Paul Shorrock – One Man's Mountains AKA One Pillock's Hillocks

Musselwick Sands near Marloes

The Pembrokeshire Coastal Path around St Ann’s Head (see post #206) had been a good day out, so good in fact that this mountain man was ready for another bit of coast the next day.    Repeating the winning formula, we went for another circular route, made possible by leaving the path, then re-joining it for the return leg after visiting the local pub  – it’s good to have a plan!

Marloes route (in blue) and St Ann’s Head route (in red – post #206)

Wooltack Point and Marloes route

Setting out at Wooltack Point

Old Coastguard lookout station at Wooltack Point

A room with a view

Border Collie ‘Mist’ having a good time

We joined the Coastal Path at Wooltack Point, near the tiny harbour of Martin’s Haven, but briefly left the path to go out to the headland via the old coastguard lookout station.  The view out to the islands was great, and we also had a good preview of our first bit of coast.

Back on the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path

Natural rock archway created by the waves

‘Rainy Rock’ on a non-rainy day

Striding out along the cliff tops

One characteristic of walking along coastal paths is the amount of ‘up and down’ that takes place – because of this, coastal walking is rarely an easy option, as every stream heading to the sea usually results in a plunging valley where height is lost then regained.    This wasn’t the case for most of this route, resulting in an easy, level path – I found myself thinking that I could get used to this sort of thing.

First view of Gateholm Island

The first notable point along the way was the unmistakable outline of Gateholm Island.  Despite the name, it’s possible to cross the narrow gap between island and mainland at low water – what’s more, the intrepid can take an easy rock-climbing route to gain the flat plateau, which is about ten acres in area.

Looking out to Gateholm from the Coastal Path ….

…. and the view looking back to Gateholm

At one time the island contained about 130 roundhouses built at the time of the Roman Occupation, but the island continued to be used after the Romans left, and may well have been the site of an early Celtic Christian settlement.    It was interesting enough to tempt BBC archaeologists to film there in 2012 for the ‘Time Team’ program, but they used a cableway to get on to the island – the previous residents in Roman times probably found the rock route a bit awkward when popping out to the local Tesco.

First view of Marloes Sands

The easy way to the beach for the tourists

Looking back towards the Coastal Path

Marloes Sands

Beyond the island, we had our first view of Marloes Sands.    On a coastline full of unspoilt sandy beaches, this was the jewel in the crown.    There is an approach for the tourists which involves a half-mile walk in, losing almost 50 metres in height.    This is a sufficient deterrent to keep the truly idle away, and even on a warm, sunny day the 1.5 kilometre stretch of sand is big enough to absorb crowds without actually getting crowded – there are no ice cream vans though!

Marloes Sands

We carried on along the cliff tops, gradually moving beyond Marloes Sands, before it was time to abandon the coast for a while and to head for the disused WW2 airfield that was once RNAS (Royal Naval Air Station) Dale, or to use its more nautical name, HMS Goldcrest.   Although used by the RAF and the Royal Navy for flying operations, the airfield was also the setting for an idea that was bonkers or ingenious, depending on your point of view.

Walls Ice Cream tricycle

Adapted for radar training

Dale airfield 2016, previously known as RNAS Dale or HMS Goldcrest

Early in WW2, the shortage of aircraft made it difficult to allocate resources to train Fighter Direction Officers (FDO’s).   This problem was overcome by commandeering tricycles from Walls Ice Cream, and using them to simulate aircraft.  One trike representing an enemy aircraft was pedalled in time to a metronome, with the course triangulated and reported to a dummy Fighter Direction Office.   A second trike representing a fighter was vectored to the ‘enemy’ trike by the trainee FDO using radio.   It sounds like something out of Monty Python, but it worked

The clock tower in Marloes village ….

…. but the Lobster Pot Inn was far more interesting

The old airfield is now largely overgrown, but the old perimeter track gave us a good access route to the nearby village of Marloes.    The attractive clock tower was built in 1904 in memory of someone rich, ‘knobby’ and famous – far more interesting to me was the nearby Lobster Pot Inn, where there was even a welcome for Border Collie ‘Mist’.

Heading back out to the Coastal Path

Musselwick Sands

The route back – along the cliff tops

After a cheeky little cider, it was back to the coast, heading for our start point at Martin’s Haven.    As well as marking our start point, the tiny harbour is also the start point for boat visits to nearby Skomer Island, which, judging by the number of boat crossings, must be a popular destination in summer.    I was happy enough just taking in the sea and the cliffs – with all that and a cider included, I could take to this coast walking lark!

The tiny harbour of Martin’s Haven

Journeys end – ancient Celtic cross at Martin’s Haven

Text and images © Paul Shorrock

Westdale Bay, near St Ann’s Head, Pembrokeshire

There’s no question about it – first and foremost I am a mountain man!  Still, sometimes a change of scene is a good move, which is why Chris and I, plus Border Collie ‘Mist’, were down by the seaside.    The seaside in this case was the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.

