Despite how hard I worked it was still a tough ask as so much of my gear was still fairly wet from the night before, packing up the Basha was the first thing to get me soaked, followed by the outer of my tent, then it was the base of the inner. One of the jobs I will have to do when I get chance back home is to give it a good wash and dry it out properly, otherwise it is going to start to small and ultimately rot and a bit of care and maintenance will save me the cost, especially with what was to follow later in the day.
I finally got going just before 10am, which filled me with the false hope of getting right round the coast and even as far as Aberystwyth before pitching tent again.
Before that I had to get on my way, so I took the A478 into Tenby and immediately found out what all the fuss was about, I heard about Tenby for years and never visited. I have to make an admission here, whilst I have visited most parts of the UK, Pembrokeshire has been very lightly touched, a couple of times as a Salesman to Haverfordwest to try and interest one of the oil terminals with some networking equipment many years ago and also by Helicopter to visit a RAF base further around the coast when I was in the service which I will cover in more detail later on.
It is a wonderful little town. Now I am about to say something that may be taken wrong, please don’t. I have always related Wales to a certain architecture, scenery and people, this is based on my experience in both North and South Wales, now I had reached West Wales, I was actually comparing it more to Cornwall than Wales, I know there is a Celtic link but I could really see it even if it doesn’t seem that way to others. And the further I got towards the tip of Wales the more this became apparent in both the landscape and the people.Not long after leaving Tenby I came to yet another castle, number (24) Manorbier castle was originally built on land granted to Odo de Barri, a Norman knight, at the end of the 11th century. Initially he constructed a Motte-and-bailey on the site which had a wooden keep defended by a palisade and earthworks embankments. But it was Odo's son, William de Barri, who began work on the stone fortification in the early part of the 12th century.
In 1146 Gerald of Wales, the great twelfth century scholar known as Geraldus Cambrensis was born at the castle. As the fourth son of William de Barri, he was related on his mother’s side, to the legendary Welsh princess Nest verch Rhys. Gerald wrote of his birthplace:
In all the broad lands of Wales, Manorbier is the most pleasant place by far.
In the castle's history, it was only attacked twice; both were minor skirmishes. In 1327, Richard de Barri assaulted Manorbier in a dispute over family succession. Then 300 years later during the English Civil War, the castle was seized in 1645 by Parliamentarian forces. It was then slighted to prevent further use by the Royalists.
Through the 17th and 18th centuries Manorbier was allowed to decay. However in 1880, the castle was partially restored by J.R.Cobb, a tenant who carried out repairs on the buildings and walls. Today the castle is open to the public. Along with the castle, there are also gardens, dovecote and mill.
After a quick run through the woods at Freshwater East and Stackpole, I started to realise something wasn’t quite right with the bike, I had got used to it feeling a bit squirmy but it was now much worse than ever but I pushed on but not for long, once I got to Bosherton on the way to St Govans Head, I knew I had a puncture. At this point I tried to pull over near to the St Govans Inn only to find the road and camber were not helping so I pushed on a little further finally coming to a halt a few hundred yards further on in a small parking area in front of a cottage, thankfully the owner turned out to be totally understanding and even offered me a cup of tea, whilst I waited for recovery.
Thereby hangs the bulk of the tale.I tried to repair the tyre, but could find no real evidence of a puncture, when I pumped air in the tyre by way of a gas cylinder I carry with me, it was flat again within seconds, so I had a choice put the bike on it’s side and get the rear wheel off and fix it, however once I started playing with the real wheel it was obvious I had bigger problems as the rear wheel slapping around had finally finished off the rear wheel bearings, later evidence would show must have had this problem for much longer. And finally looking at this picture in comparison with one taken earlier in the trip out showed a problem with the rear end that would be even more apparent when we later got her on to a bike ramp.
Now I had checked all these things the weekend before I had set off unfortunately faults like these don’t have clock on them, they happen when they decide to.
