Pembrokeshire Coast

Start Date - Sunday 26th May 2013

Full photo album here.

The intention was to visit Tenby and the surrounding area, so setting off from Warwickshire at 11:30  we landed at Stackpole Quay around 17:30, this is in no way a 6 hour journey, but stopping at other locations along the route and taking our time going down there made it much longer than most people would be happy with.

The reason we landed at Stackpole Quay  rather than Tenby was my driver was too busy telling his girlfriend a rather protracted joke about a zoo keeper, and totally missed the small sign showing the left hand turn to Tenby town centre. If you want to read the joke it you can find it here...

Stackpole Quay

Anyway, Stackpole Quay is a National Trust site, which is handy as I have a NT parking sticker in my front windscreen. J

Apart from the car park, the other things at the quay are toilets and a tearoom selling hot food. My driver and his girlfriend sat at on the edge of some rocks enjoying their drinks from a rather smart looking teaset. They watched a man and woman snorkelling in the bay, before setting off up some steps to the right which lead to the cliff tops.  At the top, the view over the Bristol Channel was amazing, a small fishing boat could be seen anchored about half a mile offshore and as the weather was sunny, visibility was excellent in all directions. My driver asked a local fisherman if he knew where the “hidden chapel” was, and was told that it was on St Govan’s Head, the fisherman then went on to explain about other places nearby, detailing Barafundle Bay and some lily ponds.

A person snorkeling in the bay

The “hidden chapel” was something my driver remember from watching an old episode of BBC Coast a number of years ago.  You can read more about the chapel further down this page…

My driver was told that Barafundle Bay was only about 10 minutes walk away, and as the weather was good he and his girlfriend went for a walk across the cliff tops, following the very well defined path.  Once they got to the end of the path, they found a spectacular sight which you can only imagine from the picture below...

Barafundle Bay

In the picture you can see an archway through which are steps down to the beautiful sandy beach you can see in the background.  To the left of the archway is a natural stone wall however this does not continue across the whole of the picture as you may believe it does, instead everything from the footpath and dropping down the cliff appears to be natural rock which has formed of it’s own accord.

Walking down the steps, there was a group of about 20 young asian males all playing football on the beach and in the sea. Between them they had carried a large cooking pot, a fire pit, charcoal, metal kebab skewers, folding table and chairs and enough ingredients for about 3 shish kebabs each. Wanting to walk barefoot on the beach with his girlfriend, my driver asked the group of lads if he could leave both sets of shoes with them so they were not taken by someone who may think they had been abandoned.  The group happily agreed and the two set off along the short beach.

Because British weather has been awful for the last 3 years, the water was incredibly cold. Paddling could only be done for a few seconds and only up to the ankles, in fact the small minority of the Asian males out of the group who had ventured in to the sea, had quickly realised their mistake and hurried back to their friends to get dry as soon as possible.

After the brief paddle, my driver and his girlfriend went up to the other end of the beach and found some steps at the base of the rocks you can see in the picture.  Walking up the steps and through the bushes was unexpectedly easy considering they both still had bare feet. At the top there was an equally stunning view as the one seen from near the tearoom. They sat and chatted to each other for a while before noticing that there were a lot of fishermen coming and going to the cliff edges. Clearly with the amount of people both on the shoreline and in the boat in the bay, this was a good fishing spot.

As it was now approaching 7.30 the two of them decided to come back down from the cliff, and walk back across the beach to go find somewhere to eat. They collected their shoes from the group who were now cooking shish kebabs on the fire pit, and carried on back along the route they had travelled earlier. The smell of the food made them more hungry so their pace was quicker on the way back, but this was briefly interrupted by visiting another small cove they had walked past earlier.  Looking down on to this cove show a sheer drop in to the sea and what appeared to be sea caves at the base of the cliffs.

