Carmarthenshire & Pembrokeshire

[existentialist]

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!

Yeah, they often come over the estuary at "wavetop" level - I don't think they actually land, it's more of a touch-and-go thing.

Last summer, we had a Chinook come over at good-as zero feet, apparently they circled the school field and waved at the kids before heading your way, still all hanging out of the rear ramp. Sadly, by the time I'd got my camera up for a shot, it looked miniscule.

We get quite a lot of very high-level military aircraft stuff going on when they're doing exercises over by Castlemartin, too. It's all go in this rural backwater!

 

[Rebecca Riot]

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...

Perhaps it's for the boss of QinetiQ and he knows something we don't!

 

[orient slacker]

We decided to swerve the NYE street party/fireworks in Fishguard due to strong winds and rain, but I did take the pup for a stroll along the Marine Walk (a tarmac cliff path facing Goodwick and the ferry) and through the town on NYD when things improved.

They’ve put a new seahorse sculpture up outside the closed (and for sale at a bargain £750k! - would make a great OAP commune) St Teresa Rest Home. Never seen a seahorse in British waters but apparently they are around in the harbour. And then in town there was no sign of the previous evening’s revelry: somebody did a good tidy up job.

I like Fishguard & Goodwick. Got a good feel to the place.

 

[orient slacker]

Had a wander with the pup around Milford Haven yesterday. It was brass monkeys cold, but at least it was dry and bright. The old main shopping drag (Charles Street) isn’t up to much these days, but they’ve done a good job converting the old docks into a marina with some flats , boutique shops, bars and cafes, and then there’s the Torch Theatre which is the best Arts Centre/Cinema in Pembrokeshire.

On the esplanade overlooking the Haven - and directly opposite the Valero Oil Refinery with its cast of ever-unloading tankers on the Pembroke side - is a pleasant road called The Rath, where there are a few sculptures of interest. The ones in the photo below are dedicated to the old local fishing industry workers (it was one of the biggest fleets in the UK) and the Oil Industry workers - specifically as a memorial for those who lost their lives on the job. The marina can be spotted in the background.