2024 Walking South Pembrokeshire - Day 8

Thursday 2 May - Final Day

Carew to Lawrenny via Whitehills and Cresswell Quay

THIS IS THE 2nd TIME OF TYPING THIS!! I GOT ALMOST TO THE END & WANTED TO DELETE SOMETHING.

I ENDED UP DELETING EVERYTHING BY MISTAKE & HADN'T SAVED IT!!

AGGGGHHHHH!

Wow! What a lot of rain we had last night! It threw it down!!

This morning it was still raining heavily so we decided to delay the start a bit in the hope that it would ease off a bit. Still, it gave me time to go via Tesco Café and grab a bacon & egg bap and a large coffee. Denise drove me back to Carew Castle and parked up so that we could peer through the rain-drenched windscreen at the castle on the other side of the millpond. I was waiting in the car for Richard Hatch to interview me for the fifth time about my walk for BFBS Afternoon Radio Show. Although the interviews air at around 1.30pm on each of the days he actually 'Zooms' me at around 10am. This means that he can edit them so that I sound slightly more human and sensible!! The interviews can be heard on Catch-up and went out at 1.30pm on the following days: Thu25/Fri26/Tue30 April & Wed1/Thu2 May

BFBS Link: https://radio.bfbs.com/catchup/bfbs-afternoon

After the interview I could put it off no longer. 

It was still pouring down but I had to make a start. I got out of the car all togged up but no umbrella this time as the wind was a bit brisk. 

Denise positioned the car so that she could wind down the window and take a photo of me in front of the castle without getting out of the car and getting wet. 

I'm so good to her!! 

Then it was off to bag the 1st fortification of the day (after Carew Castle). Park Camp was a fortified enclosure just up the ridge and across the main road from the castle. I had to cross fields to get near it and they were absolutely saturated. I feel so sorry for the farmers trying to grow crops and tend the land in this relentless rain. I found the enclosure, it had become the pristine lawn and garden of Park House. 

Photo bagged it was back across the main road  towards Cresswell Quay. The going after Park Camp was quite good as I was now on quiet lanes. I even did a little gentle jogging on the downhill bits (training for Bristol 10K!) Well, anything to be able to get out of the rain a bit quicker. Once at the Quay I had hoped to be able to cross the River Cresswell on the stepping stones that are exposed at low tide. The tide was only just starting to come in but I hadn't factored in the deluge of rain that we'd experienced over the past week. 

It didn't really matter as I had to continue a little way up the road in order to bag my next photo marked on my OS Map as Castle (remains of). I have passed on this road umpteen times over the years and have never consciously noticed it before! You live and learn. I know nothing about its history so must research it when home!

I continued round the road and up the hill till I came to a gap where the Landsker Borderland Trail continued. The Landsker is an imaginary line running from Solva in the north-west of the county to Amroth (where I started my 100 Miles) in the south-east. To the north of the line mostly Welsh was the language of choice and, to the south English was spoken predominantly. This was certainly more in evidence when I was growing up though perhaps not so much now.

I was now walking round the edge of fields that sloped towards the river. The rainwater, naturally, was making its journey as quickly as it could downhill. I was walking through running water, bogs, and trying to cross little streams that had become raging torrents. I squelched my way onwards, the mud sometimes sucking at my boots and at other times slipping and sliding from under me. The streams could sometimes be crossed with one of my long-legged strides (I can't say leaps coz my aged knees don't have the spring any more!!). At least once I had to trust a large pebble in the middle of the torrent and my rather rickety sense of balance to wade across. No wonder my feet were a little damp at the end of today's walk.

Still I ploughed (waded?) onwards. Past delightful picnic spots complete with table and bench. All it needed was a bit of sun and it would have been ideal. No time for picnics or snack breaks today, I had an appointment with a crab sandwich! 

Past the confluence of the Creswell and Carew Rivers as they became one to flow past Lawrenny Quay and into the Daugleddau and from there down to the haven and the sea. 

 

Finally I was off the sodden fields and onto the last mile or so of road leading from the village to the quay. 

With a spring in my step I headed towards the last of my sites, the quay and landing stages which played a role in the World War II as a base for Supermarine Walrus seaplanes and a training centre, known as HMS Daedalus II, operated by the Fleet Air Arm. It was operational between 1941 and 1946, being used by the Royal Navy, 1941 - 1943 and then put into a Care & Maintenance status.

