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Off for a week in Wales tomorrow, cottage near Newport Sands (SA42 0NU). Looks pretty remote. Given that it's going to be wet, any suggestions for things to do, apart from drinking beer and watching the DVDs we've bought to take with us? :)
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Put a bike rack on the back and...oh, do you have a bike rack?
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I assume you'll be going down the M4 towards Swansea to get there. So allow a bit of extra time for the tunnels at Newport on the M4. There's a 30mph limit going west after the lorry fire.
I recall enjoying New Quay (Cardigan) and the swimming pool in Aberaeron. But this was 30 years ago.
If the weather improves isn't there a water park near(ish)?
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Pray for good weather I guess. There really isn't a lot along that stretch of the coast. You could drive down to Cardigan and buy some sweets in Yum Yums
www.yumyumsweets.co.uk/
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I bet the weather isn't as bad as you're dreading (fingers crossed) for the whole week. Chill out and enjoy the break.
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You'll be suprised, the weather on the coast is often different from that inland. Spent a week in wales this year when the rest of the country was pretty crappy, and only got one afternoon of rain where we were.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 4 Aug 11 at 22:31
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>>" You'll be suprised, the weather on the coast is often different from that inland. Spent
>> a week in wales this year when the rest of the country was pretty crappy,
>> and only got one afternoon of rain where we were."
>>
That's very true and it is also likely to be different along the St Bride's Bay coast to the Cardigan Bay coast. St Davids is an interesting place to visit.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Thu 4 Aug 11 at 22:39
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Seconded for St Davids, the coast road from there to Fishguard has some nice little villages with secluded beaches and good eating houses too. For a decent meal with a scenic view across the harbour the Fishguard Bay Hotel is worth a visit.
And we do have our own little micro climate down here, it can be warm and sunny when the rest of the county is covered in cloud and rain. There's a motor museum at Simpson's Cross on the road from Haverfordwest to St Davids, though I've never visited.
Last edited by: Robin Regal on Thu 4 Aug 11 at 22:50
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Thanks guys - should be enjoyable whatever the weather. Thanks for the reminder about the tunnels. Actually I was wondering about the route between Carmarthen and Newport - Google Maps tells me to roughly go diagonally between the 2 (via Trelech), but the roads are barely visible. Might it be better to take less direct but bigger roads eg. north via Newcastle Emlyn?
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Head for Haverfordwest from Carmarthen and then towards Cardigan taking the B4329 over the Preselis to Eglwyswrw, just north of Newport. You always seem to get stuck behind something slow on the Newcastle Emlyn route.
And if you see a maroon Astra with an Irish flag sticker on the tailgate (covering an ugly scratch) give a toot and a flash.
Last edited by: Robin Regal on Thu 4 Aug 11 at 23:00
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>> Head for Haverfordwest from Carmarthen
Thanks RR.
To understand why I asked, look at this streetview of part of the suggested route:
tinyurl.com/3ewon9c
!!
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Do you routinely plan and navigate with Google maps? I'd not.
Surprised at the street view image in the link - that is so wrong as a road to use!
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>> Surprised at the street view image in the link - that is so wrong as
>> a road to use!
>>
Wanna bet?
I probably spend a good 30% of my working day driving on roads like that; in a 6-wheeler Volvo! It's only wrong when you're confronted with a satnav-equipped first-time caravan tourist who can't even reverse his car solo, and I come across several of those every week this time of year.
The problem is that many of the "direct" routes in our area aren't direct at all; but if you look closely at the OS maps you'll see that there are many virtually straight routes which are now minor roads. Many are the old drovers' roads. I've long held the view that the afore-mentioned OS maps are by far the best to use in Wales for that very reason.
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I got as far as Mumbles on Sunday gone. And then had to drive home. I will remember the issue for sat nav for next time! Nice drive home avoiding motorways until the M53. Took a lot longer of course.
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Harleyman lives around there somewhere....sure he'll have some recommendations. Solva is a really cool place just down the coast from St David's as is Newgale. Pembroke Castle is good and I believe there is some sort of Museum as it was used for Sunderland Flying Boats in the war. Newquay is a quaintly nice town, but no doubt very busy this time of the year. Tresaith is good for Dolphins etc...a very good pub there (Purple Moose Beer) and you can Dolphin watch from the pub.
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Yes Solva is very cool in an arty hippy kinda way.
I like the pembroke coast, must go back some day.
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"Yes Solva is very cool in an arty hippy kinda way."
Lots of boaty people too. Nearby is St Elvis's church with a shrine to the saint. It made me smile when i came across it.
Tenby is a very nice walled seaside town more up-market than most with some nice cafes restaurants and pubs and two superb beaches. Bit of a drive from from Newport though. Parking can be a bit of a problem.
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>> Harleyman lives around there somewhere....
Carmarthen actually.