When they finally made it back to the car park, I warmed them up and took them further round the coast to St Govan’s Head Inn.  Here the signs for the lily ponds can be found, they made a note of this and decided to come back the next day when it was light.  Food at the inn was okay, my driver had turkey cawl for starter followed by steak with garlic potatoes and his girlfriend had garlic mushrooms followed by hake with the same potatoes. Judging by how popular the place was and how long they had to wait for food, it did not reach expectations.  Staff were very friendly though and the half a pint of local ale my driver drank was said to be pretty decent.

Once they finished their food it was 10:30 so they travelled towards where they were going to bed down for the night. This is when they came across “Freshwater West”, it appears to be a popular place with lots of campervans there, most of which had surfboards on top. Before bedding down for the night, they took a drive to the top of the hill and the sight of Pembrokeshire docks at night is something to behold, but nowhere near as much as the large orange moon on the horizon on the way back down. Laying flat my new Mazda Bongo seats which have just been fitted they both fell soundly to sleep.

Pembroke Docks at Night

At 7:00 the next morning they were awake, and saddened to see the weather had changed overnight, it was raining quite heavily and the wind had picked up. This meant that the walk on the beach they had enjoyed the evening before could not be mimicked on the beach they had parked next to.

A quick look at the map, and a plan had been devised…

Firstly there was a trip to Haverford West to get me some more diesel, then drop down to Dale and explore Watwick Bay, however when they got there the wind made it far too dangerous to walk along cliff edges, so they made a cup of tea in the back of me and thought about where to go from there.  Within a few minutes it was decided that St Govan’s Chapel and the lily ponds would be the best option, so they set off for them.

Before we travelled too far, we stopped at Dale to see if the local shop/café/giftshop type thingy sold OS maps, which they didn’t. So whilst en route to St Govan’s my driver done his usual thing of venturing off to see what was at the end of a road.  He saw signs for “Monk Haven”, and as it was only 1 mile away decided he would take the route and see what it lead to.  At the end of the road was the car park for St Ishmael’s Church, parking here the church was clearly visible, the graveyard next to it though somewhat overgrown and had quite a “spooky” look to it.

The overgrown graveyard.

The two of them got out and took a walk along the side of the church where the path split, with choices of straight on or left along the side of the church.  They decided to continue straight on and pretty soon found themselves following an 8 foot tall natural stone wall which generated curiousity about what was on the other side?

When the wall came to an end, it turned a corner and disappeared off in to the wooded area, my driver and his girlfriend continued straigh along the path for a few hundred meters.  They then found a fortified red sandstone wall, in the middle of which was a small opening which clearly used to be an entrance in to what we imagine would have been a grand area, that being the woodland we have just walked through.

The entrance from the bay to the woodland

You'll see in the photo that the path goes left and right at this entrance, my driver and his girlfriend came from the left and continued round up the path expecting it to take them in a circular route back to the church and eventually to where I was parked.  However things got a little messy here on in.  Although both of them enjoy the outdoor life, neither was particularly dressed for the weather and environment, after all it was just a leisurely stroll through the woods, wasn't it?

Well the path became less and less defined, and as a result they both had to trek along what they thought was a path at some stage.  In the woodland they found some planted bamboo, clearly showing this place would have been quite important in a previous life, this notion was reinforced by a collapsed footbridge across the small river running through the woodland.

Trekking even further in to the undergrowth they were forced to scale a small hill so as to circumnavigate peat bogs and marshy ground.  Whilst at the top of the hill they came across what they both believe to be the ruins of a monastery, no photographs could be taken of the outside of this because the forest was too dense and the heavy rain made it too risky for any sort of camera-phone to be used.

Working their way along another high wall they both come back down to the river where they were able to amble across and out of the wooded area, only to be in denser foliage! It was waist high and their jeans were now sodden.  This wall would have bought them out on the the same path they were on earlier as this was were the wall had turned away from the path...
However as the foliage was so thick and wet, when they found a gap in the wall which was previously a gateway, they entered and found themselves in a clearing which had tractor marks on the ground.  Following these tracks they came out in a private residential garden where the householder was sitting in his lounge reading a book. At the end of the garden was the path which lead back down the the St Ishmael's Church.

