A few days in Pembrokeshire
At just 62,000 hectares, Pembrokeshire National Park, South Wales, may be the smallest national park in Britain, but as they say, the best things come in small packages. Pembrokeshire boasts one of the most beautiful coastlines in Britain with a 186 mile coastal path giving access to stunning views of clifftops and sandy coves.
Crossing the Severn Bridge from England, we drove west on the M4 until just past Swansea. The roads then become sparse with only two A roads crossing the chunk of land that sticks out into the Bristol Channel.
We’d been here before during our motorhome trip and vowed that we would return one day for a longer visit. South Wales was towards the end of our journey around Britain and, unfortunately, at this point, we were running out of time and money. I’d already pleaded with our bank via a phone booth in Plockton to extend my overdraft with the promise we would find work as soon as we returned to ‘normal’ living. Luckily, the person I spoke to took pity on me and clicked the right button. We had funds. Time wasn’t so easy to replenish. Where we’d relaxed and taken our time on the roads of Dorset, Hampshire and Kent driving east, we were now staying just one night in places on the way south. We would come back.
Caerbwdi Bay
And we did. Okay, it took 12 years, but we were here again. With our kids this time, in the stunning Pembrokeshire countryside. In fact, we found the perfect place to stay.
Just above Caerbwdi Bay, in a dip of green valley, was a small two bedroomed bungalow ‘Agos y Mor’, with a narrow pathway down to a tiny pebble beach. Its location at the end of a narrow single lane road meant cars would have no reason to venture off the main road, which skirted past to St. David’s, unless they knew about the path. Luckily, very few did during our stay. We were alone. Except for a few sheep nibbling the grass in the field beyond the garden.
We quickly dumped our things in the bungalow and headed down to ‘our’ beach. Caerbwdi beach was wide at the top narrowing to a small sandy beach (when the tide was out). Large boulders made it difficult to cross but these became smaller as we scrambled down to the sea. It soon became clear that this was no ordinary beach.
The Pembrokeshire coastline is made up of many types of rock. The stretch by Caerbwdi is mainly Cambrian sandstone and predominantly two colours: purple and grey/blue. Hues that would have Farrow and Ball running for their paint mixing kit. The rocks were taken from here back in the twelfth century to build the nearby St David’s Cathedral.
For the girls, it was a playground of rock jumping and scrambling. All great fun in your wellies. As excited as I was about the unique geological features, the girls weren’t interested in the slightest, and, after playing for an hour, we skipped back up the lane for tea.
St. David’s
Less than two miles along the coast road is St. David’s city. Not the royal one in the Christmas carol but still famous as being the smallest city in Britain. We parked at Oriel y Parc Visitor Centre on the outskirts of the city, which was just a few minutes’ walk to the cathedral. Run by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, the visitor centre is a lovely modern building with a great café, a gallery and gift shop.
Considering St David’s is the smallest city, you can tell straightaway why it has city status: it’s huge cathedral. Built by the Normans, the present cathedral was built on the site of an earlier holy building founded by St. David himself around 700. Later St. David would become the patron saint of Wales. I like to take my time exploring cathedrals, mostly for the peace and calm that they offer. St David’s had beautifully carved wooden cloisters and painted ceilings. However, I’m glad we’d already visited a few years earlier, as the experience with two young children wasn’t quite the same.
The good thing about St. David’s is that it is great for little legs as it’s so small. There’s also a good playpark a couple of minutes’ walk from the cathedral.
Walking back to Oriel y Parc for lunch, we collected the car and headed back to our hidden holiday home and ended the day with another walk down to little Caerbwdi Bay.
Whitesands Bay
As with most holidays with children in Britain, spending at least one day at the beach is essential. After doing the educational thing yesterday; visiting St. David’s, we had to find a big sandy beach for them to run around with buckets and spades. It was only April so swimming was not on the list. We found the perfect beach – big sweep of golden sand, not too busy and a café near the car park.
A popular surfing beach, Whitesands Bay is a Blue Flag beach with rocks to scramble on and soft sand to build sandcastles with. Just 2.5 miles from St. David’s, we spent two lovely days on the beach.
Walking from Caerbwdi to Caerfai Beach
The Pembrokeshire coastal path runs from Amroth near Saundersfoot west for 186 miles to St Dogmaels near Cardigan. It must give some of the best sea views in Britain with its dramatic cliff drops and big sweeping sandy beaches. Luckily, we were staying almost on the bit that runs from Newgale to St. David’s. The path hugs the edge of the cliff in parts and there were a few rocky bits but the views were beautiful. However, little legs got tired and Dad had to walk back on his own to get the car for the journey home!
Newgale Beach
On our last day, we stopped at another long strip of almost deserted sandy beach with a huge bank of pebbles separating it from the road. The main road from the west bends uphill just past Newgale and a smaller coast road runs alongside Newgale beach. This must be a busy spot in the Summer as a campsite is directly opposite. As the sun set, we skimmed stones, and two very tired children climbed into the car saying goodbye to Pembrokeshire. We joined the A487 and headed east towards home.
