SOLVA

The main street of the village of Solva leads down to an inlet which has been likened to a mini Norwegian fjord, due to its steep sides and the extent to which it penetrates into this stretch of the Pembrokeshire coastline.  This topography makes for a delightfully sheltered haven for the leisure craft that call in here.  During the 19th century there was a fleet of 30 ships based here, and there were scheduled departures for America from the harbour.  However, the village's last steamship came to an unfortunate end, torpedoed by a U-boat in 1915.  Solva is the kind of place which was beloved by pirates and smugglers, and as was usually the case where these activities were rife, many of the houses had concealed cubby-holes which were used to hide contraband.  Even the local chapel was not immune to being linked to the smuggling trade: its candles were made from tallow smuggled into Solva.  The story goes that the excise officer got wind of this, and confiscated the candles, leaving the congregation fumbling in the dark.  

SolvaHarbor(Garethrees). Photo by Garethrees, via Wikimedia Commons.

Solva is divided into two parts, Upper Solva and Lower Solva.  Lower Solva wends its way through a deep valley, and its main street has a pleasant mix of pubs and shops and leads down to the harbourside, where there is a pub and a cafe.  The village makes an ideal starting point for walks along the Pembrokeshire coast path.  Solva Woollen Mill, on the banks of the River Solfach, was established in 1907 and is still making carpets and rugs.  There is a shop and tea room for visitors, who can also see some of the old mill workings.  

Colourful Lower Solva

Map of the area.

ST DAVID'S

Walking down through the centre of St David's, you get the impression of a typical large Welsh village, with a couple of pubs, a small but select range of shops, cafes and restaurants, and rows of rustic cottages.  However, when you reach the end of the main street, the sight that greets you makes it obvious that this is no ordinary village.  In fact, St David's is a city, thanks to the beautiful cathedral nestling in a dip just off the bottom of the main street.  The cathedral dates from the 12th century, and the adjoining ruins of the Bishop's Palace date mainly from the 14th century.  The patron saint of Wales, St David founded a monastery in this spot in the 6th century, and during the Middle Ages St David's became a place of pilgrimage.  Another ecclesiastical site to the south of the city, St Non's Chapel, is reputed to be the birthplace of St David's mother, and it has a healing well.

Aside from the city's religious heritage, the other main draw is the nearby RSPB Reserve of Ramsey Island.  Boat trips to the island can be booked from ticket offices in St David's, and they leave from St Justinian, around a mile from the city.  We went on one of these trips the first time we visited St David's and, although the seals were not on view on that occasion, the knowledgable guide gave a fascinating insight into the abundant birdlife of the island, which includes guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes.  There are sheep and deer grazing on the island, which provide an ideal habitat for lapwings and other birds.  To the northeast of the city is St David's Head, where there is a Neolithic cromlech and an Iron Age fort, near a stone rampart called The Warrior's Dyke.  The headland was once part of an ancient route linking Pembrokeshire to Salisbury Plain.  For surfers, nearby Whitesands Bay is a good spot.

Map of the area.

Britain's most rural cathedral setting

Ramsay Island

ABEREIDDY

The people who used to operate Abereiddy's slate quarry, which was closed in 1904 after being flooded by the encroaching sea, might be surprised to find it a hive of activity still, over one hundred years later.  This delightful spot on the south-west coast of Wales is now a pool 100 metres across known as the Blue Lagoon, and is a favourite spot for a range of outdoor activities such as diving, kayaking and the curious sport of 'coasteering', which involves exploring the coast by a combination of climbing the cliffs and plunging into the sea.  Another popular way to enjoy this stretch of coast - and the one favoured by us on our visit - is by walking the coastal path while marvelling at the antics of the coasteerers down below.  In 2013 the lagoon hosted the Red Bull Cliff  Diving World Series. The Blue Lagoon is owned by the National Trust, and the number of visitors flocking there has created some conflict between the operators of the activities and the conservationists, necessitating an agreement on limiting the number of people who can use the lagoon each day.  The village itself consists of a number of colour-washed cottages backing onto a sand and shingle beach made a greyish-black by the slate.  Many of the scenes from a 1961 film starring Peter Cushing were filmed in Abereiddy.  The film, 'Fury at Smugglers' Bay', depicts the ravaging of a small seaside village by pirate wreckers.

Map of the area.

Abereiddy, the Blue Lagoon, with 'Coasteers' diving - geograph.org.uk - 1406824. Photo by Keith Salvesen, via Wikimedia Commons.

PORTHGAIN

You only have to look around you to realise that Porthgain's past was much more industrial than its leisure-oriented present.  The remains of large brick hoppers are still clearly visible, recalling a time in the early 1900s when crushed granite was brought to the village prior to shipment from what was at the time an important industrial port.  40,000 tons of the stuff were shipped yearly by coastal steamers, and the granite-crushing continued until 1932 when the crushing plant was closed.  Slate from a quarry to the south was also shipped out of the harbour.  The hoppers have been left in place as a scheduled ancient monument, in addition to which the village was made a 'conservation area' in 1987.  Prior to this period the main activities were the 'burning' of limestone and fishing, which continues to this day with the local fishing boats sharing the harbour with leisure boats.  The village pub, The Sloop, has a characterful interior with plenty of nautical images and memorabilia and a small terrace overlooking the harbour.  Once upon a time the boatmen were able to moor up right alongside the pub, causing it to be known as the 'Step In'.  Many visitors to the village use it as a starting point for a walk along the wonderful Pembrokeshire Coast Path, aided by a bus service called the Strumble Shuttle which, with careful timing, enables walkers to walk one way and bus the other.  The Porthgain to Abereiddi stretch of the path was once voted one of the top ten walks in the country.

