We started our walk this morning
in Milford Haven which is not only the name of the town but also the name of
the harbour we are circumnavigating. It is not only the busiest port in Wales
but also one of the deepest natural harbours in the world. There are marinas
for pleasure boats as well as industrial wharves to facilitate the import of
natural gas and oil. Irish Ferries also run a service between here and Ireland.
We walked along Milford Haven’s
hilltop promenade that offered great views of the harbour and had plenty of
space for memorials and public art. Our wanderings then took us through urban
streets to a little bay at Black Bridge before taking us back up to height with
more great views.
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| Black Bridge |
The path skirted a large oil
refinery before descending down to Hazelbeach.
Further along we wandered through
the churchyard of St Tudwal at Llanstadwell. The church dates back to the 19th
century with the tower thought to date back to Norman times.
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| St Tudwal's Church, Hazelbeach |
From here we followed the road
round to Neyland before walking through a small woodland and to reach the
Cleddau Toll Bridge high above the forked estuary that splits Pembrokeshire in
half. The bridge replaced the ferry in the early 1970s, but collapsed during
construction, killing four workers and narrowly missing the village of Pembroke
Ferry below.
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| Hazelbeach |
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| Cleddau Toll Bridge over Pembroke River |
From the bridge we followed the
road into Pembroke Dock which is rich in naval history and still a working
port. We climbed to see the Defensible Barracks – a foreboding looking Victorian-era
fortification which is now privately owned and being converted to a hotel and
apartments. The 20-sided fort was built for
the British military more than 150 years ago. It was declared the second most
endangered Victorian or Edwardian building in England and Wales in 2009.
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| Pembroke Port |
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| Defensible Barracks |
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| Moat around Defensible Barracks |
We then followed the Pembroke
River through woods and farmlands to Pembroke Castle where our path took us
around the lake that surrounds the castle. More about this in a future post.
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| Woodland path |
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| Pembroke Castle |
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