After wasting 3 gas canisters I decided it wasn’t going to work so, I walked back down to Bosherton, initially to a phone box, where I wasted all the coins I had in my pocket to be told there wasn’t a bike dealership within 30 miles, Sorry all these 118 companies are just rip off merchants, ‘sorry we have nothing listed’ well I know they are there and this is their address, ‘sorry unless they register with us, we don’t have them listed’ What a bloody rip off. They also charge you at an exorbitant just to tell you that. Is that why 118 118 can afford all those stupid adverts on television. If you are from that company let me tell you something, because of you adverts, you are the LAST company I will ever call, that and you poor customer service. However BT get your bloody act together, before and after that, I didn’t see a phone box that didn’t state that coins were not acceptable.
Anyway here I was struggling at 12.30 on a Saturday Lunch Time on a Bank Holiday, my mobile was out of coverage (sorry as it is Orange it is a long shot when it does have coverage) The Phone box is one of the very few that doesn’t take credit cards. So in a very resigned mood I walk to the nearby St Govans Inn to ask for help.
The inn let me use their Yellow Pages, their phone for free, two local advised me on who to call, one thought the nearest was in Haverfordwest, the other said he knew of a company in Pembroke Dock that could help and we found the number.
I then made one of those fateful calls you end up making. Gone 12.30pm, Saturday on a Bank Holiday weekend, here I was not expecting the phone to be picked up.
‘Hello’
‘Is that West Wales Motorcycles?’
'Yes’
‘I have a problem and I’m stuck out at St Govan’s Head, can you help?’
‘We’ve got an open Day here today and we are very busy so I won’t be able to come but hold on’ ------- ‘John what are you doing for the next hour or so, I’ve got this guy stuck out at St Govan’s head that could do with some help’
‘I can’t come out to you but one of the guys here could use our trailer to come and get you but it will be at least half an hour’
Very feebly and very disbelieving in my luck ‘that’s fine I’m just past St Govans Inn on the road to the head, I’ll go and wait by the bike’
‘No worries I don’t think there are many broken down bikes on that road so he should find you’
‘I’ll be waiting’
What was to follow was an absolute surreal experience with some of the greatest and nicest people I have ever met, each an every one of them a fellow biker.
The guy that had been just visiting the workshop when I called was John Jenkins, an absolute saint as well as a bike nut when I witnessed the bike he turned up on later in the day, basically a road legal Suzuki track bike, that could be heard from at least half a mile away.
First of all this guy was visiting his friend when he got shanghaied into helping me out, this was done with very great grace, even though his truck started to splutter on the way back into Pembroke Dock which made me feel even more guilty. Thankfully all this turned to be was a dodgy fuel filter, soon as he changed it, it was back to normal.
We finally got back into Pembroke Dock after passing castle (25) on the way in. Pembroke Castle stands on a site that has been occupied since, at least, the Roman period. Yet its history is one of inheritance and acquisition not wars and sieges.
Norman Lord, Roger of Montgomery founded the first castle here in the 11th Century. Although only made from earth and wood, it resisted several Welsh attacks and sieges over the next 30 years. The castle establishing itself at the heart of the Norman controlled-lands of south-west Wales.
In the 1100s Roger de Montgomerie's eldest son was forced to forfeit all his British lands and titles after he rebelled against Henry I. By 1138 King Stephen had given Pembroke Castle to Gilbert de Clare who used it as an important base in the Norman conquest of Ireland.
In August 1189 Richard I arranged the marriage of Isabel, de Clare's granddaughter, to William Marshall who received the castle and became Earl of Pembroke. The castle was then fortified in stone and the great keep was built. Marshall was succeeded by each of his five sons. His third son, Gilbert Marshal, was responsible for enlarging and further strengthening the castle between 1234 and 1241.
However as all of Marshal's sons died childless. In 1247, the castle was inherited by William de Valence, a half-brother of Henry III who became Earl of Pembroke through his marriage to Joan, William Marshal's granddaughter. The Valence family held Pembroke for 70 years. During this time, the town was fortified with defensive walls, three main gates and a postern.
Pembroke Castle became de Valence's military base for fighting the Welsh princes, during the conquest of North Wales by Edward I between 1277 and 1295.
But on the death of William de Valence's son, the castle passed through marriage to the Hastings family. In 1389, 17-year-old John Hastings died in a jousting accident ending a line of inheritance stretching back 250 years.
Pembroke Castle then reverted to Richard II. Short tenancies were then granted by The Crown for its ownership. By 1400 Owain Glyndwr had began a rebellion in Wales. However Pembroke escaped attack because the castle's Constable, Francis а Court, paid off Glyndwr in gold.
