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.