Place: Carreg Cennen Castle Black Mountain, Dolaucothi Gold mines, home
Weather: Sunshine and showers
Sarah and Andy had lef to drive home last night and so Simon and I cleared the cottage and set out at 8.45am. The first place we visited on the way home was Carreg Cennen Castle near Ffairfach on the Black Mountain. The castle was perched on top of a craggy hilltop, the stone walls almost merging with the rocks on which they stood. There were fantastic 360 degree views toward the Black Mountain, which looked even blacker with the thundery clouds overhead and down through the valley where you could see the wall of rain moving towards us.
A vaulted paasageway led down into the hill and to a cave. We began walking into it by the light of SImon's camera flash and a very poor torch. It went on and on, it was only when I turned round to see how far we'd come to look at pure darkness, no natural light at all, that I realised how far we'd gone and still it went on. We turned round and came out at that point.
We got soaked walking back down the hill and so I changed my trousers when we got back to the car. Not much further north are the Dolaucothi Gold mines. These possibly date back as far as the Bronze Age, some mines are definitely Roman, VIctorian and some dated from the 1930s.
We had a excellent tour over the landscape (which is also a SSSI with red squirells, barn owls, etc) and through the mines. Apparently, Jason and the golden fleece myth came from gold minng; fleece was used to collect the tiny and heavy fragments of gold! I thought that was fascinating.
We had a go at gold panning, but only found Fool's Gold. Never mind, we'll have to find another way of making our fortunes.
The drive home was tiring but we were back in time for tea. We've had an excellent holiday despite the weather and I think my lasting impression of Pembrokeshire (excluding the rain which certainly left a deep impression) will be hedgerows and cliffs full to bursting with wild flowers of all colours. Fantastic.
Saturday, 25 May 2002
Friday, 24 May 2002
Friday 24th May 2002
Place: Solva, St David, Newgale
Weather: Sunny and very, very windy
On the way to Solva we stopped off at Newgale and watched the wind and waves. Two men were having a kitesurfing lesson but the small kite didn't stay up for long before it plunged into the sea.
Solva had a few nice shops but it didn't take long before we'd walked round all four of them. I bought Mum and Dad some clear Pembrokeshire honey as a holiday present. We stood for a while, angled into the wind, to look at the gorgeous harbour and half ruined lime kilns but even still the wind would knock us off our feet.
Onwards to St Davids city. We bought some books in the National Trust shop and had jumbo battered sausage and chips for dinner. We finished walking round and drove back to NEwgale. There we sat and watched the white, churned up sea and the spray continuously getting flung over us until we could barely see out the front windscreen for dried on salt. SImon slept for a little while and I read a bit of 'The Organic MEat Cookbook'.
I was disappointed to hear our boat trip has been cancelled due to the high winds. I Hope I will be able to go on it one day.
Simon has promised to carve me his own version of a love spoon.
To finish off the day, we drove down to Broad Haven, walked along the beach and photographed the sunset.
Weather: Sunny and very, very windy
On the way to Solva we stopped off at Newgale and watched the wind and waves. Two men were having a kitesurfing lesson but the small kite didn't stay up for long before it plunged into the sea.
Solva had a few nice shops but it didn't take long before we'd walked round all four of them. I bought Mum and Dad some clear Pembrokeshire honey as a holiday present. We stood for a while, angled into the wind, to look at the gorgeous harbour and half ruined lime kilns but even still the wind would knock us off our feet.
Onwards to St Davids city. We bought some books in the National Trust shop and had jumbo battered sausage and chips for dinner. We finished walking round and drove back to NEwgale. There we sat and watched the white, churned up sea and the spray continuously getting flung over us until we could barely see out the front windscreen for dried on salt. SImon slept for a little while and I read a bit of 'The Organic MEat Cookbook'.
I was disappointed to hear our boat trip has been cancelled due to the high winds. I Hope I will be able to go on it one day.
Simon has promised to carve me his own version of a love spoon.
