By Lyn Funnell
Pembrokeshire in Wales is a straight run from East Sussex where we live. But it takes five and a half hours with an extra hour for stops.
We were diverted off the M4 due to road works and we drove through the Port Talbot steelworks. As it was due for closure, we were some of the last people to see smoke coming out of its chimney.
It’s absolutely massive. We thought it was just a factory, but it’s the size of a town. There are rows of houses around it, but no shopping centres. The thousands of workers who are made redundant will never be able to find other jobs. Very sad.
Amroth, where we stayed, is a small town with houses scattered around the hills, a few small shops, cafes and pubs, and a beautiful bay.
The top of the beach is made up of huge flat pebbles, leading to sand and rockpools. I’ve never seen anything like them before. There is a tradition of building a pyramid as high as possible and there are small pyramids all over the beach. I managed 11 pebbles, but granddaughter Isabella stacked up 15!
We stayed in a detached white cottage which was just 10 minutes from the beach, but it was a very steep hill and quite a difficult walk back to it.
That coast of Pembrokeshire is mainly countryside and woodland. The roads are single track with small areas dug into the hedges and banks to allow for overtaking. Everyone is very courteous about backing up if necessary – except of course White Van Man!
Why is it that we didn’t get held up by any roadworks, but there weren’t any potholes either?
East Sussex roads are full of potholes and lots of strange roadworks that don’t fill in any holes.
We had day trips to Pembroke and Tenby. Tenby has a beautiful harbour.
The Pembrokeshire coast has small pretty bays scattered along it.
Barafundle Bay, described as one of the best beaches in the world, is only accessible by a half mile walk from the car park along the cliff. It’s part of a private estate and belongs to the National Trust.
Our complaint is that every beach had a car park where you had to pay. This could be costly if you were visiting several places.
Pembrokeshire is a beautiful county to visit. The people are very relaxed and friendly. But we found it expensive. Even a lot of the supermarkets charge for parking and, apart from treating ourselves in a fish and chip shop in Tenby, the only place we could afford to eat in was Tesco! And the car park was free.
Luckily we had brought lots of food with us as we were self-catering. And when it rained in the evenings it was nice and cosy in our holiday cottage.
We stayed in a cottage by Coastal Cottages
Coastal House, Narberth Road, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire SA61 2XG
T: 01437 765 765 • F: 01437 767 604 • info@coastalcottages.co.uk • www.coastalcottages.co.uk
Office open Mon – Sat 8:30am – 8pm • Sun & Bank Holidays 9am – 5pm • VAT No. 692 2112 50 • Coastal Cottages of Pembrokeshire Ltd