A word to the wise; avoid the Carmarthen area after 8pm for the next four days, the bright sparks that are the Highways Agency have decided to re-surface the A40; that's right slap in the middle of the holiday season!
Daytime's fine but the night-time diversion takes you right through Carmarthen town, got caught in it tonight.
All good suggestions so far; the weather's not been too bad last couple of weeks or so, yes it will rain sometimes but don't put too much faith in the forecasts!
I'd avoid Tenby if I were you; nice place but very busy this time of year. Saundersfoot is a more pleasant alternative.
I'd also suggest Carew Castle, and Cresswell Quay; do visit the pub at the latter, it's a marvellous time-warp, but be warned they don't serve food. Narberth is worth a visit too, some decent local shops in a relatively unspoilt small market town with some interesting history. Good restaurants abound, many serving local produce; Welsh Black beef, seafood, cheeses etc.
On your way down, or for a day trip, I'd recommend a visit to Laugharne, Dylan Thomas' former home. Best done mid-week; in the same area there's the Museum of Speed at Pendine, home to the famous "Babs".
Croeso i Cymru.... hywl!
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>> Croeso i Cymru.... howl!
Well Harleyman cannot be Welsh then as it would be: Croeso i Gymru!
There's a mutation of the C to a G after the 'i' :-)
That's a simple one... Cardiff = Caerdydd, and in = yn, so 'in Cardiff' is: 'yng Nghaerdydd'.
P.S. Of course ngh is a single letter in the Welsh alphabet.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Fri 5 Aug 11 at 00:09
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Guilty, I'm a Saes!
I did consider learning Welsh, but didn't want to embarrass half the natives. ;-)
Last edited by: Harleyman on Fri 5 Aug 11 at 00:14
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Are there any young Focuses, or are you and Mrs F young at heart?
If so, another vote for Saundersfoot, which is quite small, but is the type of seaside resort unique to Great Britain.
Mllford Haven is worth a look if you like industrial landscapes, and there might be some big ships chugging in and out.
Take binoculars, if you have any.
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Another place to consider - perhaps on the way to or from - is Pendine Sands.
Wide open spaces, which you could drive along at one time, although I expect twocing put a stop to that.
Malcolm Campbell and others tried to set speed records there in the 1920s.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendine_Sands
www.pendineonline.org/
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>> Another place to consider - perhaps on the way to or from - is Pendine
>> Sands.
As mentioned by Iffy and Harleyman - it's still being used in attempts to break records, albeit electric ones:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-14522963
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Ok, electric ones and grass-cutting ones :)
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>>
>> Mllford Haven is worth a look if you like industrial landscapes, and there might be
>> some big ships chugging in and out.
>>
>>
Dagenham by the sea.
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>> >>Of course ngh is a single letter in the Welsh alphabet.
>>
That must make Welsh Scrabble quite complicated.
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>> On your way down, or for a day trip, I'd recommend a visit to Laugharne,
>> Dylan Thomas' former home.
I'll second that. My mum's B&B is close by, and I know the beach there well. Excellent place to go for a bracing stroll and to give the dog a run. I especially enjoy it in the winter, although the dog often gets bogged down and has to be rescued!
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Well it was a pretty easy journey - after the M4 went along the A48/A40 as far as the A478, up that and across. Only hold up was a 10 or 15 minute wait to pay at the M4 toll, despite the road being quite quiet. The 30mph tunnel section was fine.
Weather has been lovely since we got here - played a bit of cricket on the beach, with the dog being very handy behind the stumps. It's just me, Mrs F, 14 year old son and dog (4) at the moment, although stepsons (20s) are joining us later for the weekend to drink our beers.
Thanks for the suggestions as to what to do - didn't feel like stopping off on the way, apart from a break for us and the dog at Cardiff West services, but we'll be looking around in the next few days. I did notice signs for an iron age fort nearby, which is supposed to be worth a visit, and a couple of burial chambers - old ones I think...
Lovely cottage, should be a good week.
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Glad you enjoyed....off down to St David's on Sunday with some friends on our bikes. Camping. Hope the weather settles down a bit !
Trouble is I'm going down south the following weekend for a wedding.....
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If you love glorious sandy beaches try Freshwater East. Find the lily ponds, just inland from the eastern end of the beach, by following the overspill water course. You can walk right round the ponds - they are delightful.
Visit Manorbier - beach & castle.
For a more remote beach, accessed by a cliff top walk do try Barafundle - sheer magic. We went there one bright New Year's Day and it was so relaxing. Just us.
We have happy memories of the years we lived in Pembrokesire (well, mostly happy apart from our failed business!).
We would have chosen to live there, like a shot, on our return from Spain, but house prices are now well out of our reach,
Last edited by: Roger on Sun 14 Aug 11 at 22:18
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What to do in Newport Sands - Runfer D'Hills