To finish off the day, we drove down to Broad Haven, walked along the beach and photographed the sunset.
Thursday, 23 May 2002
Thursday 23rd May 2002
Place: Carew Castle & Tidal Mill, Tenby, Manorbier Castle
Weather: Sunshine! (and a few clouds)
What a beautiful day! It's been sunny and warm all day with the only rain coming in late evening.
All four of us went to Carew Castle. It was an excellent castle and you could easily see the different stages of development, starting with the rows of ditches outside the castle through to the Elizabethan additions of ranges and galleries. Quite a lot is intact and we walked up the towers, through a chapel and a guard room. There was a group of children dressed up in Medieval clothing doing a play in the Great Hall.
Through the windows of the castle you culd see a tidal mill downstream with a dam running the width of the river. In the tidal mill, we watched a slide show and then walked round the machinery. Carew tidal mill is one of only three to be fully restored and it was amazing to see all the machinery leading from one floor to another, and there were four floors.
The plan was to now go to Manorbier Castle and then on to Tenby to catch the coat to Caldey Island for the afternoon but by the time we left the tidal mill, about midday, we decided to go straight to Tenby because we would not have enough time on Caldey Island. Unfortunately, there were no boat trips today we found out at Tenby. We had lunch overlooking Tenby beach and afterwards had a walk along the sand and around the town. I had a quick look at the Merchant's House before we moved on to Manorbier Castle.
This was another excellent castle with towers and rooms to walk around. It was sunny and sheltered in the courtyard gardne and the lawn was speckled with daises. It was lovely to just sit and relax. Afterwards, we went and sat on the beach before picking up an Indian Curry tea from Tesco at HAverfordwest. Before eating, though, we went to Newgale to watch Andy surf.
It was too good to expect the weather to hold out much longer and the rain and winds came in the evening but at least we had an amazing day.
Weather: Sunshine! (and a few clouds)
What a beautiful day! It's been sunny and warm all day with the only rain coming in late evening.
All four of us went to Carew Castle. It was an excellent castle and you could easily see the different stages of development, starting with the rows of ditches outside the castle through to the Elizabethan additions of ranges and galleries. Quite a lot is intact and we walked up the towers, through a chapel and a guard room. There was a group of children dressed up in Medieval clothing doing a play in the Great Hall.
Through the windows of the castle you culd see a tidal mill downstream with a dam running the width of the river. In the tidal mill, we watched a slide show and then walked round the machinery. Carew tidal mill is one of only three to be fully restored and it was amazing to see all the machinery leading from one floor to another, and there were four floors.
The plan was to now go to Manorbier Castle and then on to Tenby to catch the coat to Caldey Island for the afternoon but by the time we left the tidal mill, about midday, we decided to go straight to Tenby because we would not have enough time on Caldey Island. Unfortunately, there were no boat trips today we found out at Tenby. We had lunch overlooking Tenby beach and afterwards had a walk along the sand and around the town. I had a quick look at the Merchant's House before we moved on to Manorbier Castle.
This was another excellent castle with towers and rooms to walk around. It was sunny and sheltered in the courtyard gardne and the lawn was speckled with daises. It was lovely to just sit and relax. Afterwards, we went and sat on the beach before picking up an Indian Curry tea from Tesco at HAverfordwest. Before eating, though, we went to Newgale to watch Andy surf.
It was too good to expect the weather to hold out much longer and the rain and winds came in the evening but at least we had an amazing day.
Wednesday, 22 May 2002
Wednesday 22nd May 2002
Places: Newport (in Preseli Hills), Abereidy
Weather: Heavy rain with occasional dry patches
Simon and I were determined to go for a walk and so we parked by the sea in Newport, planning to walk up to Carn Ffoi and across to Carn Ingli and back down to Newport. The walk started quite promisingly with some spectacular views across Newport, the headlands and the sea but once we got out onto the exposed hills the rain came. Within a few minutes our legs were wet through so you could see our skin through the trousers. We persisted and saw the sleeping giant of Carn Ffoi, led on his side resting, but the views had almost totally been replaced with grey shifting waves of rain moving through the valley and over the hill. We decided to cut the walk short and make our way back down the hill, but as we did Carn Ingli, the sleeping goddess, came into view. She looked magnificent, led on her back, we had planned to walk from her head to her feet. We carried on down through a green lane that was so overgrown with gorse we were bent double just to push our way through.
