup in with us, and fortunately he behaved himself.
Rebecca Riot
Well-Known Member
Wow! I met someone with a black puppy on the beach around 2pm.... could that have been you?
The Sticks is really nice but, as you say, not cheap.
orient slacker
Well-Known Member
Was on the beach before 1, but Hector’s a 6mo Goldie pup (there’s a photo on the dog thread).
orient slacker
Well-Known Member
After a run of rather lovely dry autumn weeks, the familiar Pembrokeshire drizzle and grey skies have returned. The dog still needs his walkies though, and today we headed off for a circuit of Carew Castle and its tidal mill pond - which was mostly low tide mud at lunchtime.
Originally a Norman structure, but much revised to include ornate windows in Tudor times. A pleasant short stroll, and there’s a caff and a decent village pub there. Cadw and the National Park people do a fine job at looking after and administering the imposing ruins and the disused mill.
Originally a Norman structure, but much revised to include ornate windows in Tudor times. A pleasant short stroll, and there’s a caff and a decent village pub there. Cadw and the National Park people do a fine job at looking after and administering the imposing ruins and the disused mill.
orient slacker
Well-Known Member
A lovely, if chilly, day today. Needed to take advantage before tomorrows rains and 50mph winds blow in.
So a lunchtime trip up to Newport (no, not the Gwent one) for a stroll along the Nevern Estuary and The Parrog, then a quick stop at Pentre Ifan up in the Preseli Hills. It was long assumed a burial chamber, but more recently there’s been other theories for this mini-Stonehenge (see wiki if you’re interested). We might have stayed longer, but there were a few hippies - there’s a few communes hanging on up in the hills - doing some sort of meditation ritual, so we left them to it in peace.
So a lunchtime trip up to Newport (no, not the Gwent one) for a stroll along the Nevern Estuary and The Parrog, then a quick stop at Pentre Ifan up in the Preseli Hills. It was long assumed a burial chamber, but more recently there’s been other theories for this mini-Stonehenge (see wiki if you’re interested). We might have stayed longer, but there were a few hippies - there’s a few communes hanging on up in the hills - doing some sort of meditation ritual, so we left them to it in peace.
orient slacker
Well-Known Member
Time to talk about Haverfordwest (Hwlffordd). Smack bang in the middle of Pembrokeshire, it’s the County town and was a trading hub for centuries.
But the truth is it’s looking rather worn down these days. The agricultural market and wholesale industrial trading/transportation functions are long gone, and like many provincial towns the central shopping and services area is down on its knees, with the big chains and supermarkets moved out to edge of town retail parks.
It should have a lot going for it: a pretty river (Western Cleddau) runs through it, there’s a ruined castle, plenty of attractive Georgian and early Victorian buildings, and a wide variety of interesting-looking religious and grand secular meeting houses who’s usage is in the past (I’d recommend the local Civic Society town walk route and info to be found online). Yet it mostly looks rather shabby these days, and there’s little reason for most tourists to linger after stocking up at the supermarkets on their way to the holiday spots near the beaches, which are 15-30 minutes away by car. It’s pretty dead in the evening, bus services stop at 7, and what places there are to gather aren’t seeing much trade.
That the Wetherspoons is the best (and most popular) pub in town tells its own story. There’s few of the boutiques and artsy gift shops that make, say, the much smaller Narberth and St David’s more attractive destinations. Interesting eating (and drinking) options are limited and what is there is mostly unimaginative, and the flea pit Palace cinema is really the only obvious entertainment spot left.
Haverhub, in the old main Post Office building, tries hard to provide small-scale cultural, music and community activities, but I’m rarely inspired by their programming to pop by.
The council talks about reversing the visual decline, though they don’t seem to be able to afford to even keep all the riverside street lights working, repair the broken paving or make much of the riverfront a place you might want to stay long, nor have they accepted that they might be better off permitting the many unused, scruffy ex-shops on Bridge, High and Market Streets to convert to fully residential units, because there’s far too much retail capacity for what residents and visitors need in these days of online shopping and not-going-out-much.
Still, it’s a decent place to live. All the main services you need are here, there’s an open and friendly community spirit, and use-it-or-lose-it going-out and leisure options are available for all age groups. Getting out to the marvellous beaches, countryside and other towns is dead easy if you have a car (and do-able during Mon-Sat daytime on buses), and the train service is decent enough if you fancy trips away to a City up the M4.
