We Must Be Mad: July 2018

Day 67: Dale to Milford Haven

Our wanderings today took us from Dale to Milford Haven across two sets of tidal stepping stones. From Dale we followed the road round to Gann Flats where we had our first tidal crossing across the River Gann.

Gann Flats

Following the causeway at Gann Flats

Lake side cottages at Glann Flat

Gann Flat

Gann River at low tide

Beyond the crossing, our route took us along a rocky shore below a low cliff before eventually making our way to a narrow green swathe of the coast path heading out round Musselwick Point.

Rocky shore at Dale Roads

Looking across Dale Roads to Dale Village

Following the low cliffs, we came upon a number of deserted or ruins of buildings. The first of these was a folly known as the Malacov, named after the Malakoff fort off Sebastopol. Further along we came upon old WWII buildings on Watch House Point. More interestingly, across the water we could see Stackrock Fort, clinging to a rock in the middle of the estuary. A 3-gun fort was built on the rock between 1850 and 1852, and then upgraded in 1859 with a new building that completely encased the original gun tower. The fort is now listed as a Grade II building.

Dale Village as viewed across the bay

Ruins of Malakoff Fort

World War II bunkers and buildings

Stack Rock Fort

Greg and I were fascinated by Stack Rock Fort and on further research we discovered that the fort is privately owned and currently on the market for £400,000 (https://www.housebeautiful.com/uk/lifestyle/property/a21093983/entire-stack-rock-fort-island-wales-for-sale/)! We spent many hours day-dreaming about the possibility of owning our own fort in the middle of Milford Haven and the opportunities this would present, provided you had another million pounds or more to renovate it!

The cliffs around Lindsway Bay and Butts Bay

The path continued around the low cliffs of Lindsway Bay and Butts Bay to reach the estuary at Sandy Haven where we had our second tidal crossing and stopped for lunch.

View across to oil refinery on other side of Milford Haven

Tide is out at Sandy Haven

Sandy Haven

Looking back towards Sandy Haven

From Sandy Haven the path climbed up through bracken around the perimeter fence of a decommissioned Esso oil refinery, now a natural gas terminal. In the past day or so we have noticed a change in the landscape particularly in terms of built structures. This part of Pembrokeshire is dominated by the oil refineries, pipelines, docks and power stations of Milford Haven, Pembroke and Pembroke Dock.

Gas pipe lines extending out into Milford Haven

Gas pipeline near Gelliswick

The path travels under the gas pipeline

Hubberston Fort at Gelliswick

Day 66: Marloes to Dale

It was a drizzly start to the day as we made our way from Marloes to the coast path at Marloes Sands. The beach features some fantastic rock formations including the Three Chimneys, three vertical lines of hard silurian sandstone and mudstone. There used to be four chimneys, but the fourth crumbled in a severe storm of 1954. Marloes Sands was also the filming location for ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’.

Rock formations, Marloes Sands

Rock formations with Gateholm Island to rear, Marloes Sands

Encrusted rocks at Marloes Sands

From the beach we followed the steep path up the cliffs to the far end of the bay, where the path flanked the World War II airfield of RAF Dale.

North end of Marloes Sands

Looking south towards Marloes Sands

The path continued away from the cliffs before dropping down steeply near Westdale Bay. From here we followed the pointed sandstone cliffs round several small headlands until the lighthouse on St Ann’s Head came into view. The rocks off St Ann’s Head were responsible for the grounding of the Sea Empress in 1996 and the subsequent spillage of 72,000 tonnes of crude oil in the waters around this coast.

Dale as viewed from Westdale Bay

Descending down to Westdale Bay

Looking southwards along the coast to Marloes Sands

Welsh ponies grazing the cliff tops

St Ann's Head

From St Ann’s Head the path cut across some fields towards Mill Bay on the other side of the headland. Though this is a wild rocky bay, it is here that Henry Tudor (VII) came ashore before marching to Bosworth Field to defeat Richard III in 1485, he was born in Pembroke Castle and used his Welsh lineage to assure a safe passage through Wales.

Mill Bay with St Ann's Head in background

Settlement at St Ann's Head

The path continued along the edge of the fields to the navigation beacons and WWII fortifications at West Blockhouse Point before circling around the back of Watwick Bay, which according to our guide book is one of the most beautiful and secluded sandy havens in Pembrokeshire.