St Ann’s Head and Dale

Say ‘coastal path’ to most people and they might imagine a gentle stroll across flat beaches, but that’s rarely the case.    The reality is a path that twists and turns for 186 miles along one of the most rugged bits of coastline in Britain, with a total height gain of around 10668 metres (35,000ft), higher than the ascent of Everest if you started from sea-level.  However, Everest was a bit much for the few days we had, so we settled on a walk out by St Ann’s Head near Milford Haven.

Setting off across the fields, near Kete

Approaching St Ann’s Head

The view back to Frenchman’s Bay

Looking down into ‘The Vomit’ near St Ann’s

The first thing we had to do was to get to the actual coastline, but down near St Ann’s Head the access is pretty good, and a short section through agricultural land soon got us on the Coastal Path.    In fact, this section was possibly the most interesting, with the path running along the top of the cliffs in places.    Typical of this section was ‘The Vomit’ – I’m guessing that’s due to the white, foaming waters below, and not to the look on Chris’s face as she briefly peered over the edge.

Folded rock layers at St Ann’s

Heading north, with Milford Haven in the far distance

Coastguard Cottages at St Ann’s

We had a quick look at the southernmost point of St Ann’s Head, marked by the HM Coastguard helipad, but far more interesting was the adjacent cliff with one of the best examples of rock folding you could wish for.    Then it was time to head north, passing the old coastguard cottages, built at a time many years ago when the Coastguard actually DID guard the coast.    Obviously before Government cutbacks!

Mill Bay, at the exact landing point of Harri Tudor (later Henry VII) in 148

Looking down to Mill Bay ….

…. and looking back to the same location

The view south from Mill Bay towards St Ann’s Head with the Coastguard Cottages (centre)

Next stop was Mill Bay, where a certain Harri Tudor landed in 1485 – he brought a few friends along, 4000 in total carried in 55 ships.  Harri knew this bit of coast well, having been born in Pembroke Castle, but his family supported the Lancastrian side in the War of the Roses so Harri spent part of his life in exile.  When the time seemed right, he landed with his 4000 mates and went in search of the Yorkist King Richard III – they caught up with him at the Battle of Bosworth, leaving Richard dead, buried in what in later years would become a car park and leaving Harri as King Henry VII of England.

The view into Milford Haven from the West Blockhouse

The sandy beach at Watwick Bay

Castlebeach Bay and Dale Point

The access point to Castlebeach Bay from the Pembrokeshire Coastal path

Not far beyond Mill Bay we passed the West Blockhouse.  The original Blockhouse was built by Henry VII’s son, Henry VIII, with the aim of keeping the Spanish (or French or whoever else England was at war with) out of the huge natural harbour of Milford Haven.  The site was occupied by the military until 1956, but the only time that shots were fired in anger was during WW2 when anti-aircraft guns located there engaged German bombers heading for the naval base at Pembroke Dock.    The harbour is now home to a massive oil terminal, and in 1996 was the setting for the Sea Empress disaster, when the tanker ran aground spilling 72,000 tonnes of crude oil.

The harbour of Dale Roads

Looking out to the harbour from Dale village

The Griffin Inn at Dale (RD)

Further up the coast is the small harbour of Dale Roads.  The name Dale doesn’t sound very Welsh, which is probably because it isn’t – the Old Scandinavian word Dalr means ‘Valley’, and it is believed that the area was settled by Norse raiders in the 9^th and 10^th Centuries.    The area has been English speaking since the 12^th Century, and is known as ‘Little England beyond Wales’, and the locals speak English with something like a Somerset accent.    We found a good spot overlooking the bay for our lunch, but a visit to  the Griffin Inn delayed our departure a bit.

Dale Castle

Border Collie ‘Mist’ checking out Westdale Bay

Heading up the steps towards Great Castle Head ….

…. with ‘Mist’ in the lead as usual

A meeting with the locals

Welshman’s Bay from the Coastal Path

A short land crossing by Dale Castle soon had us back on the Coastal Path at Westdale Bay, where it was back to the ‘ups and downs’ routine and a more rugged coastline than the east side of the peninsula.  A herd of young bullocks decided to check us out, but their nerves got the better of them and they scarpered when we turned to check them out.  After that it was time to head back across the fields, but with another outing planned for the next day.

Last view of Welshman’s Bay before heading back across the fields

Heading for home

Text and images © Paul Shorrock with the exception of the Image tagged (RD), which is © Roger Davies, and taken from the Geograph Project and reproduced here under a Creative Commons Licence.

p.s.  The blog is about five days late this week – sorry for that!