Luckily, we'd brought a change of clothes with us except I had to dry my socks out on the car heaters. The rest of the day was a mixture between dry, cloudy skies, heavy bursts of rain and very occassionally for short periods of time, sunshine.
After eating our lunch in the car overlooking the sea we drove east to Abereidy. We watched the sea come crashing in and then wandered round to the Blue Lagoon, a flooded slate quarry. There are the ruins of a whole industry and community here.
After tea, which consisted of chicken pie and crinckly chips and gravy, all four of us drove to Newgale and messed about for an hour on the beach looking in caves and at waterfalls. Simon took some photographs of the sunset which was bright and golden.
Weather: Heavy rain with occasional dry patches
Simon and I were determined to go for a walk and so we parked by the sea in Newport, planning to walk up to Carn Ffoi and across to Carn Ingli and back down to Newport. The walk started quite promisingly with some spectacular views across Newport, the headlands and the sea but once we got out onto the exposed hills the rain came. Within a few minutes our legs were wet through so you could see our skin through the trousers. We persisted and saw the sleeping giant of Carn Ffoi, led on his side resting, but the views had almost totally been replaced with grey shifting waves of rain moving through the valley and over the hill. We decided to cut the walk short and make our way back down the hill, but as we did Carn Ingli, the sleeping goddess, came into view. She looked magnificent, led on her back, we had planned to walk from her head to her feet. We carried on down through a green lane that was so overgrown with gorse we were bent double just to push our way through.
Luckily, we'd brought a change of clothes with us except I had to dry my socks out on the car heaters. The rest of the day was a mixture between dry, cloudy skies, heavy bursts of rain and very occassionally for short periods of time, sunshine.
After eating our lunch in the car overlooking the sea we drove east to Abereidy. We watched the sea come crashing in and then wandered round to the Blue Lagoon, a flooded slate quarry. There are the ruins of a whole industry and community here.
After tea, which consisted of chicken pie and crinckly chips and gravy, all four of us drove to Newgale and messed about for an hour on the beach looking in caves and at waterfalls. Simon took some photographs of the sunset which was bright and golden.
Tuesday, 21 May 2002
Tuesday 21st May 2002
Place: Matin's Haven, Milford Haven, Haverfordwest
Weather: heavy, heavy rain
So many mornings I've woken up to sunshine, but the usual rain doesn't take long to settle in, and it is always horizontal here. Sarah & Andy went surfing, at least it doesn't matter is it's wet for them.
Simon and I drove southwards through Broad Haven and Little Haven to Marloes and on to MArtin's Haven. We had a walk down to the jetty where we would be embarking on a 'Seabird Spectacular' boat trip round Skomer Island on Friday night, it the weather improves. It does not look hopeful. Without waterproof trousers, however, it is not much fun walking and getting wet so we returned to the car to rethink today's activities.
We drove through the lanes to Milford Haven and were surprised at how little there was there. We went to Tesco for dinner. We saw oil refineries; lots of tall, thin chimneys with flames flapping about on top in the wind and rain.
Onwards to HAverfordwest to look at the castle which sadly was just a shell housing a former prison (now the County Offices) and a former prisoners office (now the museum) and it was in the latter we discovered a gem that saved our afternoon. The museum only cost £1 to enter and consisted of 6 small rooms but was full of old photographs of the town and small & large artefacts, including tokens used instead of rare coins in the civil war, old cash registers, churners and so on. There was an interesting story about a cottage in Cuckoo Lane. In 1811, a man was hung for poisoning his two wives with arsenic who lived in the cottage. Excatly one hundred years later, in 1911, in the same cottage a man put a stick of dynamite under his wife's and child's bed and lit it. He blew his wife, child and cottage apart and he himself received fatal injuries because he didn't plan enough time to escape. I don't think he could've been the sharpest tool in the box.