St Ishmael's Church

Along with it's leaning bell tower.

This was a fantastic little church which is clearly still being used to this day, it is surrounded by a well kept garden with the overgrown graveyard as you enter the porchway there is a sign telling you the church is open and inviting you in for warmth and comfort, the porchway also serves as a "bookshop" where you can help yourself to the moderately sized collection of books and make a donation in the honesty box. Inside is a visitor's book, which was signed on my behalf... and some very fascinating architecture.

Bertie was 'ere!

After leaving St Ishsmael's we travelled back towards St Govan's head, stopping off at Milford Haven for a short break and so my driver and his girlfriend could have some food. The new Bongo seats really came in to their own here, allowing both of them to sit whilst boiling the kettle, brewing up and making sandwiches. Something of note here... my driver has a collection of maps, some old some new, the new ones said there was a ford between Sandy Haven and Hebrandston, this ford does NOT exist whether the tide is in or out!

After lunch we continued back to St Govan's Head, pretty much along the route we had taken the night before.  This time we turned left towards the lily ponds, and once in the car park found it was only a short stroll down to where they started.  At first they don't look like anything special, and there is an option to walk around either side to get to the beach at Broad Haven.  The two of the didn't reach the beach as it was way too windy and wet to enjoy it, however the lily ponds themselves were magnificent. A couple of nesting herons were perched quite proudly on separate trees.

One of the "proud" herons.

It was obvious why the lily ponds got their name, apparently this lake was created by the Victorians damming further down the stream.  It was then used by the landed gentry from Stackpole Court as a place to sit on a row boat. There are no row boats on the lake now, but the dams and bridges are wonderfully preserved.  The lily ponds are now more like a wildlife reservation, at one point a family of swans could be seen swimming happily, mom and dad with their three little 'uns.

My two went in a circular route around the whole lake, when they got back they were again both sodden and had to try and prevent my seats getting wet. A short trip up further along the coast took us across some MOD land (keep out when the red flags are flying) where they discovered the hidden chapel my driver had asked the fishermen about the previous day. This chapel was originally built in the 14th century and is now quite obviously well visited because there is room for about 4 coaches to park, separate to the rather large car park! 

To approach the chapel from the car park is a simple stroll down some steps which bring you to the back at roof level, the steps then take a right turn and drop in to the chapel via a hidden doorway.  One inside there is a single room with a small chamber at the rear which doesn't really go anywhere and another door which leads out the front of the chapel and allows access down to the sea.  My two wandered off down to a rock arch to watch the waves crashing through it, only to realise the tide was coming in fast and they were in somewhat of a precarious place.

St Govan's Chapel

The sea was incredibly fierce and and the waves were crashing against the shore with some force. It was easy to see how the coastline of Britain was eroding away from the might of Mother Nature.  Both of them came back up through the chapel and on to the cliff top near the car park.  Here there was a sectioned off area to stop people from walking on the rare green winged orchids which were growing naturally. A quick read of the signs revealed another place worth visiting a few hundred meters along the coast was Huntsman's Leap, apparently so name because a fleeing huntsman jumped the chasm and when he looked back at what was below him, he collapsed and died of shock.

Huntsman's Leap

This was the last of the "sightseeing" bit of the trip, they both piled back in the their seats before setting off for one last stop...
Tenby!! Yes they finally got there, they spent more time trying to find somewhere to park than they did looking round, but did following a friends recommendation to visit The Plantagenet, this was a fantastic little restaurant but because the only dry clothes they both had left was teeshirts and tracky bottoms, they stayed away from the restaurant bit choosing to have a drink in the Quay Inn instead.  This is the same place, but is downstairs to the restaurant, or next door, depending on how you view the higgledy piggledy style of seaside town buildings!  The Quay Inn did make an interesting feature out of some of it's architecture though ;-)

The Quay Inn's face and boob feature?

From here it was a slow drive home.  

If you enjoyed reading about this little adventure please make a comment below. 

Thanks and remember...
One life... Live it! - Bertie.
For more photos please click here...