It was to be a time for stepping back into industrial history and some sunny surprises as my wife, Jenny, and I strolled down wooded Pleasant Valley to reach the shining sea at Wiseman’s Bridge on the first morning of our Pembrokeshire holiday.
For our comfortable lodge on the nearby Heritage Park was just a stone’s throw from the impressive ruins of an extensive ironworks and our way was along the old coal- carrying railway linking the works with a dock at the small seaside resort of Saundersfoot.
Now followed a big surprise because completely unplanned, we had coincided the first day of our autumn holiday with the famous annual Welsh Ironman challenge, said to be one of the toughest in the world.
And while we were just waking up on that sunny Sunday morning, some 2,700 men and women athletes were plunging into the chilly waters for a two-and-a-half-mile swim around nearby Tenby’s sheltered North Bay.
Then ahead of them lay a 112-mile bike ride around the rolling Pembrokeshire countryside, followed by a 26.2 mile run back around Tenby.
So, by the time we reached the sea at Wiseman’s Bridge, the leaders of the pack were already flashing past and we had to be escorted across the road by a race marshal.
Now we had planned to continue along the coastal path through three tunnels and into Saundersfoot. But Lady Luck was still smiling, because the tide was out as far as it could be, leaving a vast expanse of sand and rocks and the way clear for a mile’s shining and shimmering walk beside the sea and an impromptu picnic in a sheltered spot.
The wild cheers of hundreds of people gathered to watch the race reached our ears long before we climbed the slipway onto the packed promenade.
Drawn in lemming-like by the carnival atmosphere, we crossed the road to an inn, having spotted two empty spaces on a bench and got chatting to Maria and Paul Griffiths from near Ammanford, only to learn quite by chance that she and Jenny both had the same birthdays!
Then we completed our day with a high-level walk back along the path to Wisemans Bridge with fabulous views across the open sea, before retracing our steps along Pleasant Valley.
Meanwhile GB”s Lewis Eccleston had already become Wales Ironman champion in a time of nine hours, thirty-four minutes and two seconds, before we’d even got home for tea.
It only took us some 35 minutes the following morning to drive beyond Tenby and down narrow lanes to historic Stackpool Quay, one of the smallest docks in the whole of Pembrokeshire.
Here the National Trust have a car park, visitors’ centre and cafe and it marks the start of what must be one of the most spectacular inland and coastal round-trip walks in the region.
With one of the trust’s easy to follow self-guided leaflets in hand, we set out on a 20-minute walk across open country to Eight Arch Bridge, spanning a serene, wooded lake.
Here we turned left and followed it along a shady footpath towards the sea, past the famous Bosherston lily ponds and then up onto a headland overlooking the wide expanse of Broadhaven South Bay.
Now we stopped for a picnic lunch before continuing on around a series of spectacular headlands to eventually drop down for a sunbathe on the soft, white sandy beach in quiet Barafundle Bay.
“What’s a swan doing out there? Surely that can’t be right!” exclaimed Jenny, while sweeping the bay through her binoculars.
But a quick Google search revealed that it was not uncommon for mute swans to take to the sea near their traditional freshwater environments
That was because their salt glands can process saltwater allowing them to drink and maintain hydration and their powerful leg muscles enable strong swimming.
From Barafundle it was now a short early afternoon stroll back to Stackpole Quay, where we indulged ourselves with large slices of carrot cake in the National Trust cafe.
The following morning we drove for 30 minutes across country to the picturesque small and bustling hillside market town of Narberth, a place with its artisan food shops, boutiques, art galleries and antique emporiums, simply not to be missed when touring this corner of Pembrokeshire.
The distinct three-storey tower-like town hall, dominating the bottom of the High Street, was built of local stone in 1833 as a lock-up and courthouse before becoming the council chamber and now a gift shop.
While the lock-up was used to incarcerate local farmers disguised as women during the Rebecca Riots against the rising cost of local toll roads, famous suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst addressed large crowds from its steps.
Now we headed for the coast at nearby Manorbier and toured its remarkably well- preserved 12th century Norman fortress overlooking a sheltered sandy bay and best known as the birthplace of medieval writer and clergyman Gerald of Wales.
After lunch in the castle, we hiked up and around the headland for some magnificent views before returning to the bay and bumping into Maggie, who spends hours collecting plastic and other rubbish drifting in on the tides.
She has become something of an expert on identifying her finds and her latest haul included a faded plastic tag, which she believed had been ripped off a lobster pot on the other side of the Atlantic around a decade ago.
“If you want to go out to Caldey Island, you pay at the platform-towing tractor on the Castle Beach” came the surprising instruction from a lady in a kiosk above Tenby’s picturesque harbour.
Caldey, some 20 minutes out by launch has a long spiritual history beginning with a Celtic monastery in the Fifth century and has been the island home to a small Cistercian community since the early 20th century.
A short woodland walk brought us to the heart of the community, a large green overlooked by the commanding Bavarian-style abbey and surrounded by a cafe and gift shop selling island-produced chocolate, shortbread and perfume.
There was certainly a calming air of serenity as we set out on a short walk across the island to the commanding 1829 Trinity House lighthouse.
From here we set out on a delightful hour’s grassy tracked walk around the island, first with distant views across to the North Devon coast and out to remote Lundy Island and then on around to the Pembrokeshire coast and across to Tenby.
It was while we were making our way back into the community that we met Franciscan Father Emanuel Mansford, who was going for a walk having just arrived on a week’s contemplative retreat.
He was there to recharge his batteries after a year helping his order the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, run a food bank and help the homeless in London’s Canning Town.
Emmanuel, originally from Bedford, who experienced his call to go and serve God in his early twenties, later spent five years working with the disadvantaged in the Bronx, New York.
We caught the mid-afternoon boat back to Tenby allowing plenty of time to pick up some dressed crab and a fresh sea bass from a harbour-side fishmongers and to take a stroll around this picturesque coastal market town with its medieval walls and castle ruins.
So ended the perfect finale day of our visit to South Pembrokeshire
To book the comfortable lodge where we stayed follow this link.
