Category: Wales/Cymru

all things Welsh including ancient strongholds, abbeys, country houses, prehistoric tombs, palaces and museums of Wales, beaches and landscapes

A – Z of Locations: S is for St Bride’s Bay

During this year I shall be posting photographs from places around the UK, many of which have not been published before. Where I have previously blogged about a location I will provide a link to the post, though you won’t be able to comment on it as I restrict comments to six months.

S is for St Bride’s Bay and Skomer and Skokholm Islands

Another one from Wales, this time in Pembrokeshire.

Lying in the Celtic Sea two miles off the southwest Pembrokeshire coast, Skokholm has its own charm and sense of remoteness with tall, sandstone cliffs and a wild landscape

In the warmer months Skokholm is colonised by tens of thousands of nesting seabirds. By day there is frenetic activity among the puffins, razorbills, guillemots and gulls – and by night there is more commotion from the Manx shearwaters and storm petrels! (Source: Welsh Wildlife Trust)

Skomer Island is less than a mile off the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast.

Between April and July, Skomer is well known for its puffins, but there is so much more to this National Nature Reserve – including Manx shearwaters, dolphins, seals, razorbills, and so much more! You can visit for just a day  or even stay overnight in a hostel. (Source: Welsh Wildlife Trust)

Incredible views from the top of Wooltack Point

Our visit was on the last day of our family Christmas holiday in Wales in 2011. We stayed in a former pub near Rosebush and well remembered for being absolutely freezing cold all week with rain and/or fog every day bar this one! Whilst the children and grandchildren went off to visit Pembroke Castle, the OH and I decided to have a little road trip around the Pembrokeshire coast first to Fishguard then on to St David’s (the smallest city in Wales) before following the coast down to Marloes and St Brides.

Wild white-capped waves

We parked at Martin’s Haven close to the Deer Park for a walk and to get a glimpse of the islands. Although it was a dry and sunny day the wind was fierce so it was a very quick walk.

The car park at Martin’s haven (the end of the road)

From here we returned to Marloes for some lunch and then a quick drive to Dale which is on the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has been used as a port since the Middle Ages, before dashing back north to catch the sunset at the Pentre Ifan Burial Chamber in the Preseli Hills.

If you haven’t already visited Pembrokeshire then I recommend that you do. It has an amazing landscape with towering cliffs, pristine beaches, rolling moorlands rich with wildlife and history, beautiful coastal towns like Tenby (equivalent to Cornwall’s St Ives) and Britain’s smallest city, St Davids with its Cathedral and the ruin of The Bishops Palace.

A – Z of Locations: A is for Aberdovey

During this year I shall be posting photographs from places around the UK, many of which have not been published before. Where I have previously blogged about a location I will provide a link to the post, though you won’t be able to comment on it as I restrict comments to six months.

Let’s start with A for Aberdovey/Aberdyfi.

Aberdyfi is a thriving little harbour resort set within the Snowdonia National Park, where the river Dyfi meets the blue waters of Cardigan Bay.

I didn’t know very much about Wales before I met the OH and moved to live with him in Shrewsbury in 2002. Weekends saw us popping over the border on many occasions. This was on a very cold February day and I recall having a lovely lunch in the picturesque Dovey Inn overlooking these stunning views of the estuary.

Beautiful views on the way to Aberdovey

Day Twenty-eight

The theme for Becky’s  April Squares challenge is ‘top’ 

    1. On Top of the World – summit, crown, peak or uppermost part of something
    2. Under the Big Top – topping or covering (or if you’re really lucky circus)
    3. Room at the Top – first or highest in position
    4. Cherry on Top – something made even more wonderful by becoming square
    5. Top and Tail – or maybe you’d prefer to play around with word combinations such as top dog, top stitch, top full, top line, top fruit, top hat, top secret, top knot, top drawer and top dollar!
Top Row

This wonderful row of candy-coloured four storey Victorian townhouses (mainly holiday apartments, B&Bs or hotels) is situated at the beginning of the Esplanade above the rocky cliff and stairs that lead down to South Beach in Tenby, South Wales. What a commanding view they have of the monastic Island of Caldey and St Catherine’s Castle.

But be warned, this town gets extremely busy in the school holidays and parking is almost impossible to find. It’s the Welsh equivalent of St Ives, Cornwall and also boasts three fine beaches. Take a look for yourself by clicking the link above.

April Squares | Day Twenty-eight

A Black and White Sunday

the modern entrance to the castle viewed from the edge of the outer ward.

Dinefwr Castle is a Welsh castle overlooking the River Tywi near the town of Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on a ridge on the northern bank of the Tywi, with a steep drop of one hundred feet to the river.Wikipedia

WPC: Reflecting

I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It’s cloud’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all…

~ Joni Mitchell

The Pin Mill, Lily Pond Approach at Bodnant Gardens, Conwy

Before being re-erected at Bodnant in the 1930’s, the building was originally put together in 1730 as a picnic house or shooting lodge, or it is thought it may have been used as a garden house. Later, the building was used as a factory for making dressmaking pins with two furnaces for that purpose inside the building.

WPC: Reflecting