Pembrokeshire Coast Path - Day 10: Herbrandston to Pembroke

Pembrokeshire Coast Path Day 10 – Herbrandston to Pembroke – 8/12/19 

14 miles, 2100 ft. gain

[If this reads like a diary entry full of personal details – you’re right! It’s my story. Some info may be helpful for your trip planning, there’s an abundance of photos because everything was so beautiful, and I believe food and drink and human connections are the secret sauce of traveling. As they say, “Take what you need and leave the rest.” Enjoy!]

Reluctant though I was to leave behind the palatial bathroom at Fields Lodge, Day 10 on the P’shire was ready for us. After a breakfast every bit as delicious as our charcuterie supper, our host shuttled Danny and me back to the yacht club to continue our trek. (This was outside of Jayne’s usual services but she was most gracious to accommodate the request.)

Up the steps and onto the path

Today’s hike was a mixed bag of woods, fields, pavement and more navigation challenges, with some surprises new to both of us. We began by walking through the Monday morning residential streets of Milford Haven. Blue skies for the start of a new day.

 

Walking directions such as “follow the most obvious route” were vague, so after we crossed the Victoria Bridge we began to ask folks on the street for waypoints. The first two couldn’t help us. When an energetic woman out for her morning exercise approached, Danny asked her for assistance and she kindly stopped. She inquired where we were from, and upon learning that Danny lived in Asheville, NC, she remarked that she had a sister in Asheville! When she mentioned the name, Danny put two and two together: she had told an Asheville friend about her impending trip to Wales, and he said that his sister-in-law Valerie lived in Tenby. Today Valerie was visiting friends in Milford Haven, having a nice walk and unaware of just how small the world was about to get. What’s that about six degrees of separation?

I spy with my little eye an oil refinery across the waterway

Alongside Hamilton Terrace we were intrigued by Milford Haven’s War Memorial Gardens, a narrow strip of green with benches, flowers and statues commemorating the First and Second World Wars. Red impatiens reminded me of the ubiquitous red poppies of World War One. Danny added to her photo collection of World War One commemorations.

The Sea Mine Memorial is dedicated to the ships and crew participating in the operational support of the HM minelayer adventure “operating extensive offensive minelaying 

against the enemy” in World War Two.

A real fingerpost

After crossing the Castle Pill via the Black Bridge, we reached a roadway that the guidebook warned was a “dangerous stretch," fast traffic around a long blind curve and no sidewalk. “If you want to play it safe, walk uphill through the housing estate.” End of narrative. While I can appreciate avoiding a long detour around the tidal inlet, even those little credit-card-sized waymarkers would have been welcome in finding our way through the housing estate. After a bit of wandering and hesitation we had not solved the riddle, but we didn’t want to go back to the busy road. Then another friendly Welshman appeared.

Well, Mr. Rogers always said that in times of trouble you should look for the helpers: 

let’s ask the postman!

When we found our next prominent waypoint, we paused to regroup. Danny quickly dropped her daypack and proclaimed, “I need a drink!” As she took a long swallow from her water bottle, I laughed with giddy relief. We had been so intent on problem-solving that we hadn’t taken a rest break and it was much needed.

Here we go cross-country toward the waterway, down shady lanes and alongside small pastures adjoining the LNG tank farm. The P’shire squeezed between the shoreline and the wire fence that separated us from storage tanks and windmills.

Near here a pickup truck approached us (on the inside of the fence) to say hello 

and see how we were doing. Security cameras?

How does the product get from the jetties in the waterway to the storage tanks? Pipelines. The extensive infrastructure built for hikers to safely navigate across this section is impressive, a maze-like series of steel cages and tunnel walkways. Exciting stuff! Danny was impressed at the effort to make the trail accessible, something that she felt would not be attempted in the U.S.

Danny’s enjoyment of the “amusement park” was my favorite part of Day 10.

The P’shire emerged onto Hazelbeach (toilets!) and joined the pavement again, taking us past pretty houses and St. Tudwal’s Church of Llandstadwell Parish and on to the town of Neyland on the northern shore of the waterway.

The Swan family having a beach day

Geography lesson: The Milford Haven harbour is formed where the Eastern and Western Cleddau rivers combine (the River Cleddau) and flow to the sea. The Welsh name of the combined estuary is the Daugleddau ("the two Cleddaus").

For hours we’d been seeing the massive Cleddau Bridge spanning the waterway between Neyland and Pembroke Dock. The one-mile bridge between the two towns is an alternative to 28 miles of roadway. It is the route for the A477 road, the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and National Cycle Network Route 4.

Intimidating and confounding, the P’shire turned us away from the concrete structure and delivered us to a smaller bridge further upstream that connected to the main bridge span.

Is this our bridge?

Smokestacks to the left of me, tank farm to the right, 

here I am, stuck in the middle with windmills

Safely deposited onto the southern shore, the scavenger hunt through the busy town of Pembroke Dock commenced, looking for trail stickers and signposts, risking our lives at roundabouts. The path passed through Victorian military defenses, quiet residential streets with chickens, and a half-mile across farmland before arriving at the Mill Bridge and our destination town of Pembroke and its famous castle.

Irish ferry at Milford Haven Harbour

On the site of  Pembroke Castle, a strategic promontory point beside the Pembroke River, the first structure was built by Earl Roger of Montgomery in 1093. Although attacked numerous times over the centuries, the Norman stone castle never fell to the Welsh. Most of the present-day castle remains date from the 13^th century. It is the largest privately owned castle in Wales (by the Phillipps family. Read more here and here. This page also includes a wonderful self-guided walk of the town.

We left our backpacks in a storage bin and joined in a guided tour. An extremely lively and engaging young guide recounted the history of British castles in Wales, the many times that Pembroke in particular was besieged, and she described in lurid detail the myriad ways its occupants could defend entry to the castle (such as pouring a cauldron of boiling hot pee from a second story window).

As entertaining as our guide was, Danny and I admitted our own defeat and slipped away mid-tour in search of our accommodations just a short distance up Main Street.

Woodbine B&B is a lovely Georgian townhouse in the heart of Pembroke and Andrea is an experienced and thoughtful host. Our comfy room was the most spacious one we’ve had on our adventure, with a private bath a few steps down the hall. I highly recommend it as a home base in this area of Wales or at least an overnight experience to walk around the town and enjoy a thorough visit to Pembroke Castle – and explore the town of Pembroke Docks, too.

Andrea had booked a dinner seating for us at The Coach House, a bit fancy but very relaxing after our long day. The first time I’d seen Welsh rarebit on the menu so I had to give it a go – toasted bread with a melted cheese and Worcestershire sauce. In true eyes-are-bigger-than-my-stomach fashion, I also tried the delicious spinach and mushroom lasagna, which I couldn’t finish, but I know I’ll walk it off tomorrow.

Cheers to Day 10 on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, full of surprises!

“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” 
~Piglet to Winnie-the-Pooh