WWII gun emplacements at West Block House Point

Watwick Bay

We then followed the path round through the woods to Dale, a tiny boating village that is said to be the sunniest in Wales (although not the day we were there)!

Shore-line cottages at Dale

Day 65: Picton Castle

Today we decided to take the day off from walking and visited nearby Picton Castle, a stately home that is open to the public. If interested you can visit their website: https://www.pictoncastle.co.uk/

As we have discovered, Wales is full of castles however so many of them are in ruins. This is due to the outcome of the English Civil War (1642–1651) which was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists ("Cavaliers") over, principally, the manner of England's governance. The Parliamentarians were the victors and ordered the destruction of many castles because many of the Royalists took refuge within them and it took a very costly siege to evict them. Picton Castle did not suffer this fate and was transformed into a private stately home owned by the same family for 800 years.

Picton Castle and the estate is now open to the public. There is a café, art gallery, gardens, the Lumsden Collection of Antique & Vintage Lawnmowers and the Secret Owl Garden where different species of owls are on display in aviaries and some are trained to perch on a gloved hand.

Here are some photos of our visit:

We had a guided tour of the inside of the castle

Nice healthy copse of ti kouka - New Zealand cabbage tree

This is Lily a very young little owl

Those who know Helga will know how brave she is!!

This is Toto an African spotted eagle owl

Lumsden Collection of Antique & Vintage Lawnmowers

Days 63-64: Broad Haven to Marloes

Our guidebook recommends walking this leg in one day however we decided to split it into two days, as Greg had come down with a cold (‘man flu’) and this way we would not be so knackered at the end of the day and would have more time to see the sights.

From Broad Haven we followed the road over a small headland to the small seaside village of Little Haven where we stopped briefly for a hot drink in a café.

Shore-line cottages at Little Haven

From Little Haven we followed the cliff top path round to Borough Head where it was a treat to walk through coastal woodland containing mature oak, ash and hazel trees. The steep vegetated slopes with its small bays reminded me of the Marlborough Sounds.

Looking northwards from Musselwick Bay

The coastline beyond Borough Head

Tangled woodland along the track

The path meandering through the woodland

Leaving the woodland, the narrow clifftop path ambled pleasantly along, the cliffs turning to sandstone for the first time along the low intricate shore towards St Brides Haven. Coves with names like Dutch Gin and Brandy Bay hark back to a history of smuggling.

Sandstone cliffs

Sandstone sculpture along the path

The view towards St Brides Haven

Coming into St Brides Haven we could see a large manor house in the distance but our day finished at the church dedicated to St Bridget who is thought to have travelled with St David from Ireland in the 6^th century. We investigated the headstones in the cemetery and discovered a few were former Barons who owned the large manor house: St Brides Castle.

St Brides Castle

St Bridget's Church, St Brides

Gravestones, St Bridget's Church yard

The next morning, we followed the boundary wall of St Brides Castle to rejoin our coast path along the cliffs to St Martins Haven, a narrow but very popular little beach where they launch boats to visit Skomer Island.

Looking towards St Brides Haven

St Brides Haven with St Bridget's Church and historic lime kiln

Coastline between St Bride's Haven and Musselwick Sands

We detoured off the coastal path to walk around the headland which took us out to Wooltack Point and The Anvil as well as offered stunning views of Skomer Island. The sea between the headland and the Skomer Island was boiling in the channel where the currents met. As we made our way around the headland, we could see ancient earthworks, evidence that the site was previously the site of an Iron Age fort.

Wooltack Point and Skomer Island

The headland known as The Anvil with Skokholm Island to rear

From the headland we re-joined the path around Deadman’s Bay and rugged cliffs to another Iron Age fort and nearby Gateholm Island – a site that was inhabited since at least the Bronze Age and probably earlier. Coincidently we had viewed a ‘Time Team’ episode on ‘Youtube’ where they investigated these two sites, so we were familiar with the history. The archaeologists were finding all sorts of pottery dating them to the Roman period and earlier so with our heads down we soon found a small piece of pottery and a bit further along discovered a larger piece.