We had downloaded and printed a number of walks from the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park website. This is an excellent facility and we had already enjoyed a couple of the walks when we visited St. Davids with friends in December. We selected a walk around Angle that passed the campsite and set off along the southern shores of Angle Bay.
We soon left the shore and headed inland and up hill. On the ridge we spotted the wonderfully named 'Rocket Cart Cottage' with its high whitewashed tower. Before the lifeboat station was established, the tower was used as a lookout with views over the sea and haven on all three sides of the peninsular. If a vessel was seen to be in distress, they took the cart to the shore as close as possible and fired a rocket with a line to the vessel. With luck, this would allow the crew to be saved.
Crossing to the other side of the peninsular we came to Freshwater West and then started the walk west along the cliffs. This part of the walk is quite strenuous with many bays that the path descends to and then, inevitably, climbs steeply up the other side. Near vertical beds of Red Sandstone produces dramatic cliffs. This section was also extremely pretty with wonderful views and beautiful wild flowers – Bird's Foot Trefoil, Sea Squills, Bluebells, Red Campion, Bladder Campion and huge Gorse bushes covered in bright yellow bloom. The views are beautiful in all directions and it was often possible to see along the cliffs to St. Anne's Head on the other side of the haven as well as Skokholm Island beyond that. We arrived at West Angle Bay and found the archaeological dig that Jane had found advertised on a poster in the village. The poster said that they would happily show visitors around dig and, despite the fact that we had arrived during their lunch break, one of the two archaeologists gave us a very comprehensive tour. The site had been discovered some years ago when burials started to appear in the eroding cliff face and a recently uncovered cyst grave was visible and is likely to fall to the beach in the very near future. The Christian burials are Early Mediaeval (600 – 800 AD) and was also an early Christian church in the centre. The site is also surrounded by a rectangular bank and ditch that hints that there may have been a Roman settlement there. They had very few finds from the trenches but apparently this is the normal case with digs in this part of Wales.
From just before West Angle Bay we had started to be aware of measures taken to protect the access to the very important waters of Milford Haven. An Iron Age hill fort (now almost non-existent due to coastal erosion) sat above the archaeological dig and further up the hill are the remains of a Mediaeval tower. After the bay we started to encounter more modern defences with 19th century Palmerston's Follies and many WWII gun emplacements.
After rounding the headland opposite Thorn Island, site of one of the Palmerston Forts, the views changed. There were still pleasant views across the mouth of the haven to St. Anne's Head, Dale and St. Ishmael's, the views east up the haven were very industrial. The LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) storage facility has massive piers sticking far out into the haven where large ships dock to disgorge there cargo of thousands of tonnes of gas. Beyond that the chimneys and storage tanks of the Chevron refinery and power station dominate the skyline. Having said that, this is still an interesting stretch with all types of vessels heading to and from their moorings – pretty yachts, fishing boats, oils and gas tankers and the Irish Ferries ferry plying between Pembroke and Rosslare.
In the evening we returned to the pub that we had passed at the end of the walk. Less than 10 minutes walk from the campsite and in the middle of nowhere on the way to the isolated lifeboat station is the 16th century (or older) Old Point House. If you are ever in the area, this pub on the shore of the haven is well worth a visit. Walking in through the front door into the small bar you are greeted by a fire that until the 1990's had been kept alight continuously for 300 years. Although warm in the sun, the wind had been cold all day and the temperature was dropping quickly so the fire was most welcome. There is a public bar on the left but we headed for the small room with two tables and a dresser to the right. Jane chose venison whilst I had turbot and these were accompanied by a large dish of baked vegetables with olive oil and garlic, Greek 'briam' style. It was delicious and the excellent Welsh real ale made the meal most memorable. We finished our drinks in the front bar sat by the range, looking out of the window over the waters of the haven. Locals were drinking in this bar and much of the talk was about the sea, boats and the lifeboat – at least one of them was a lifeboat man. Two other customers arrived – the archaeologists from the West Angle Bay cemetery – and we had a long chat about the site. They had found some palaeolithic flint blades and said that there were no known flint deposits in the area. One of the locals said that there was a considerable amount of flint nodules two bays up the haven on the other side of the Chevron refinery.
