Pembrokeshire, Wales

[lugg]

I have just spent a few nights in Pembrokeshire staying in a lovely old cottage in a village in Stackpole. We were so lucky with great weather the first day , but the second was dreadful – driving rain so unfortunately a lot of the outdoor pics taken that day are rubbish due my failure to keep the rain off the lens.
Stackpole Estate itself is now owned by the National Trust and is bordered by the Pembrokeshire Coast National park. The coastal area is stunningly beautiful.

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Anyway here are a few of the many photos I took.

Our home for the weekend was in the tiny village of stackpole itself just a hop and a spit from the pub which has a fine reputation- pefect



Before wandering over to the village pub on the Friday evening we walked down to Stackpole Quay.
The Quay was used previously for shipping out limestone from the quarries and bringing in luxury goods for the Cawdors once the owners of Stackpole. Now it is home to just a few fishing boats



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The sunset was glorious as we walked back to the cottage

   

[lugg]

Next day we went early to shop to buy some fish and fresh bread for our evening meal. We decided on Hake which we bought for a remarkably cheap price compared to what we would pay at home. We also bought brown crab meat for our lunch time beach picnic.



Then we set off for a long circular walk along the coastal path coming back through the ponds at Bosherton.
Leaving Stackpole and heading across the fields and through the wood to the coast path







I liked the interesting shapes in the bark of this tree



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We reach the first beach – the beautiful Barafundle. I have some very happy memories of this beach as we visited it often when the children were small.





It never gets very busy even at the height of Summer as there is no nearby road and access is down steep stairs

 



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One brave soul was heading for a swim –others stayed dry and enjoyed the fishing from their kayaks
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We crossed the beach after a paddle and headed up the cliff on the other side, could not resist taking a few more of Barafundle as I looked back


 


Along the cliff top were a variety of wild flowers , most of which I failed to photo
Serratula tinctoria- Saw-wort


The path was often amongst bracken



Sometimes passing close to the crumbling cliff face





Finally we reached Broad Haven beach and lunch stop.



Not quite as beautiful as Barafundle but a very pleasant beach.




   

[lugg]

After a very nice crab sandwich, a welsh cake and a bottle of fizz (2 of the party were celebrating birthdays, but really no excuse is needed) we set off again, walking along the river until we left the beach and reached the 18 acres of ponds on Stackpole Estate.









A Mermaids Purse - possibly from a skate ?









Although the ponds are famed for their lilies there are none in the section that we walked ue to the run off from the fertiliser used on the fields







I imagine that in another few weeks the reflections will be even more colourful as the leave colours change



The imaginatively named Eight Arch Bridge


There were many swans dabbling at the weed
   

And this chap was particularly handsome as he displayed his feathers to a couple of females








After crossing the bridge we were back to the start of our walk and soon home.

[htmb]

Oh, Lugg, this looks like heaven on earth! What beautiful beaches, and such a delightful for a walk! Are the ponds tidal pools, or are they freshwater? I loved seeing the pictures of the beautiful heron, too. He looks very similar to herons we have here. except ours are darker in color.

[lugg]

Thank you Htmb , the ponds are all freshwater and artifically created.

[lugg]

The next day the weather was completely different with high winds , stormy seas and driving rain . Our planned boat trip was off .
You can just about see the stormy sea through the rain spots on my camera lens






So instead we visited St Davids and its cathedral. The Queen granted St Davids city status in 1994 but it is the size of village ( in terms of land and its population )
St David or Dewi Sant is of course the patron saint of Wales and he built a monastery in the 500s . The current cathedral is built on the same site but dates from the 10th century and has survived Viking raids , an earthquake in the 13th century and the reformation.

The following is taken from the cathedral website
In the twelfth century Pope Calixtus II declared St Davids Cathedral to be a place of pilgrimage. It was at this time that the medieval shrine was constructed and situated in the presbytery, close to the High Altar. Pope Calixtus II also stated that the shrine was so important that two pilgrimages to St Davids were equivalent to one to Rome, three were equivalent to one to Jerusalem. Since then the path of pilgrimage has been trodden by hundreds of thousands of individuals. The destruction of the Shrine during the reformation caused a steep decline in this important religious practice; however, throughout the periods of religious and political turmoil pilgrims have continued to visit the site.









There is evidence of the impact made by the earthquake throughout the cathedral , where windows and doors have had to be re-sited and re-built. The sloping floors and walls give it a slightly crooked house appearance.

