Continued from Part 3…
Today we wanted to visit Tenby, and I wanted to go back to Laugharne to see the castle when it was open, so we got up, had breakfast in the AirBnB again, and set off towards Tenby.
Tenby
From this holiday, Tenby has been our favourite town that we’ve visited. It’s a walled town and reminded me a lot of Guerande in Brittany, finding a car park just outside the walls, then walking through the gates and suddenly being surrounded by shops.
I made a B-line for the castle while Helen shopped, but was a bit disappointed on arrival. It was just a tower.
More interesting though was a Napoleonic island fortress just across the bay on St Catherine’s Island, which I had no idea was there!
You can visit the island and fort on foot in low tide, and had I planned better, there would now be several pictures of it with commentary, but alas we were there in high tide with other plans. One day I’ll come back here to visit the fort.
There were so many little gift shops and a really nice independent book shop in town. I’ve given up counting how many books Helen’s bought on this holiday, it’s quite obscene! There was also a really nice record shop where I chatted to the owner about records and music for fifteen minutes while Helen found a nice cafe for us to get a slice of cake. Yes, I also bought two more records. All is fair in love and war.
We stopped in a cafe called Vista for a scone and a slice of cake before the next destination.
Laugharne Castle (Castell Talacharn)
Leaving Helen in Tenby to explore the beach and visit more shops and cafes, I drove out of town and down towards Laugharne (pronounced “lawn” or “larn”, I still don’t know, two different Welsh people told me two different pronunciations), to visit the castle I missed yesterday.
This one, surprisingly, wasn’t actually a Norman conquest castle originally. Although what remains today is the remains of a Norman castle, so close enough.
I enjoyed this castle, it was definitely worth coming back to Laugharne for. And I got to visit the gift shop here and chat to the lovely owner again, which was great.
Picton Castle
I picked Helen up from Tenby and we headed back towards Haverfordwest, when en-route she said “Hey look, there’s another castle down there!” So I did a handbrake turn, and followed the road around to Picton Castle and Gardens.
The initial development of the land, including an older wooden castle, was built by a lesser Flemish migrant Lord, who emigrated to Pembrokeshire along with many others after huge amounts of flooding in Flanders in the early 12th century. So many Flemish relocated to Pembrokeshire by Henry I and Henry II that they outnumbered the Welsh, and eventually made English the dominant language in the region. This might explain why today so many locals in Pembrokeshire have an English accent rather than a Welsh one.
The stone castle was built in the late 13th / early 14th century, then extended with a huge residential annex in the 15th century, which is very visible from the side and back.
The interior was well-decorated, but there was nothing that stood out to me as unique here. No great tapestries or special collections, only a fairly basic estate with a grand piano in every room.
More interesting however, in one of the out-buildings, there was a toy museum! I immediately messaged Dad with a picture of the antique bridge boards, and liked the look of “Milestones” (1938), “Motor Chase Across London” (1950), and “Campaign” (1935). I’d play these!
There was another second hand book shop here too, so naturally Helen had to get a few more books. These were just £1 each though.
By this time it was looking like it would rain again soon, so instead of exploring the gardens, we opted to go back to the AirBnB and think about dinner.
Dinner in Haverfordwest
We got back to the AirBnB at about 5pm, had a little time to relax, then went out for dinner in Haverfordwest to a restaurant called the Forbidden Florist. I’ve had a craving for lamb ever since driving through an open sheep field on the way down (sorry vegetarians), so ordered that. Helen ordered a salad.
The salad was about three times bigger than the lamb, and the lamb was nearly twice the price! It was alright, but wouldn’t go back. Glad we ordered a side of mac and cheese!
Not sure if we’ll head back tomorrow or on Saturday yet because we’re a little fed up with the weather, so we’ll make our mind up in the morning. So far all we have planned for tomorrow are some treatments (a facial for Helen, and a massage for me) in Bethlehem (not that one) at a place called Scolton spa. So there may or may not be another part to the Pembrokeshire blog.
Pleased you got to see Laugharne Castle in the end. Picton looks interesting too with that strange looking extension plonked on the back.
I’m a bit concerned your car may be overladen with books for the journey home so hope you don’t have to tackle many steep hills.
Enjoy the spa and fingers crossed for better weather.
Spa was lovely, although their audio kept breaking, so several times during our respective treatments, the spa music was interrupted with Alexa saying “I can’t play spa music right now”, which spoilt the relaxation somewhat!
Helen bought a total of 20 books while away, but also read 3 I think, so it’s a 17 net-gain.
We like Tenby and you probably went at the right time to avoid the crowds. The castle on the island looks worth a visit.
I liked Picton Castle, isn’t it nice to see a castle with a roof! The interior looks very plush, do people still live there?
Shame about your lamb, you’d think with all the sheep in Wales, the price would be reasonable. Maybe they source their meat from the Hollies!
Meant to add that I was impressed by those old games especially the automated Bridge one. We’ve got the modern day version called BBO. Try it sometime.
I don’t think anyone was living there, but not sure. Only a half dozen rooms were open to the public, so possibly.
I’m much more of a ruins fan myself, but Picton was a good break from the others.