Goldie's Fab Four #29

My highlights, recommendations and observations

My notes come this week from Pembrokeshire. The UK has many wonderful seaside destinations but surely none finer than the coast around St Davids in West Wales? My favourite beach is Newgale, a vast expanse that never gets too busy even at the height of the season. It’s less enclosed than the more popular Whitesands, but its exposed location helps generate ideal waves for surfing and bodyboarding. Here are a few specific recommendations.

Pembrokeshire Coastal Path

There are 189 miles of coastal path around Pembrokeshire, and I managed just nine of them. It was worth it, though. My little tour took in St Justinian’s Head where I spotted seals basking in the sunshine. Get lucky and you might see a porpoise, or a red-legged bird native to these parts called a chough.

The cove below Pointzcastle Ice Cream

Pointzcastle makes its own highly rated ice cream from a herd of dairy cows on site, but even better is the small beach you can access with a 15 minute walk from their car park. We found it utterly deserted and had a great half hour splashing in the shallows.

The Ragna Exhibition

In 1900 the people of Trefin put their lives at risk by forming a human chain and wading into storm-tossed waves to help save a group of Norwegian sailors shipwrecked off the coast. Although three mariners died in the incident, many more would have perished without the villagers’ intervention. Their bravery is remembered in an excellent exhibition currently showing at the Tourist Information Centre in St Davids, featuring evocative paintings by Warren Heaton.

Siop Fach Tearoom, Mathry

It’s tempting to head into the more built up areas like St Davids and Fishguard for food and drink, but there are gems hidden in the smaller villages. Mathry boasts a decent pub, the Farmers Arms and an excellent cafe, the Siop Fach Tearoom, which has a room full of collectibles as well as serving great breakfasts, cream teas etc.