Eventually the castle and the earldom were presented to Jasper Tudor by his half-brother Henry VI in 1452. Tudor brought his widowed sister-in-law, Margaret Beaufort, to Pembroke where she gave birth to her only child, the future King Henry VII of England (born 1457).
In the 15th and 16th centuries the castle was a place of peace. But at the outbreak of the English Civil War, although most of South Wales sided with the King, Pembroke declared for Parliament. It was besieged by Royalist troops but was saved after Parliamentary reinforcements arrived by sea from nearby Milford Haven.
Parliamentary forces then went on to capture the Royalist castles of Tenby, Haverfordwest and Carew. But in 1648, when the war was at its close, Pembroke's leaders changed sides and led a Royalist uprising. Oliver Cromwell came to Pembroke and took the castle after a seven-week siege. Its three leaders were found guilty of treason and Cromwell ordered the castle to be destroyed. Townspeople were even encouraged to disassemble the fortress and re-use its stone for their own purposes.
The castle was then abandoned and allowed to decay. Pembroke Castle remained in ruins until 1880 when a three-year restoration project was undertaken. Nothing further was done until WWI veteran Major-General Sir Ivor Philipps acquired the castle in 1928 and started an extensive restoration of the castle's walls, gatehouses and towers. After his death a trust was set up for the castle, jointly managed by the Philipps family and Pembroke Town council. The castle is open to the public. It remains the largest privately-owned castle in Wales.
As mentioned we finally spluttered up the last two hills before we turned into the small industrial estate occupied by West Wales Motorcycles, straight away I could see a number of bikes and riders around what was now he BBQ area, however at this stage it was only a few so I stupidly thought the so called ZX-9 group wasn’t that large, selfishly I was just thinking about getting on my way and further on my way and didn’t take any photos at the time, however I have stayed in touch with the group and I put them up. I finally left after 4.00pm.
Adam Stringer the owner of West Wales Motorcycles, relaxing after all his efforts on the day.
The crowd relaxing, it appears in relief to see the Africa Twin leave the midst of all these sports bikes.
You can just see the forlorn pile of my luggage and helmet on the right hand side of the picture; she is obviously still on the ramp being worked on.
I would like to list some special thanks.John Jenkins, who had just popped in to see Adam, who then came out of his way with his truck and trailer to collect me. A genuine one-off, who when I offered to pay him for his time, trouble and fuel politely but very firmly told me to sod off and give it to the charity. Which I will do in your name. Thank you very much.
Chris Williams ably supported by Brian who repaired the rear wheel and tyre and then went on to try and sort out my rear shock, their efforts ended up with my bike riding so much better over the following week than it has done in a long time, you would not believe. This may sound bizarre however, having ridden it for so long as it was obviously deteriorating I think has enhanced my riding style and ability, now I find I am going into corners on much cleaner, accurate and therefore quicker lines and feeling much more stable and balanced. Thanks guys you were stars to achieve what you did.
Tosh, who volunteered to ride over to Haverfordwest to go and get a bearing for me, when we discovered that Adam only had 2 of the required 3 bearings in stock, which is no surprise given the unusual nature of my bike compared to his usual fodder. It also saved me the embarrassment of showing myself up trying to ride Adam’s ZX-9. I’m not the smallest of blokes and I don’t fit very well on Sports Bikes, that and the fact that Adam’s mount has at least twice the horsepower of mine, so I had this vision of me popping involuntary wheelies all the way to Haverfordwest which scared the life out of me to be frank.
Finally Adam and Hooi for their hospitality and all the guys and gals of the ZX-9 owners club, you are a great bunch and thanks again for the invitation to stay over and join the party, but having seen some of the photos of bodies strewn on the workshop and showroom floor, I’m glad I pushed on, I can just imagine the snoring and other bodily noises in the middle of the night.
So from the depths of despair 4 hours earlier I rode out the industrial estate with the biggest smile on my face. The bike working again, the sun was shining and I had met some fabulous people.
