Today we went to the North Pole! We took the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park North Pole walk and extended it slightly. We took the Strumble Shuttle bus to Pontiago, a rather long but interesting ride as the bus goes all the way out to Strumble Head and back again before getting to Pontiago. We fell at the first hurdle by trying to follow the marked footpath from the centre of the village to meet the official walk route. This lead into someone's garden and a very nice garden is was too. It was really a field that has been converted into a garden with sculptures and wild parts with paths cut through the grass. There was no way out! We gave up and retraced our steps, taking the road out of the village until we got to the point where the walk crossed it.
We soon diverted from the route to go up the Garn Gilfach hill where wanted to see a burial chamber and standing stone. I had the intention of walking over this Access Land (free access land) to find the burial chamber but discovered that the land was covered in low gorse and brambles and we had to follow two foot paths to get there. We found the chamber just below a rocky outcrop with wonderful views over the countryside and the sea. From here it was only a couple of hundred metres to the standing stone and to get us back onto the walk route. We tried to get through but were defeated by the gorse and brambles that would have torn our legs to pieces by the time that we reached the footpath. This meant a long route round but it did take us through a field full of huge rocks, glacial erratics but looking as if they were part of a ritual prehistoric site.
We then started on our extension to the walk by going through Trehowel Farm to Carregwastad Point. It was at Carregwastad Point that the last invasion of British soil took place. In 1797 French troops landed hoping to be greeted as liberators by Britons keen on revolution. They intended to land at Bristol but were blown off course – an inauspicious start to their campaign. And it got worse! Although there were 1400 soldiers they were not an impressive army, some were recently released prisoners still shackled when they set off. A few hundred metres inland they found Trehowel Farm and made this their base. Unfortunately for them, a wedding was planned at the farm and it was stocked with large amounts of food and drink, much of which had been 'liberated' from a Portuguese shipwreck. This proved too much of a temptation for the French and they soon got drunk. After two days they surrendered at Fishguard claiming that they had seen thousands of British troops. There was no army but they would have seen the Welsh women in their traditional red shawls and stovepipe hats and they mistook these for British Redcoats. One local 47 year woman who became known as the 'Welsh Heroine' captured fourteen French soldiers using a pitchfork!
We picnicked at Carregwastad point eating French Brie but, unfortunately, we didn't have any Portuguese wine to wash it down otherwise we would have drunk to the heath of the Welsh women. Still, it was very hot and we were better off drinking water – just as the French would have been!
We intended to walk a little further west along the coast but we had wasted a lot of time on Garn Gilfach and we had to ensure that we didn't miss the bus back. We walked up to Llanwnda and stopped to take a look at its fascinating church named after the Breton St. Gwyndaf. The church dates back to before the 8th century, has a Norman font, a lepers' squint and has many 7th to 9th century inscribed stones incorporated in the external walls. One of the 15th century roof beams has the figure of a monk carved into it and there is a copy of a 1620 bible in the Welsh language. Well worth the visit.
A short walk on brought us back to Pontiago for the bus back.
We had bought some Gwaun Valley pork chops at Square and Compass and I got the gas barbecue out for the first time on the trip. They were sizzling nicely when the sound of the sizzle started to diminish – the gas had run out! The van grill came into operation and, sometime later, we sat down to some very tasty chops.
Photos: Carregwastad where the French invasion landed; Trehowel Farm where the French enjoyed Portuguese wine; The fascinating church of St. Gwyndaf at Llanwnda.
No comments:
Post a Comment