Collected Musings of a Hill Wanderer

I know that its been six months since I spent some time there but a selection of the photos that I made while out walking in Pembrokeshire have finally made it onto the web. Go here for the photos and here for more on the visit itself.

As promised, here is an account of my trek to Pembrokeshire last weekend. What triggered the thought was an article in TGO, and a fine weekend propelled a somewhat hastily arranged visit. The fact that I was in Ireland on what turned out to be a gardening holiday (yep, work rather than leisure) didn’t give me any extra time to pull myself together. To boot, a Friday afternoon threatened to derail an already precarious plan…

Nevertheless, I did get there in the end! After work, I headed on my way; though that journey took me around by Birmingham. Bristol and Swansea. Defeating the conspiracy of a late First Great Western express to scupper the last leg of the journey, I got to Carmarthen almost as planned (even if I was 20 minutes late!). The provision by FGW of a taxi from Swansea helped towards that end: they came good in the end!

Next morning, I got to my Pembrokeshire base of Haverfordwest; a surprise to some, perhaps, but it functioned as intended and I got to sample the Pembrokeshire Coast Path which was my main reason for coming all this way. Public transport options allowed me to savour the delights around St. David’s, Marloes and Newport before I headed on my way back home. I enjoyed plenty of walking and sea air, even if things got a little too hot at times. The up-and-down nature of the stretch between Newgale and St. David’s left me feeling a little “cream-crackered” but walking around Marloes was a lot easier on the legs. I only got a brief taste of the country around Newport but a return is a definite possibility.

My journey home took me through Cardigan, Aberystwyth, Shrewsbury and Crewe but this was more direct than the way that I came and could be way I would go if I got the opportunity to return again. after all, I only got a taste of what is around here: the Preseli hills are definitely worthy of exploration and I only sampled a fraction of the 186 mile (299 km) length of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path (though the heavily-industrialised section around Pembroke and Milford Haven is an acquired taste).

I am after spending a weekend exploring Pembrokeshire, particularly its coastline (more about that in later article). Here are some websites that aided and abetted my (rather hurried) planning:

VisitPembrokeshire

Greenways: Bus options for visitors

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority: includes the Pembrokeshire Coastal Trail and the Preseli hills among its attractions.

visitwales.com: website of the Welsh tourism agency; proved invaluable for sorting out accommodation.

Traveline Cymru: more transport planning

Arriva Trains Wales: invaluable for train timetables

And these volumes gave me more of a feel for what I was doing: Rough Guide to Wales, Lonely Planet Walking in Britain.

I will tell you more about my visit later…