However before I leave Pembroke Dock I must list another Airfield (17), well almost. As I listed RAF Calshot as a water aerodrome, I am going to do the same for RAF Pembroke Dock. With the closure of the naval dockyard in 1926, also the year of the 1926 United Kingdom general strike, unemployment was high through the Great Depression until 1931 when No. 210 Squadron RAF arrived equipped with Southampton II flying boats. For almost 30 years the Royal Air Force were based at Pembroke Dock. In 1943, at the height of the Battle of the Atlantic, 99 flying-boats - mostly Sunderlands - were located in and around Pembroke Dock. No-where else in the world had so many flying-boats at any one time.
Given its importance as an RAF base, it was no surprise that during World War II Pembroke Dock was targeted by the Luftwaffe. On Monday 19 August 1940 a Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 bomber flew up the Haven waterway and bombed a series of oil tanks sited at Pennar. The oil fuelled fire that followed raged for 18 days and was recorded as the largest UK conflagration since the Great Fire of London.
Following the war the town enjoyed a degree of prosperity; this, however, the Sunderlands entered RAF service at Pembroke Dock in 1938 and the last UK-based squadrons disbanded there in 1957, just two years before the aircraft was finally retired by the RAF.
Back on to the A477I had a decision to make, retrace my steps back to where I broke down or head off towards Milton and then taking the lanes around Carew Newton and Cresswell Quay. As I had traveled most of the route into Pembroke and all I would really be left to do was to take the road out and back to Angle, I decided to head off east as I wasn’t sure how well the bike would ride, as the shock absorber was knackered and the only reason I was able to go on was due to the spring being wound almost to it’s maximum. That and we had also compensated by pumping the rear tyre pressure to 4lbs over the normal top end.
Within minutes of turning off at Milton I stopped at Cresswell Quay outside the Pub there, what a beautiful setting.
On the way in I passed Carew Castle and Tidal Mill Castle number (26) the famous Carew family take their name from the place, and still own the castle, although it is leased to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, which administers the site. The castle stands on a limestone bluff overlooking the Carew inlet — a part of the tidal estuary that makes up Milford Haven. The site must have been recognised as strategically useful from the earliest times, and recent excavations in the outer ward have discovered multiple defensive walls of an Iron Age fort which means the site has had a military use for over 2,000 years. The Norman castle has its origins in a stone keep built by Gerald de Windsor around the year 1100. Gerald was made castellan of Pembroke Castle by Arnulf of Montgomery in the first Norman invasion of Pembrokeshire. He married Nest, princess of Deheubarth around 1095. Nest brought the manor of Carew as part of her dowry, and Gerald cleared the existing fort to build his own castle on Norman lines. The original outer walls were timber, and only the keep was of stone. This still exists in the later structure as the "Old Tower".
In the Civil War, the castle was lucklessly fortified by Royalists although south Pembrokeshire was strongly Parliamentarian. It changed hands three times, and with the Royalists defeated, the south wall was pulled down to render the castle indefensible. At the Restoration the castle was returned to the de Carews, who continued to occupy the east part until 1686, after which it was left to decay. Much of the structure was looted for building stone and for lime burning. Since 1984 Cadw has funded a substantial amount of restoration performed by the Park Authority.
Riding the back lanes up to Lanshipping and Minwear I noted a surprisingly improved handling of the bike and my confidence grew markedly the further I went. Back on to the A40 for a brief blast before turning off briefly this brought me close to the next Castle at The Rhos. Picton Castle (27) is a most unusual ancient building being in design half fortified manor house and half fully developed medieval castle. From the outside with its four symmetrically spaced half round towers and gatehouse entrance flanked by two narrower towers it looks like a miniature version of a great Edwardian Castle such as Conwy in North Wales. However as soon as one enters inside it is revealed not to have an inner courtyard and keep but rather a series of finely planned rooms typical of the grand country house that it is. There is no other building quite like it in Britain.
Since the 13th century Picton has been in the hands of the Wogans, Baron of Wiston and it was Sir John Wogan Justiciar of Ireland circa 1295 – 1313 who is believed to have built the present castle.
The Phillips's who are direct descendents of Sir John Wogan have held Picton since the days of Sir Thomas Phillips. In 1611 James I wanted to raise money to meet the cost of keeping his army in Ireland and he hit upon the idea of selling baronetcies. Sir John Philipps bought one at the cost of £1,095.