The museum was excellent and afterwards we returned home for chilli con carne and two games of Harry Potter. Since the rain always stops for the night (to restart in the mornings) we went and played football in the failing light on the beach.
Weather: heavy, heavy rain
So many mornings I've woken up to sunshine, but the usual rain doesn't take long to settle in, and it is always horizontal here. Sarah & Andy went surfing, at least it doesn't matter is it's wet for them.
Simon and I drove southwards through Broad Haven and Little Haven to Marloes and on to MArtin's Haven. We had a walk down to the jetty where we would be embarking on a 'Seabird Spectacular' boat trip round Skomer Island on Friday night, it the weather improves. It does not look hopeful. Without waterproof trousers, however, it is not much fun walking and getting wet so we returned to the car to rethink today's activities.
We drove through the lanes to Milford Haven and were surprised at how little there was there. We went to Tesco for dinner. We saw oil refineries; lots of tall, thin chimneys with flames flapping about on top in the wind and rain.
Onwards to HAverfordwest to look at the castle which sadly was just a shell housing a former prison (now the County Offices) and a former prisoners office (now the museum) and it was in the latter we discovered a gem that saved our afternoon. The museum only cost £1 to enter and consisted of 6 small rooms but was full of old photographs of the town and small & large artefacts, including tokens used instead of rare coins in the civil war, old cash registers, churners and so on. There was an interesting story about a cottage in Cuckoo Lane. In 1811, a man was hung for poisoning his two wives with arsenic who lived in the cottage. Excatly one hundred years later, in 1911, in the same cottage a man put a stick of dynamite under his wife's and child's bed and lit it. He blew his wife, child and cottage apart and he himself received fatal injuries because he didn't plan enough time to escape. I don't think he could've been the sharpest tool in the box.
The museum was excellent and afterwards we returned home for chilli con carne and two games of Harry Potter. Since the rain always stops for the night (to restart in the mornings) we went and played football in the failing light on the beach.
Monday, 20 May 2002
Monday 20th May 2002
Place: Ramsey Sound, St Davids
Weather: heavy rain and gale force winds (at least it felt like it!)
Simon and I went for a 5 1/2 mile walk around the coastal path round Ramsey Sound. It was so windy my cheeks were inflating when I breathed, and the rain lashed so hard against us it hurt our skin. At some points along the path the wind just blew me over & Simon had to hold me down.
We saw oystercatchers mobbing a very pale buzzard that kept flying about the cliff, 2 gannets that flew so close to the sea their wings almost skimmed the water, stone chats and a shag.
Between Ramsy Island and the mainland is a narrow stretch of sea and you could see the tide racing in, creating rolls of undulating water. The wind would keep blowing the spray up over the cliff.
We were tired and hungry by the time we met Sarah & Andy in St Davids who had been surfing. We went to a fish and chip shop for dinner and had a look around the smalled city. Afterwards we walked past the cathedral and ruins of the Bishops Palace back to the car and drove on to Whitesands Bay to watch the surf.
After stocking up on provisions from Tesco in Haverfordwest, Andy cooked us stew for tea. We went down to the cove after tea; Sarah & Simon took photos of Andy skateboarding down the hill and through the water at the bottom. I went down to the seas edge to see if I could see a bit of blue sky. It struck me that the sea and the waves looked much higher than me and as a wave came in I realised it wasn't going to stop and I had to run back up the beach being raced by the sea. When I looked back, where I had been stood next to a rock with some oystercatchers stood on, it must have been a foot under water. I had very wet feet.