 

The Nave is the oldest part of the cathedral, the wooden ceiling is required due to the sloping walls ( in common with many other parts of the cathedral )



 

Dewi Sant



The shrine to St David has recently been refurbished by modern day Welsh artists
The back- the icon of the woman is St Non , mother of St David



The Front




The floor tiles are less modern - 15th/ 16th century



 


Many parts of the cathedral have the most beautifully decorated wooden ceilings, some are beautiful in their simplicity













 

An occasional stone ceiling can be found in smaller chapels,

[lugg]

The choir built in late 15th century has a specially reserved seat for the reigning monarch who is a permanent member of the choir,





The Bishop's seat looks more comfortable than the sovereign’ s



Wall decoration behind the high altar



Of course there are some magnificent windows;

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Some very nice doors;





Reliquaries ; – These contain what are believed to be the bones of St David

   

Lots of tombs & effigies;

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Additional to the shrine of St David there are also some other more recent additions









That’s it folks , hope you enjoyed seeing two different aspects of Pembrokeshire.

[mich64]

Wow! Outstanding photos! The hiking trails and beaches are wonderful. Do you have any photos of the Pub? I particularly enjoyed the photo of the painted wooden ceiling and would love to visit to see this in person.

[bjd]

Beautiful, Lugg. The ceilings in the cathedral are particularly interesting.

When I see modern additions to churches or cathedrals, I keep hoping that in a few hundred years they will take on the beauty of the old stuff.

[htmb]

It"s too bad your boat trip was cancelled, but the difference in the weather from day one to day two really shows up well in your photos. The architectural details in the cathedral are most interesting. I would also love to visit.

Any toe problems on the trip? I hope not.

[lugg]

Thank you all.

The DIY on my toe was effective thank you htmb - at least in the short term. ;D

Mich - I did not get any photos of the pub but here is a link to the web site and there is a gallery on it,

www.stackpoleinn.co.uk/home.html

We ate there twice and had lovely meals

I absolutely agree bjd and I suppose all the additions looked modern at some time.

[mich64]

Thank your Lugg for the link of the Pub / B&B. It would be a wonderful choice to stay in this area. I had at one time been considering Wales after visiting family I have in Tiverton (Devon, UK area). I thought it would be a beautiful addition to the trip and now I am convinced from seeing your photos.

[Deleted]

Really beautiful weather to be outside on the first day and perfect weather to visit the cathedral instead on the next day. You can never count on the weather in this part of Europe, can you?

In any case, the photographs are outstanding and I am particularly fascinated by the cathedral, which is so different from the ones in France. I can't quite say that "all cathedrals look alike in France" because there are some surprises from time to time, but St. David's seems to have tons of diversity all mixed together into the same edifice -- and it blends together perfectly.

Thanks for allowing us to discover this.

[nycgirl]

Wow, Wales sure looks like a beautiful country. That Barafundle beach is especially gorgeous. It must be nice not having to share that with hordes of people.

I can't believe I somehow missed this thread until now. Now I see where you've been getting your terrific Image Bank material.

[lugg]

Hi Mich ,certainly South wales is do-able from Devon crossing the Bristol Channel by one of the bridges

Thank you K2 - I think St Davids is in some ways quite different to English cathedrals but one day I will post a number from Hereford cathedral for comparison.

NYCgirl- no need to apologise there is so much on the AP to read and catch up with , glad you found your way here.

[lola]

Wow, beautiful, lugg. Thanks so much for sharing it. I'd love to visit there sometime.

There appears to be some B&B's and other places to stay. How far from your cottage did you have to go for groceries or a cooked meal?

And would this have been where the Thane of Cawdor hung out?

[lugg]

Thanks Lola

A cooked meal - just a few yards to the village pub which has very good food and ale

Groceries - there is no shop in the village so the closest shopping is probably Pembroke which is about 4 miles . A car is needed as there is very limited public transport in this area. However the fish shops are fantastic - straight from the sea and very cheap compared to inland prices

The Thanes of Cawdor- Yes one of the Campbells married the heiress to Stackpole estate in the 1600s and it stayed in the family until the 1970s .Unfortunately there is nothing left of the house now.

The Literary Thane - No -Macbeth is associated with Nairn Castle in Scotland the ancestral seat of the Thanes of Cawdor but even that is not true as it was not built until several hundred years after Macbeth's death.

[bixaorellana]

What a twit I am, to just now be stumbling over this fabulous thread!

Lugg, this is not only gorgeous, but extremely interesting as well. Your beach & cliff pictures perfectly show why Wales is such a place of legendary magic. And the bird & flower photos ~~ stunning!

The freshwater ponds are really surprising. For one thing, one would think the ground would be too porous for man-made ponds & for another, that there would be seepage to eventually turn the ponds brackish. The wildlife seems quite happy with them, in any event. When you said lilies, did you mean water lilies?

And speaking of man-made, to me the cathedral is endlessly interesting. It's a fun puzzle trying to figure out what was built when. But it also is most affecting in the marriage of faith to what must have been innovative architectural solutions at the time.

Thanks so much for this wonderful look at your trip. Go back often so I can be even more jealous!

[htmb]

I've enjoyed going back through this beautiful thread. I'd love to visit the area someday.