Throughout the 17th and 18th Century the Phlilips's of Picton Castle were the most powerful family in Pembrokeshire exercising both tremendous political, social and economic influence over all aspects of local life. They had vast estates were prominent philanthropists (being particularly supportive of the charity school movement). Patrons of the arts for generations supplied Pembrokeshire with Sherriffs, justices of the peace, Lord Lieutenants and MP's. Today the castle remains in the ownership of the Philips family and is open all year round for weddings and corporate events and during the summer there are guided tours of the Castle which still retains much of its original character.
Skirting Haverfordwest it was then down the back roads to Freystrop, Hook and Hill Mountain before getting to Burton which allowed me to take an interesting photo of the Toll Bridge.
From there it was a quick ride to Neyland which took me back up and across the A477 before coming down the other side of the small estuary which housed and amazingly large marina packed with expensive yachts for a couple of other photos from a seafront car park.
It was then through Llanstadwell and skirting around one of the many oil refineries situated around the estuary I entered Milford Haven and on the main road closest to the estuary, I stopped to go to an ATM machine and turning round to get back on the bike I spotted a number of tankers moored up at the oil terminal on the far side. There were 4 in various sizes in the process of unloading. 
Back out of town and around a small inlet on the way to Sandy Haven, I passed a couple of the new LNG Gas terminals that have been produced to accept the Gas Bulk carriers that are due to come into service shortly bringing in Liquid Gas from the Gulf.After everything that had gone on during the day and some of the industrial areas I had ridden past, I through I had died and gone to heaven when I first of all came upon this small inlet on the way down to Dale and there were only two small houses that had the benefit of this view.
As I have mentioned Pembrokeshire is not area I have visited too much in the past, in fact I have been to an Oil Terminal in Milford Haven twice on business about 15 years ago and I didn’t stay around on either occasion, both visits were in the late autumn early winter so it didn’t look as good as now.I have spent quite a bit of time in Wales over the years and I have also mentioned how more like Devon and Cornwall Pembrokeshire was, the other thing of note is how this part of Wales seems to have far more English based village names than any other part of the Country.
Coming down into Dale the view really took my breath away. If you ever get chance it is very, very worth it okay the sun had a lot to do with it, but still just look.
Back up the lane passing the turning for Marloes which have taken me right past the front entrance to the ex RAF airfield and then RNAS base at RAF Dale and the HMS Goldcrest. So Airfield 18 which may now start to catch back up with castles, as I found with the North Coast of Cornwall and Devon, there are fewer castles than the South Coast, looking at the map this seems to be the case with the Welsh coast as well.Construction of the airfield began between the villages of Dale and Marloes in 1941. It became operational in June 1942. Initially it was to be named RAF Marloes. It was planned as a satellite to nearby RAF Talbenny.
Following the war, RAF Dale was decommissioned, and the site became occupied by the Fleet Air Arm as RNAS Dale (aka HMS Goldcrest). After a quick loop to St Brides and then it was into Talbenny and Rosepool which brought me past the aforementioned RAF Talbenny, airfield (19).
RAF Talbenny was a World War II Royal Air Force airfield in Pembrokeshire operational from 1942 to December 1946. There were 3 concrete runways encircled by a perimeter track and 36 dispersal points.
Brigadier Vivian Dykes, Director of Plans at the War Office between 1939 and 1941 and the Chief Combined Secretary British Joint Staff Mission Washington in 1942 died on 29 January 1943 on approach to RAF Talbenny on a flight from Casablanca along with 10 others.
I then stopped over in Broad Haven to go to a small shop there for a bottle of wine that night and as it was now close to 6pm I was about to start to look for sites to stay, however as I was coming out of the shop I was met by a couple that were looking over my bike, it turns out he was a fellow Africa Twin owner and he and his wife had done the run to Nordkap the previous year. For those that don’t know, Nordkap is the farthest point north of the European mainland being right at the top of Norway. It is also a ride I would like to do in the future. However next year is probably taken up by attending the Cagiva Elefant owners event in Italy, which will involve a stay in the Alps, close to the border between France and Italy and a number of great rides on the roads in that area.
Anyway I made my apologies but had to get on and find a campsite I said. They advised me that if I followed the coast road I would come out at Newgate where there was a couple of Campsites.