But the truth is it’s looking rather worn down these days. The agricultural market and wholesale industrial trading/transportation functions are long gone, and like many provincial towns the central shopping and services area is down on its knees, with the big chains and supermarkets moved out to edge of town retail parks.
It should have a lot going for it: a pretty river (Western Cleddau) runs through it, there’s a ruined castle, plenty of attractive Georgian and early Victorian buildings, and a wide variety of interesting-looking religious and grand secular meeting houses who’s usage is in the past (I’d recommend the local Civic Society town walk route and info to be found online). Yet it mostly looks rather shabby these days, and there’s little reason for most tourists to linger after stocking up at the supermarkets on their way to the holiday spots near the beaches, which are 15-30 minutes away by car. It’s pretty dead in the evening, bus services stop at 7, and what places there are to gather aren’t seeing much trade.
That the Wetherspoons is the best (and most popular) pub in town tells its own story. There’s few of the boutiques and artsy gift shops that make, say, the much smaller Narberth and St David’s more attractive destinations. Interesting eating (and drinking) options are limited and what is there is mostly unimaginative, and the flea pit Palace cinema is really the only obvious entertainment spot left.
Haverhub, in the old main Post Office building, tries hard to provide small-scale cultural, music and community activities, but I’m rarely inspired by their programming to pop by.
The council talks about reversing the visual decline, though they don’t seem to be able to afford to even keep all the riverside street lights working, repair the broken paving or make much of the riverfront a place you might want to stay long, nor have they accepted that they might be better off permitting the many unused, scruffy ex-shops on Bridge, High and Market Streets to convert to fully residential units, because there’s far too much retail capacity for what residents and visitors need in these days of online shopping and not-going-out-much.
Still, it’s a decent place to live. All the main services you need are here, there’s an open and friendly community spirit, and use-it-or-lose-it going-out and leisure options are available for all age groups. Getting out to the marvellous beaches, countryside and other towns is dead easy if you have a car (and do-able during Mon-Sat daytime on buses), and the train service is decent enough if you fancy trips away to a City up the M4.
Elpenor
a clown’s heart and a mandolin
HFW reminds me a bit of where I live, albeit a smaller version. A lot of what you say about retail rings true to both places.
I think I went into the spoons for lunch, and it had a nice outdoor area. The castle was closed. But I had a nice wander, mostly of the charity shops.
It’s not Pembrokeshire, but when I went to Cardigan, a similar sized town with a similar local function I thought it had a lot more going for it. But hard to judge from one visit.
I did think, from my visits to the area, that HFW was probably a great place to live if you can embrace what the outdoors has to offer, and of course if there’s suitable. But I can see it also being very boring for ages 15-25 if you’re not a keen surfer / kayaker / whatever and a lot of folk must leave after school and not come back to live there for a few decades if at all.
I think I went into the spoons for lunch, and it had a nice outdoor area. The castle was closed. But I had a nice wander, mostly of the charity shops.
It’s not Pembrokeshire, but when I went to Cardigan, a similar sized town with a similar local function I thought it had a lot more going for it. But hard to judge from one visit.
I did think, from my visits to the area, that HFW was probably a great place to live if you can embrace what the outdoors has to offer, and of course if there’s suitable. But I can see it also being very boring for ages 15-25 if you’re not a keen surfer / kayaker / whatever and a lot of folk must leave after school and not come back to live there for a few decades if at all.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
I first moved to Pembrokeshire in 2005, and Haverfordwest was, frankly, a bit of a hole. Market Street and the whole area around St Mary's Church was half-derelict, and the whole town had an air of decrepitude.
It's definitely improved, in parts, but I don't think that the expansion of the out-of-town shopping centres has helped the town much. Bridge Street clearly had been the main shopping drag, but the exodus of bigger shops had left it full of much lower-rent operations.
It's a shame, really - this is a beautiful corner of the country, but it has so little to offer those who live here if they aspire to much more than working in the hospital, or hospitality. Too many young people leave to go to university, and never come back - or, if they do, it's often because the culture shock of moving from a place like this to a city is often too much, and they bale out and return home early.
It's definitely improved, in parts, but I don't think that the expansion of the out-of-town shopping centres has helped the town much. Bridge Street clearly had been the main shopping drag, but the exodus of bigger shops had left it full of much lower-rent operations.