Simon & I drove up the road to a viewing place and watched a sunset of golden slivers amongst banks of dark clouds, then we went home and played Jenga with a glass of wine.
Weather: heavy rain and gale force winds (at least it felt like it!)
Simon and I went for a 5 1/2 mile walk around the coastal path round Ramsey Sound. It was so windy my cheeks were inflating when I breathed, and the rain lashed so hard against us it hurt our skin. At some points along the path the wind just blew me over & Simon had to hold me down.
We saw oystercatchers mobbing a very pale buzzard that kept flying about the cliff, 2 gannets that flew so close to the sea their wings almost skimmed the water, stone chats and a shag.
Between Ramsy Island and the mainland is a narrow stretch of sea and you could see the tide racing in, creating rolls of undulating water. The wind would keep blowing the spray up over the cliff.
We were tired and hungry by the time we met Sarah & Andy in St Davids who had been surfing. We went to a fish and chip shop for dinner and had a look around the smalled city. Afterwards we walked past the cathedral and ruins of the Bishops Palace back to the car and drove on to Whitesands Bay to watch the surf.
After stocking up on provisions from Tesco in Haverfordwest, Andy cooked us stew for tea. We went down to the cove after tea; Sarah & Simon took photos of Andy skateboarding down the hill and through the water at the bottom. I went down to the seas edge to see if I could see a bit of blue sky. It struck me that the sea and the waves looked much higher than me and as a wave came in I realised it wasn't going to stop and I had to run back up the beach being raced by the sea. When I looked back, where I had been stood next to a rock with some oystercatchers stood on, it must have been a foot under water. I had very wet feet.
Simon & I drove up the road to a viewing place and watched a sunset of golden slivers amongst banks of dark clouds, then we went home and played Jenga with a glass of wine.
Sunday, 19 May 2002
Sunday 19th May 2002
Destination: Madoc's Haven, Wiston Castle, Llawhaden Castle, Swansea
Weather: Dry, mainly cloudy, evening rain
The cottage is well situated, being only a few metres from the coastal path and so Simon and I made the most of the dry morning and walked south to Madoc's Haven. We saw a Raven and stone chats along the way. The tide was in covering the sand so we sat on the pebbles before walking back to the cottage down the lane.
Sarah & Andy had been to visit tourist information in Haverfordwest in order to find a suitable cinema showing Star Wars. We decided on the 8 o'clock showing at Swansea.
We though we could drive to Swansea, visiting cstales along the way and so we went to Wiston Castle, Llawhaden Castle and Camarthen Castle (there was nothing left of the latter castle, I think we'd been thinking of Caernafon Castle in the north). We still arrived at Swansea at 4.30pm with little to do escept look around Toys R Us and eat Pizza. Sarah & I took on the chocolate challenge but it defeated even us.
We managed somehow to kill the time until 8.00pm and watched Star Wars. It was good, but not outstanding and I think it should've been outstanding. At least we've seen it now and can get on with the rest of our holiday.
Weather: Dry, mainly cloudy, evening rain
The cottage is well situated, being only a few metres from the coastal path and so Simon and I made the most of the dry morning and walked south to Madoc's Haven. We saw a Raven and stone chats along the way. The tide was in covering the sand so we sat on the pebbles before walking back to the cottage down the lane.
Sarah & Andy had been to visit tourist information in Haverfordwest in order to find a suitable cinema showing Star Wars. We decided on the 8 o'clock showing at Swansea.
We though we could drive to Swansea, visiting cstales along the way and so we went to Wiston Castle, Llawhaden Castle and Camarthen Castle (there was nothing left of the latter castle, I think we'd been thinking of Caernafon Castle in the north). We still arrived at Swansea at 4.30pm with little to do escept look around Toys R Us and eat Pizza. Sarah & I took on the chocolate challenge but it defeated even us.
We managed somehow to kill the time until 8.00pm and watched Star Wars. It was good, but not outstanding and I think it should've been outstanding. At least we've seen it now and can get on with the rest of our holiday.
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