Now I am about to make my first plea of this nature over the next couple of postings. Blokes please, please do us all a favour and DON’T let your missus do the driver on these narrow country lanes on a Bank Holiday, spatial awareness is not their long suit. Why is it they drive down the middle of the road (no problem when no other traffic is around) but then go into an absolute panic that leaves them unable to pull over when something else is coming the other way.
The number of times when I came around or approached a corner only to find a woman driver in the middle of the road cannot be counted, fair enough you might say but when then couldn’t or wouldn’t pull over it gets very frustrating, no, down right annoying, even on one occasion I had to pretty much pull up on the edge of the road, because this one woman thought her car was 2ft wider than it was, even her husband was telling her to pull over. Is it related to the age old question ‘does my butt look big in this?’ do some women struggle with how wide some things really are?
I pulled into Newgate and tried the first campsite, which had the very unwelcoming sign saying they were full, which didn’t seem to be the case, but all the warning signs around the place did not make it look like somewhere I wanted to stay anyway. I then pushed on into the centre of Newgate and just before I got there, there was a huge campsite full of tents but it did look as if it was too big for the small facilities on the far side. So I pushed on a little further and came upon Airfield (20). RAF Brawdy, which is a base I once spent a short time at, we had an aircraft land there with an emergency when I was based at RAF Valley and myself and two others were sent down to fix her and get her back, which we did quite quickly so all I saw of the place was, a Station Flight hangar, the Mess, the Temporary Billet and the NAAFI for a quick pint, so fleeting and so long ago, it is now just a blur.
The Pembrokeshire base was officially opened on 2 February 1944 as a satellite station for the nearby RAF St. David's. On 1 January 1946 the station was handed over to the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy and was initially used as a Relief Landing Ground for RNAS Dale. It was commissioned as HMS Goldcrest on 4 September 1952. In March 1953 the first Hawker Sea Hawk entered service with 806 NAS at RNAS Brawdy. The Royal Navy left in 1971 and the base was allocated to the Department of the Environment.
In February 1974 the Royal Air Force returned with D Flight of 22 Squadron taking up residence with their Whirlwind HAR.10 search and rescue helicopters. In September of the same year 229 Operational Conversion Unit (later the Tactical Weapons Unit) joined D Flight having been forced to relocate after the closure of RAF Chivenor.
The base was home to Hawker Hunter aircraft of the TWU, and the gate guardian at the base was initially a Supermarine Spitfire, this was replaced in the early 80's by Hawker Hunter FGA.9 (XE624). This airframe was subsequently sold to a private collector, Steve Petch, who is in the process of creating a website for the aircraft.
By the late 80's it operated BAe Hawk T.1A (234 and 79 Squadron) and Sea King (202 Squadron, B Flight) aircraft. The RAF withdrew in 1992 and the base, now known as Cawdor Barracks, is currently occupied by the Royal Signals, being the main electronic warfare base of the British Army.
The campsite I found was close to the village of Bryngwyn and the site itself Park Hall Farm, despite looking very nice it is somewhat dated from its layout and look of some of the buildings it was once part of the base. The couple that run it do come across a bit dotty and frail but I was assure later that he knew everything about and every inch of the site intimately.
Half of the site is for Permanent residents and the other half for tourers and tents, thankfully it wasn’t that late and I soon got pitched and set up despite a number of campers coming over to have a chat about what I was doing, believe me I have no problem what so ever, but I do need to start to arrive earlier so I can accommodate this; One invitation resulted in an invitation t watch the sunset from the verandah of a couple of residents, Alan and Kevin.
So after setting up camp and having my evening meal I did go over and watch the sunset with them and one of their neighbour’s, Steve, who had actually moved there when he divorced from his wife, spooky thing is, he got divorced around the same time I did and when that happened he lived a few roads away from me in Burghfield Common , he had researched on the internet the cheapest place to buy a property and moved there, I had stayed close to my children. Believe me it was a surreal conversation. The views on the other hand were stunning, watching the sunset over St David’s Head.
Good or what, the last two were taken after the sun had gone over the horizon. A glass or two of there wine later I made my excuses and headed off to my bed, without even doing my washing up, that would have to wait for the morning. Thanks very much for the hospitality. It really did bring a very amazing day to a very, very nice close.
Take care and as Mick says ‘You don’t stop riding when you get old; you stop when you have the best sunset ever to watch!’
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment