We woke to a grey, but dry day in Tenby and the tide was in. The island that you could walk to at low tide was now well and truly cut off from the mainland.
Once again our plans for the day were rather fluid. We just headed west along the coast.
Our route took up below the walls of Manorbier Castle. There are so many castles in Wales. There was even a small remnant of the castle in Tenby.
We took a scenic detour and where we parked picked our first blackberries. We have seen lots in the hedgerows, but most aren't ripe as yet. They don't appear to be treated as a noxious weed over here.
Some people we were chatting with at Tenby recommended we visit Pembroke Castle, so we headed there.
They do guided tours, so we joined the one at 10.30, which was to go for a bit over an hour. Our guide, Howard, was passionate about the castle and also Welsh history, so our tour took nearly two hours.
The building stands on a limestone peninsula. Underneath there is a cave that was inhabited by cavemen for 6,000 years. This was later incorporated into the castle defenses.
The castle has influenced the course of history on four main occasions. It was originally built of timber by the Norman invaders in the late 11th century. After the Norman invasion of Ireland Pembroke was the entry point for all of Wales and was where taxes were collected.
In the late 12th century ownership went to William Marshall "the Great Knight". He rebuilt the castle in stone, was instrumental in fending off the French invasion and was the author of the second version of the Magna Carta. He was a good man.
The castle next comes to prominence in the 15th century when Jasper Tudor, half brother of King Henry VI, took in his widowed sister-in-law. She was 13 years old and pregnant. She gave birth to Henry Tudor who later went on to be King Henry VII, one of England's finest kings.
In the mid 17th century Oliver Cromwell held the castle siege for 8 weeks. The castle had been described as being impregnable, and this proved to be correct until the new technology of huge canons were deployed, one single shot destroying a tower. The castle surrendered and fell into disrepair. It was restored to what we see today in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The main street of Pembroke follows the route of the original road to the castle and the blocks of land are those that were first allotted about 700 years ago.
By now it was lunch time and a decision had to be made for the afternoon's activities. We ended up heading further west to the UK's smallest city, St David's.
And came across a rather different tractor.
St David's is located at the site of the monk St David's priory. The cathedral was built in the 12th Century and the Pope made it a centre of pilgrimage.
There was also a very elaborate Bishop's Palace next to the Cathedral. During the Civil War in the mid 17th Century Oliver Cromwell all but destroyed both buildings. The Cathedral was later partially restored in the late 18th Century, but the most significant restoration happened in the early 2000s.
The Shrine has been recreated.
A new organ was installed.
This cathedral has quite a different feel to others we have visited, with its limed oak timbers, giving it a faded look, even on the ceilings.
It was a glorious warm afternoon and many people were taking advantage of the day.
We thought we had better try to find some accommodation, as being school holidays there isn't a great deal available. We were lucky enough to find a little B&B just off the main street. It is the cream house to the right of the blue building.
Our room was on the third floor, but the climb was worth it for the view.
As it was quite warm we found a beer garden at the Farmers Arms Hotel. (There is a Farmers Arms at home as well.)
For dinner we ate at The Bishops, just around the corner from our B&B.
We had a lovely meal and Mick discovered that they served Pimms to drink. Perfect for a summer's evening in the UK.
We had only travelled a short distance on the day, but that doesn't matter, as we saw some fascinating places and had a relatively relaxing afternoon. One of the advantages of not having a set itinerary.
In the late 12th century ownership went to William Marshall "the Great Knight". He rebuilt the castle in stone, was instrumental in fending off the French invasion and was the author of the second version of the Magna Carta. He was a good man.
The castle next comes to prominence in the 15th century when Jasper Tudor, half brother of King Henry VI, took in his widowed sister-in-law. She was 13 years old and pregnant. She gave birth to Henry Tudor who later went on to be King Henry VII, one of England's finest kings.
In the mid 17th century Oliver Cromwell held the castle siege for 8 weeks. The castle had been described as being impregnable, and this proved to be correct until the new technology of huge canons were deployed, one single shot destroying a tower. The castle surrendered and fell into disrepair. It was restored to what we see today in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The main street of Pembroke follows the route of the original road to the castle and the blocks of land are those that were first allotted about 700 years ago.
By now it was lunch time and a decision had to be made for the afternoon's activities. We ended up heading further west to the UK's smallest city, St David's.
We called in briefly at the beach at Newgale.
And came across a rather different tractor.
St David's is located at the site of the monk St David's priory. The cathedral was built in the 12th Century and the Pope made it a centre of pilgrimage.
There was also a very elaborate Bishop's Palace next to the Cathedral. During the Civil War in the mid 17th Century Oliver Cromwell all but destroyed both buildings. The Cathedral was later partially restored in the late 18th Century, but the most significant restoration happened in the early 2000s.
The Shrine has been recreated.
A new organ was installed.
This cathedral has quite a different feel to others we have visited, with its limed oak timbers, giving it a faded look, even on the ceilings.
It was a glorious warm afternoon and many people were taking advantage of the day.
However, it was lovely and cool by the brook running next to the car park.
We thought we had better try to find some accommodation, as being school holidays there isn't a great deal available. We were lucky enough to find a little B&B just off the main street. It is the cream house to the right of the blue building.
Our room was on the third floor, but the climb was worth it for the view.
As it was quite warm we found a beer garden at the Farmers Arms Hotel. (There is a Farmers Arms at home as well.)
For dinner we ate at The Bishops, just around the corner from our B&B.
We had a lovely meal and Mick discovered that they served Pimms to drink. Perfect for a summer's evening in the UK.
We had only travelled a short distance on the day, but that doesn't matter, as we saw some fascinating places and had a relatively relaxing afternoon. One of the advantages of not having a set itinerary.
1 comment:
Beautiful sights and lovely places! And there's nothing better than trying the region's special foods, is there. Aba.... is certainly a difficult nae to say, guess you need to practise if you are staying there.
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