Pembrokeshire Coast Path - Day 12: Angle to Bosherton

Pembrokeshire Coast Path Day 12 – Angle to Bosherton – 8/14/19

14.5 Miles – 1,590 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!]

A few years ago Jim and I hiked the Tour du Mont Blanc and learned to relax the notion of walking every bit of a long distance trail. Weather and time considerations just don't allow for every route variation. The same applies to the P'shire. Today’s section particularly presented choices, including another unique opportunity on par with crossing the Gann at low tide.

The Pembrokeshire Coast Path passes through Castlemartin Range, one of several armoured fighting vehicle training areas in the U.K. When the firing range is actively practicing manouevers (aka target practice), access to the P’shire’s coastal route is restricted. Scheduled guided tours are offered for the section of Castlemartin Range West coastline (between the Green Bridge of Wales and Freshwater West Beach)  and for Castlemartin Range East (between the Green Bridge of Wales and St. Govan’s Chapel).

The schedule of active firing dates is posted online a month in advance.  Of course, we didn’t specifically plan our P’shire hike to coincide, but generally all activity is suspended for the month of August.

However…the Castlemartin Range Walk is an alternate route through the interior countryside, also considered part of the P’shire, and it’s always open. As much as we love the cliffs, Danny and I opted for the interior route. Rain was expected for the entire day, and experience had taught us that the open and unprotected clifftops were not where we wanted to be in bad weather.

Last night we put our heads together with Clive, our host, over maps of the Castlemartin Range route. Still, I awoke with that fluttery feeling in my stomach of not knowing what the day would bring. Breakfast was lovely, including Clive’s homemade bread, from which he also made my takeaway sandwich: ham, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes from his garden, and butter – just right!

We bypassed the headland around Angle, instead taking the road straight across to West Angle Bay. Walking through the sleepy village in the early hours, no one else was stirring, not even at the caravan park, but there were a couple of walkers on the beach.

The beach at West Angle Bay, another Site of Special Scientific Interest with rock pools 

which are home to rare cushion starfish

Thorn Island sits at the northernmost tip of West Angle Bay just across the narrowest span of the Milford Haven Waterway. Mid-19^th century Thorn Island Fort takes up every square inch of it. Together with Dale Fort on the opposite shore, entrance to the waterway was theoretically protected from invasion of wooden ships.  The forts were deemed obsolete in a matter of a few decades with the introduction of iron clad ships.

The fort resurrected for a brief life as a hotel in the latter 20^th century, then sat abandoned until a new optimistic owner refurbished it for rental by private groups. (Quiz – what Agatha Christie book is set in such a dark, dreary, inaccessible place?)

More than a dozen shipwrecks are immersed in these waters and divers are drawn to exploration. The most storied wreck was Loch Shiel, which sank in 1878, carrying thousands of cases of Glasgow whisky. (There were human survivors.)

Just a bit further out on the peninsula is East Block House. In 1539 King Henry VIII ordered construction of two stone block houses to protect the Milford Haven waterway. Britain feared invasion attempts by the French and Spanish, which never occurred. Remains of the original Elizabethan East Block House still stand precariously at the edge of the cliff near West Angle Bay. (The West Block House Fort was located across the waterway on the Dale Peninsula.) 

In the early 20^th century, the East Block House Battery (and corresponding West Block House Battery) were constructed in the same locations to mount battery guns, varying sizes as technology developed, though used for practice rather than for active defense during the Second World War. All guns were removed by 1944. Remnants remain on the cliffs.

The wind picked up, flattening the grass, and the light but steady rain stayed with us as we continued along the wild coast. At full tide, the waves crashed against the rocks with enough power to splash foam onto the grassy clifftops.

Looking back at Thorn Island Fort on the foggy horizon

Snail party time

An Iron Age fort overlooking Sheep Island and Castles Bay – during World War One a lookout

 was built within the remains

Freshwater West Beach, widely known for two reasons:  great surfing (we saw a group lesson on the otherwise empty beach on this windy, rainy day) AND a filming location of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows starring Daniel Radcliffe and based on the book by J. K. Rowling. The scenes of The Shell House were created here on May 11-15, 2010.

At this point we left the coast behind and headed cross-country toward the village of Castlemartin, walking along the perimeter of the firing range. The signage was both unnerving and reassuring, as there was no mistaking where we were supposed to be.

We know who’s in charge at Chapel Farm

There he is by the fence, giving us the eye

Coming our way – where’s the exit?

Escaping through the gate and onto the mud highway

In the village of Castlemartin, by a former castle mound that is now a good old traffic roundabout, Danny and I stopped for lunch. I think two vehicles passed by.

My delicious sandwich made with love by Clive

The alternate route followed alongside the roadway for a bit before turning off again to cut a corner across open pastures. At the intersection where the “Range East” section of the P’shire continues when permitted, we instead turned left toward Merrion Camp.

Tank “Romulus 2”

Tank “Remus 2”

Past Merrion Camp the route took us on a tour of one farm after another – I lost count of the gates we passed through. Fortunately, the walking was easy and we were out of the blustery wind, if not the persistent rain. We took another break at the edge of a pasture but didn’t linger, as our feet were now turned toward our accommodations for the night in Bosherton. The bell tower of St. Michael & All Angels Church at the edge of the village was a welcome sight.

St. Govan’s Country Inn has a room waiting for us…

…on the second floor above the restaurant/bar.

It had become our habit for Danny to go exploring while I grabbed a shower and “got myself sorted.” Hot water and dry clothes are so welcome at the end of the day. Then I took a little walk myself, met some nice folks, and enjoyed coffee and cake at the café next door. Hmmm…will it ruin my dinner? Nope.

Annette was also staying at the inn and joined us for dinner. We shared the day’s adventures - 

she took the coastal route. 

Surprisingly, I had one of the best meals of our P’shire adventure: salmon and avocado salad and an amazing traditional Welsh lamb stew called “cawl.” The food was my favorite part of Day 12.

Cheers!

“A party without cake is just a meeting.”

"With enough butter, anything is good."

"It's so beautifully arranged on the plate - you know someone's fingers have been all over it."

"People who love to eat are always the best people." 

~Julia Child