Map of the area.

Rusting anchor, Porthgain - geograph.org.uk - 1524078. Photo by Pauline Eccles, via Wikimedia Commons.

FISHGUARD

The first thing many people think of when they hear the name Fishguard is the ferry service to Ireland.  In fact, the name of the port the ferry goes from is Goodwick, down the hill from Fishguard town centre.  One word of warning to anyone heading to Goodwick to catch a ferry from the M4 direction: allow plenty of time.  The first time we made the journey we thought we had plenty of time, only to find that the roads became progressively narrower and slower as we neared Fishguard, meaning we almost missed the ferry.

Anyway, back to Fishguard itself.  In 1797 the town was the scene of what is often referred to as the "last invasion of Britain", the invasion in question being on the part of the French, who proved to be unequal to the forces led by Lord Cawdor, otherwise known as John Campbell.  Lord Cawdor used Fishguard's Royal Oak Pub as his Headquarters, and it was here that the French surrender was signed.  The pub has battle memorabilia recalling the event, while the Town Hall houses a tapestry called the Last Invasion Tapestry.  Fishguard is somewhat split into two, with the higher part of town housing most of the shops and galleries including the West Wales Arts Centre, as well as the aforementioned pub, while the Lower Town, laid out around the mouth of the River Gwaun, has the feel of a fishing village.  To the north lie the ruins of the Old Fort, built in 1781; it was from here that guns were fired to warn off the approaching French ships in 1797.    

Map of the area.  

Fishguard Harbour. Photo by Tim A Lee, via Wikimedia Commons.

DINAS ISLAND

Dinas Island is not actually an island at all, but a rounded rocky headland between Newport and Fishguard. A walk along the coast path around the headland provides fantastic views of the Pembrokeshire coastline. On the Newport side of the peninsula the path can be joined at Cwm-yr-Eglwys ('Valley of the Church'), named for the ruined church of St Brynach's overlooking the beach. The church, which dates from pre-Norman times, succumbed to the sea twice in the mid-1800s: once in 1850, when the chancel was destroyed, then again during the so-called Royal Charter Storm of 1859 (the Royal Charter was a ship which ran aground on Anglesey during this once-in-a-century storm). The 1859 storm did for most of the rest of the church, so that following demolition work in 1880 there was just one end left standing plus the graveyard. A sea wall was built to protect the site. Walkers wanting to reach Pwllgwaelod, which lies on the Fishguard side of the peninsula, have two choices: stick with the coast path following the peninsula around to Pwllgwaelod, or head inland on a wheelchair-friendly path along a valley which cuts across the landward side of the headland. Pwllgwaelod has a small sand-and-shingle beach with a pub/restaurant which was occasionally visited by Dylan Thomas.

Map of the area.

Ruins of St Brynach's, Cwm-yr-Eglwys - geograph.org.uk - 1800572. Photo by Richard Law, via Wikimedia Commons.

NEWPORT

First up, potential visitors to Newport should be aware that there are actually two Newports in Wales.  This one is the small town of Newport, Pembrokeshire, which is in the south-west portion of the country.  The other one is a larger town just to the east of Cardiff.  This Newport grew up as a garrison town around the castle, built in the 12th century by Robert FitzMartin, a Norman knight and first Lord of Cemaes.  The town later became an important trading port and market town, with a herring fishing fleet.  The eccentric Welsh antiquarian and historian, George Owen, born in the 16th century, was somewhat dismissive of the markets of Newport and of St Davids further round the coast, describing them as "not worth the speaking of, partly for what they be so small and bad". 

Notwithstanding this unkind remark, the town has more recently developed into a popular stopover for visitors.  Set back a bit from the coast, the town centre straddles the main Cardigan-Fishguard road, and is a pleasant mixture of pubs, cafes and small shops.  The old port, known as Parrog, still has parts of the old quay walls and two former lime kilns.  There are two beaches, Parrog Beach and the extensive Traeth Mawr, where the remains of a petrified forest can be seen when the tide is very low.  The Nevern Estuary is a draw for birdwatchers, with ducks, swans and egrets among its feathered inhabitants.  

There is a form of medieval football called Cnapan which used to be played on Traeth Mawr beach.  The sport - actually in some ways more akin to rugby - was played by opposing teams from neighbouring parishes, and the object was to get the ball to one team's parish church by whatever means possible.  The game was described in detail by the aforementioned George Owen, who claimed that its purpose was to provide some exercise for the naturally warlike youth of the nation during times of peace.  The game was revived in Newport, playing against Nevern, during the mid 80s-90s but was discontinued for 'elf and safety reasons (sigh!).  However, its legacy lives on in the form of the Cnapan 'restaurant with rooms' in the town.

Map of the town.

Foreshore at Parrog, Newport Sands - geograph.org.uk - 415803. Photo by Robin Lucas, via Wikimedia Commons.