Photos: Rocket Cart Cottage; The glorious sands of Freshwater West; A ferry and a tanker leaving Milford Haven accompanied by the Pilot and watched over by a safety boat; The fire in the Old Point House that was kept in for 300 years.
We soon left the shore and headed inland and up hill. On the ridge we spotted the wonderfully named 'Rocket Cart Cottage' with its high whitewashed tower. Before the lifeboat station was established, the tower was used as a lookout with views over the sea and haven on all three sides of the peninsular. If a vessel was seen to be in distress, they took the cart to the shore as close as possible and fired a rocket with a line to the vessel. With luck, this would allow the crew to be saved.
Crossing to the other side of the peninsular we came to Freshwater West and then started the walk west along the cliffs. This part of the walk is quite strenuous with many bays that the path descends to and then, inevitably, climbs steeply up the other side. Near vertical beds of Red Sandstone produces dramatic cliffs. This section was also extremely pretty with wonderful views and beautiful wild flowers – Bird's Foot Trefoil, Sea Squills, Bluebells, Red Campion, Bladder Campion and huge Gorse bushes covered in bright yellow bloom. The views are beautiful in all directions and it was often possible to see along the cliffs to St. Anne's Head on the other side of the haven as well as Skokholm Island beyond that. We arrived at West Angle Bay and found the archaeological dig that Jane had found advertised on a poster in the village. The poster said that they would happily show visitors around dig and, despite the fact that we had arrived during their lunch break, one of the two archaeologists gave us a very comprehensive tour. The site had been discovered some years ago when burials started to appear in the eroding cliff face and a recently uncovered cyst grave was visible and is likely to fall to the beach in the very near future. The Christian burials are Early Mediaeval (600 – 800 AD) and was also an early Christian church in the centre. The site is also surrounded by a rectangular bank and ditch that hints that there may have been a Roman settlement there. They had very few finds from the trenches but apparently this is the normal case with digs in this part of Wales.
From just before West Angle Bay we had started to be aware of measures taken to protect the access to the very important waters of Milford Haven. An Iron Age hill fort (now almost non-existent due to coastal erosion) sat above the archaeological dig and further up the hill are the remains of a Mediaeval tower. After the bay we started to encounter more modern defences with 19th century Palmerston's Follies and many WWII gun emplacements.
After rounding the headland opposite Thorn Island, site of one of the Palmerston Forts, the views changed. There were still pleasant views across the mouth of the haven to St. Anne's Head, Dale and St. Ishmael's, the views east up the haven were very industrial. The LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) storage facility has massive piers sticking far out into the haven where large ships dock to disgorge there cargo of thousands of tonnes of gas. Beyond that the chimneys and storage tanks of the Chevron refinery and power station dominate the skyline. Having said that, this is still an interesting stretch with all types of vessels heading to and from their moorings – pretty yachts, fishing boats, oils and gas tankers and the Irish Ferries ferry plying between Pembroke and Rosslare.
In the evening we returned to the pub that we had passed at the end of the walk. Less than 10 minutes walk from the campsite and in the middle of nowhere on the way to the isolated lifeboat station is the 16th century (or older) Old Point House. If you are ever in the area, this pub on the shore of the haven is well worth a visit. Walking in through the front door into the small bar you are greeted by a fire that until the 1990's had been kept alight continuously for 300 years. Although warm in the sun, the wind had been cold all day and the temperature was dropping quickly so the fire was most welcome. There is a public bar on the left but we headed for the small room with two tables and a dresser to the right. Jane chose venison whilst I had turbot and these were accompanied by a large dish of baked vegetables with olive oil and garlic, Greek 'briam' style. It was delicious and the excellent Welsh real ale made the meal most memorable. We finished our drinks in the front bar sat by the range, looking out of the window over the waters of the haven. Locals were drinking in this bar and much of the talk was about the sea, boats and the lifeboat – at least one of them was a lifeboat man. Two other customers arrived – the archaeologists from the West Angle Bay cemetery – and we had a long chat about the site. They had found some palaeolithic flint blades and said that there were no known flint deposits in the area. One of the locals said that there was a considerable amount of flint nodules two bays up the haven on the other side of the Chevron refinery.
Photos: Rocket Cart Cottage; The glorious sands of Freshwater West; A ferry and a tanker leaving Milford Haven accompanied by the Pilot and watched over by a safety boat; The fire in the Old Point House that was kept in for 300 years.
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