Sand, Sea and Castles

A trip back to ‘Cleddau-land’ is a reunion with the familiar: beaches galore, nowhere too far from the sea and  numerous stone castles.

There’s a wheelchair-friendly path out to a viewpoint across Freshwater East beach and over to Trewent Point.     For those with stamina the curve of Fresh’s beach makes for a good stroll. If the tide is low enough there are caves to poke your nose into , pools to paddle in, barnacles to spot    - and depending on the season the odd jellyfish stranded at the tideline to study… Another familiar coastal spot is Stackpole Quay. This tiny harbour was built as a jetty to ship limestone out from a nearby quarry and coal in for the Cawdor Estate. At high tide it is a wonderful swimming spot though now it’s becoming popular with paddle boarders. Head further west, from the clifftops above Broad Haven South here are fine views over the limestone coastline, the dunes that back onto the beach and to Church Rock, prominent in the middle of the bay. If Castlemartin ranges are open to the public drive over to view Stack Rocks, home to teeming seabird life...   A two minute walk across the cliffs leads to the impressive Green Bridge of Wales. An essential view to take in during any South Pembrokeshire visit is that over Freshwater West.  What will be the state of the tide?  Is the wind blowing in from the sea? Will it be a surfers’ paradise sort of day? On what was a good day for surfers it was reassuring to see RNI volunteers in attendance. This is a dangerous beach – varying depths of water, water channels, cross currents, quick sands, a submerged forest sometimes visible at low tide. As children even paddling here was NOT allowed. It was a beach for winter walking.  A schoolmate’s younger brother drowned here…From sandcastle to Carew Castle one evening for a theatrical performance. It was a suggestion made by the Captain’s Nephew: “We’re going to see ‘Little Women’… why don’t you try to get tickets?”  The story of the four March sisters growing up in Massachusetts, USA, in the 1860s is certainly familiar. How would it transfer from page to an outdoor stage? Tickets were secured online, two camp chairs were sourced at Argos and a finger food picnic bought at Tesco. The audience gathered, picnic encampments were established, extra layers donned to resist the stiff early evening breeze.  “I should think you’re word perfect on this story, aren’t you…?!” the Nephew commented to Boatwif, a nod perhaps to her being the second of four sisters. (Well, yes, it had long been a much-loved tale.) The bones of the story were retained and a public address system provided gentle musical continuity between each scene. Were the characters convincing? Mostly, yes, but to these eyes the physical appearance of sister 3 (Beth) would have better suited a sister 4 (Amy) - and vice versa… One of the male actors was not quite the Fredrick Bhaer that Boatwif had always imagined… It was a Chapterhouse Theatre Company production, bringing as it says “magical theatre in magical surroundings.” https://www.chapterhouse.org/index.html#theatre There are maps on their website of where the 2024 performances take place. Not quite a castle but a delightful site to explore is the Bishop’s Palace at Lamphey. The enclosed Palace grounds are large and the stone buildings invite close investigation…   The coast, the Milford Haven and the Cleddau Estuary make South Pembrokeshire a thoroughly boaty sort of place – along the promenade at Neyland there are pictures of the pre-Cleddau Bridge ferries, Alumchine,   and the Cleddau Queen.   There's a  a model of the Cleddau King, the final Hobbs Point - Neyland ferry on display in the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre.Upstream on the Cleddau at Lawrenny one afternoon anchored boats bobbed on an incoming tide  and a couple of boats under sail weaved their way upstream.  Most impressive though was a sideways shot of the Rosslare-Pembroke ferry coming up harbour to make its daily 1pm docking time.Estimated road distance: 720 milesFamily members met: 9 (2 sisters, 2 brothers-in-law, 1 sister-in-law, 1 Captain’s nephew and his wife, I Captain’s niece and her husband…)[Not sea, not sand, not castles – but inside the local Heritage Centre is a display about the last 'flying machine' built in one of the Sunderland flying boat hangers at the Royal Pembroke Dockyard   -  the Star Wars prop, the Falcon,    was used in filming at Elstree Studios in 1979.]