It's a shame, really - this is a beautiful corner of the country, but it has so little to offer those who live here if they aspire to much more than working in the hospital, or hospitality. Too many young people leave to go to university, and never come back - or, if they do, it's often because the culture shock of moving from a place like this to a city is often too much, and they bale out and return home early.
orient slacker
Well-Known Member
Funnily enough, just took the pup out for a walk in the town centre, and Haverfordwest was as busy as I’ve ever seen it. Loads had come out to watch the Xmas lights get switched on, and there were other street activities and stalls too. Every pub and eaterie I passed was rammed. Usually, even on a Saturday evening, it’s dead, so the traders will be happy for once.
Re youngsters leaving the area. My OH is typical. Left for Uni at 18, then to London, and only returned (rather reluctantly) to live here 40 years later because her mum needed care. Gripes from time to time that it’s socially conservative, homogeneous, and sometimes ranting it’s like ‘the third world’ - usually because some tradesperson has done the Pembrokeshire Promise thing and not bothered showing when due - missing Waitrose and all the cultural and multicultural melting pot stuff you get in the likes of that there London.
Me? I rather like it. But then I’m chilled these days, don’t need much to be content, and more of an anti-social curmudgeon these days….
Re youngsters leaving the area. My OH is typical. Left for Uni at 18, then to London, and only returned (rather reluctantly) to live here 40 years later because her mum needed care. Gripes from time to time that it’s socially conservative, homogeneous, and sometimes ranting it’s like ‘the third world’ - usually because some tradesperson has done the Pembrokeshire Promise thing and not bothered showing when due - missing Waitrose and all the cultural and multicultural melting pot stuff you get in the likes of that there London.
Me? I rather like it. But then I’m chilled these days, don’t need much to be content, and more of an anti-social curmudgeon these days….
Rebecca Riot
Well-Known Member
Ahh, the Pembrokeshire Promise.....it stretches out to Carmarthen as well!
When I first heard of it I asked a friend who lived in Saundersfoot what it meant and she said it's when a tradesperson says they'll come on Tuesday but they don't say which Tuesday.....it could be one in 6 months time! These days you'd be lucky if they turn up at all.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Also available as a flavour of ice cream - honeycomb, I think
Rebecca Riot
Well-Known Member
Sounds lovely...I'd try that!Also available as a flavour of ice cream - honeycomb, I think
Just out of interest, are you hearing all the bangs from Pendine for the last few days? It sounds like someone slamming a very heavy door every few minutes on our side of the bay!
orient slacker
Well-Known Member
I was down at Pendine with the dog in the week. It’s a strange place.
Should be lovely with that 6 mile beach, but with the out of bounds MOD firing range cutting the shore off (and indeed closing most of the beach when operational), and possibly the ugliest huge caravan park behind it’s not my favourite spot. Probably didn’t help my mood that I drove there in fine weather, only to get a soaking from a heavy shower coming off the sea the moment I stepped out of the car.
Should be lovely with that 6 mile beach, but with the out of bounds MOD firing range cutting the shore off (and indeed closing most of the beach when operational), and possibly the ugliest huge caravan park behind it’s not my favourite spot. Probably didn’t help my mood that I drove there in fine weather, only to get a soaking from a heavy shower coming off the sea the moment I stepped out of the car.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Yes! It's quite alarming...
Rebecca Riot
Well-Known Member
It's not my favourite place either and that Parkdene caravan park is soulless....you'd have to pay me to stay there!
Before the firing range was taken over by a private company on behalf of the MOD there use to be dozens and dozens of pre-fab houses where people working on the range lived. I haven't been there for so long I don't know if they're still there.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
That'd be Llanmeilo, and yes, it's still there, albeit with additional development.
Rebecca Riot
Well-Known Member
We're also getting a lot of Hercules planes flying over the house recently and I've been told that they're practicing landing on the sand in Pendine.
What with that and the helicopters in Pembrey practicing firing at things on the ground it feels like a war zone some days!
Rebecca Riot
Well-Known Member
Yes, Llanmeilo estate. You've just jogged my memory!
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Someone's just a house built up there, and the whole thing is made from cast concrete. I remember chatting to one of the contractors who was building it. Very strange, it was the sort of construction you might use for a nuclear bunker, or something...
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