The Beyond Series and Mancunian Crime Tales: Travelling the UK in a Motorhome for a Year - Week 35 - Cenarth Falls - Pendine Sands - Tenby - Brecon Beacons - Llandovery

FRIDAY, 24 APRIL 2015 Week 35

We have moved on down the Welsh coast to Cenarth Falls - a very pretty and typical Welsh village with lots of stone cottages, a coracle and flour mill museum and some AMAZING scenery! We went for a long walk one day, and we were both very proud that we could finally start getting fit again after the stockpiling of chocolate and wine over the cold winter months in a motorhome was finally over. This had to be one of the best days of 2015 so far (weather-wise) and we have already had comments on our spring tans!

The mill is in the background, nestled in these beautiful cascading waters. I think the pictures speak for themselves here, and I even managed the cool blossom picture at the top of the page. I was really chuffed with my attempts at a nature close-up shot, as the blossoms were blowing about quite a bit in the breeze.

Until the 1970's farmers used this river to dip their sheep in, and the men in Coracles (little round paddle boats) would push the sheep across to the other side, but as always, the EU got involved, stopped the river sheep dipping and the art of coracle making died with it! Typical bureaucrats! Happily, though, there is still a museum dedicated to the art form.

We had a day out at Pendine Sands, the place where, at one time, the land speed record was always attempted because of the long expanses of beaches. Today, sadly, they are used for Jeremy Clarkson and his team of petrol heads to test drive overpriced sports cars on! However, we did look around the only major thing there - Park Dean holiday camp, which I would like to stay at again someday... (they didn't accept tourers or vans, before anyone asks)

We had a day trip out to Tenby - dull weather, but a nice seaside holiday town that reminds me a bit of Padstow and Wales' New Quay. Quaint with tight streets and various winding paths and sandy beaches - Luverly! Tenby Castle Island - we didn't actually walk down to the beach and back up the hill to the island because we were tired. We looked and admired from afar!

This was St Anne’s Chapel in New Hedges, close to Tenby, where we stayed. I have always loved these little Victorian, iron, flat-pack churches that sprang up during the later industrial age to serve new and isolated coal and farming communities of the 1800s. I'd just love to scoop one up and turn it into a holiday home, but alas, this one is still a fully functional place of worship.

The main pretty beach cove of Tenby - we did find the most amazing seafood restaurant here. Neither can remember the name, but I will Google at some point for a recommendation.

This was the main house that was part of a country estate across the road from our caravan park in New Hedges. Luckily, the grounds were full of free public footpaths that took us past this magnificent home that had its own private/public beach! This "Private" Beach was at the bottom of the above house's back garden, but because of public footpath laws, we could go down to it and enjoy the private beach too. It was very beautiful and one of just a couple of quaint beach coves I've had the fortune to find on our fantastic British coastline.

We moved on to Brecon Beacons, and yes, this is inland, but certain areas of the Welsh coastline do become very industrialised as you go further south and as we were so close, I just really wanted to go to Brecon town, where the MOD's training camp and SAS inauguration site is stationed.

Brecon town in the heart of the Beacons was very picturesque, as was this canal basin. We stayed on a campsite on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park in a town called Llandovery - renowned for its sports and rugby training college!

The picture here and above is a spooky kind of monument in the town to a Llewellyn Gruffydd (John Griffard to you and me) Castle above the Bear! He did something heroic, so naturally he was hanged, drawn and quartered on this hill for his loyalty!!! Bonkers our history.

The Huge shiny statue above makes it look like Sleepy Hollow's headless horseman, and it does give one the heebie jeebies when you look up at the monster statue. We also made a brief visit to the St David's Peninsula and visited its monastery and cathedral. Lovely, but when you've seen as many old ruins as I have, there becomes a point of saturation. It was pleasant and I'm glad I went to see it because I've never been to this area of Wales before, but it is seen now, and I doubt I will return.

However, ten years on, we did actually return to St David's Last August as we did a short tour back up to Porthmadog, and I have to say it was lovely. We looked around the Cathedral of the smallest City in the UK and stayed overnight in a local guest house... So it just goes to show, you never know what is around the corner and what wonderful surprises pop up when you least expect them.😀

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