Finally I could see Denise sheltering by a 'pod' in the rain outside the Lawrenny Quay Tearooms. 

My 100 Mile journey had come to an end. 

My reward was enjoying the most wonderful crab sandwich at the Tearoom (they also do amazing cakes). 

I even managed to buy another dressed crab with salad to bring back to the chalet and have this evening once I've had my shower.

It has been one of the hardest challenges I have done, mainly due to the weather, but it has also been one of the most rewarding. It has taken me back to my childhood and all the wonderful memories that it brought flooding back. 

I couldn't have even contemplated it without the amazing support of Denise, my ever patient wife who suffered my crabbiness and control-freak backseat driving with her usual calmness and serenity. 

I am also extremely grateful for the generous support of everyone who has followed my journey and donated to my two wonderful charities, WRACA and The VC Gallery.  Thank you.

You can support me and my two charities by clicking on the link below which will take you to my fundraising page at Give as you Live Donate:

https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/margs-pembrokeshire-100-mile-2024

If you would like to know more about my charities please follow the links. Remember, if you served, even for 1 day, in the WRAC or are a serving female soldier you can join the WRACA and its FREE. The camaraderie that you'll find and the events that you can be a part of all over the country will amaze you. 

https://wraca.org.uk/

https://thevcgallery.com/

2024 Walking South Pembrokeshire - Day 7

Wednesday 1st May

Pembroke to Carew Castle via Pembroke Dock

Penultimate day walking and the sun's shining!! At least, I think that's what that bright, shiny yellow thing in the sky is called!! Blue sky, a few clouds and a slight but cool breeze - what a difference a day makes. Denise took some pictures of me next to the statue of Henry VII who was born in the castle. 

I was as pleased as punch that I remembered to ask her. So pleased that it wasn't till I the site of my old Grammar School that I remembered to turn on my navigating gizmos!! My OS App fired up straight away but it took my Satmap until I'd arrived in Pembroke Dock itself before it woke up!! Obviously takes after its owner!!

It had rained all yesterday and very heavily overnight so I decided walking the nostalgic coastal path route from Pembroke, across the fields to Pembroke Dock was going to be too muddy. It was a path that I had taken many times in my youth but probably not for over fifty years. Sense prevailed and I climbed up Bush Hill and along the minor lane past the Care Home (which used to be a boys boarding house for sons of farmers wishing to attend my Technical Grammar School) To the south of where my old school had been (it's been demolished) they are building a new Welsh Language Primary School where everything will be taught through the medium of Welsh. To me this is welcome but strange news - Welsh was taught as a foreign language, beside French and German, when I was in school!! Onwards, along the Top Road where they've constructed a foot & cycle path divided from the road by a hedge. In my day we walked back and for along the pavement with a large stone wall to the south, protecting one from the worst of the prevailing weather, and the busy road inches away. I remember, one winter, being almost wiped-out when a lorry skidded on ice and ended up with the nearside edge of its bumper between me & my friend!! Oooooh! We lived dangerously in those days!! 

I had hoped to call into the VC Gallery but I was too early so I carried on down memory lane, past where some of my father's family had grown up, past Bethany Baptist Chapel where my father had played the organ as a youth and my Uncle Mauvan's (W G M Jenkins, MM) father had been pastor. And on again to what remains of Defensible Barracks. It is a Grade II* listed, Victorian-era fortification and barracks built between 1841 and 1846 to house the royal dockyard's garrison of Royal Marines and to cover the landward side of the dockyard from an infantry assault. It was probably the last trace bastion fort built in Europe. It's so sad to see the wreck that it is today.

I took a walk on the South Pembrokeshire Golf Course which commands a stunning view of the haven. It also appears to be a much favoured dog-walking area. When the Royal Dockyard was in its heyday the Barrack Hill (the area around the Barracks) was criss-crossed with wide, well used pathways as the workers walked from their homes to the dockyard and back home. Now most of the paths are badly overgrown and the area is no longer grazed. Whilst the golf course is pristine the remainder of the land is returning to scrub. I sat on a pathway step leading down towards the dockyard and carried out an interview with Richard Hatch on BFBS Afternoon (4th in a series of 5 interviews going out at around 1.30 pm) 

BFBS Link: https://radio.bfbs.com/catchup/bfbs-afternoon

After the interview I continued down the path to Victoria Road. Once there I was again down my memory lane. Past where my mum's aunt had a school & past where my Dad's sister went to school; past houses owned by members of my mum's family and along Fort Road, past the hospital where I was born. 

I came to the first of two Cambridge Gun Towers, the westerly one, that was constructed in 1844 to protect the Royal Dockyard. The other one is in Front Street to the east of the dockyard wall. 

In order to reach the 2nd one I had to retrace my steps along Fort Road, past the refurbished historic tower that is all that remains of the original property on this site, Pater Tower. 

I wonder if this also was a Peel/Pele Tower like the one at Angle? 

Once through the main gates of the old Royal Dockyard I was dismayed to see the neglect that many of these amazing buildings have suffered. The Royal Dockyard (1815 – 1926) built many ships including Royal Yachts. My aunt (Cpl W G Mauvan Jenkins, MM, step-mother) worked as an overseer, keeping female employees 'In order', during WWI. Bossing folk about obviously comes naturally to the females of my family!  When the dockyard was closed in 1926 it remained redundant until 1930 when the RAF took it over as a seaplane base. RAF Pembroke Dock (1930 – 1959) became the largest Flying Boat station in the world and at one point during the Second World War it was host to 99 aircraft. I used to watch Sunderland's, from my bedroom window, as they landed and took off. 

The Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre is located in the Royal Dockyard Chapel which is the only Georgian military chapel which survives in Wales. It tells the history of Pembroke Dock and is an amazing place to visit. They have a massive archive, some of it digital; they are looking forward to receiving the Digital History of my late uncle, Cpl W G Mauvan Jenkins, MM, a local man who was awarded the MM for acts of immense bravery and leadership which, both his daughter, Alison, and I wish we had know about as it might have explained the difficulties that he had in later life.

From the Royal Dockyard Chapel I headed, via the 2nd Gun Tower, towards the only Military Cemetery in Wales, situated near Llanion Barracks. In the 1850s a hutted encampment was established on Llanion Hill. In 1904 this was replaced by four brick-built barrack blocks, designed to house a thousand troops. The new barracks, the first to be constructed with a separate area for cooking and ablutions, was one of the most modern in the country at that time. I'm not sure that the soldiers posted there in the 50's & 60's, including 22 Lt AD Regt that I later served with, felt the barracks were that modern then.

The Military Cemetery is a calm and peaceful small plot. The early graves are for the soldiers and sailors & their families who were obviously stationed here in the mid to late 1800's in the real heyday of Pembroke Dock. There are rows of later graves, in the style that we now recognise as War Graves, to those who lost their lives in WW1. The final rows of War Graves are to the those, including many Australian RAF, who lost their lives in WW2, many flying out of Pembroke Dock in seaplanes. 

It was a time of reflection and thanks to those who gave their lives so we could enjoy the freedom we have today.

After a quick stop at Tesco café for a coffee and bacon & egg bap it was onward to Llanion Cemetery on the edge of the town. 

The cemetery is where many of my family, including my parents, are laid to rest. I couldn't' pass by without stopping a moment. 

From my parent's grave I went on to the grave of my late uncle Mauvan whose ashes, together with those of his wife, are laid on his parent's grave. Not only was he a very brave, un-assuming man, but his wife, aunty Megan was the most amazing, caring, self-less woman, another hero.

From Pembroke Dock I headed for Carew. I decided that, as time was getting on, it would take too long and be too difficult to do a circular route to "bag" Upton Castle. 

Instead I went to the nearby village of Cosheston and then along the lane, passing close to the castle, but not close enough to see it & take a photo. 

Having got to the village of Milton it wasn't long before I arrived at Carew. Denise had parked up and was ready and waiting to take a photo of me, in the sunshine, in front of the castle.

Today I have covered an amazing 14.5 miles. It is my last day tomorrow and I'll be walking from Carew to Lawrenny, Hopefully for a crab sandwich at the Lawrenny Quay Tearooms. Sadly the weather looks to be going back to be horrid but, who cares - its the final leg in a wonderfully nostalgic journey.

If you would like to support me and my two charities you can click on the link below which will take you to my fundraising page at Give as you Live Donate:

https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/margs-pembrokeshire-100-mile-2024

If you would like to know more about my two charities please click on the links. Remember that, if you are ex-WRAC or serving female military, you can join the WRACA for FREE.

https://wraca.org.uk/

https://thevcgallery.com/