Ilkeston Cam On Holiday 2001 - South West Wales - Part
06
W is for Wednesday - Waves, Weeds, Wine
and Wheels
All the photos on this page were taken in July 2001
On Monday when we visited St David's, I had gone
in search of the chapel at the foot of the cliff but by fortuitous
mistake I had come across St Non's Well. Today though, I was
on a mission to see the object of my misplaced objective of the
previous excursion and headed off to St Govan's Head. I knew
at once when I saw the roof of the chapel from the cliff top
that this time, I was in the correct place. Built at the foot
of the cliff, the chapel melts almost imperceptibly into the
boulders. The chapel was built around the original 5th century
cell of St Govan, whose holy well (now dry) is nearby.
 
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Carefully descending the uneven steps, I followed the
path through the building to the rocky cove beyond. From here
I could look back up the cliff past the chapel or see the rocky
formations and the view out to sea at close quarters.
Up on the cliff top, a stiff breeze was blowing in from the sea,
but down here the welcome sunshine on the sheltered cove was
mine alone to enjoy.
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The brilliant sunlight reflected off the pounding surf and contrasted
sharply with some dark shadows but I don't think the images came
out too badly. In hindsight, it was probably a mistake to descend
to the chapel alone, as I slipped and unceremoniously sat down
whilst taking these images.
Fortunately I was uninjured but it could quite easily have been
more serious and it was a long climb back up the cliff!
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So much for the waves, on to the weeds. Not far from St Govan's
Head is the village of Bosherton, famous for its lily ponds.
In June this three mile stretch of water is covered with white
lilies but by July the leaves of the plants were supplemented
by large amounts of pond weed making the predominant colour green.
But green or white, the place is traffic free and an extremely
tranquil and restful place.
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The third "W" on our tour was "wine" and
a visit to the Cwm Deri Vineyard. A flag sporting the red dragon
of Wales marks the entrance to the vineyard after a journey through
the back lanes of Pembrokeshire.
The premises also act as a sanctuary for a couple of donkeys
(below) and numerous teddy bears, some of which were hiding in
the shrubbery alongside the drive! There were more inside the
shop on the site where the produce from the vines could be sampled
and purchased.
 
A tour through the rows of vines revealed many bunches of tiny
grapes being formed, grapes that would soon be used to produce
a whole range of red and white country wines, liqueurs, mead
and schnapps that would be on sale in the shop. The choice of
which to buy was difficult but if you like a medium sweet strawberry
schnapps, then "Snap Dragon" is hard to beat.
 
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And so on to the final "W" of our Wednesday sojourn
that took us to the small country town of Narberth. That "W"
stands for wheels.
Throughout our holiday, we had been reliant the wheels of our
car to get us around and today they took us past this Celtic
Cross made from the best Welsh slate to an unusual three storey
building, that was housing an art exhibition in the centre of
the town.
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To complete the cycle of the day (excuse the
pun) I spotted some more wheels in a quiet corner of Narberth.
They belonged to an old delivery cycle propped against the wall
of a local craft shop.
As we returned to Saundersfoot, we were able to reflect on the
waves, weeds, wine and wheels that had contributed to making
Wednesday another "W" - just plain "Wonderful"!
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