Pembrokeshire

Despite the pessimistic prediction of our Fishguard Fuel Station proprietor, we were not ‘punished’ with the weather today.
A bright, clear (albeit breezy and cool) morning dawned and we hit the road after some WhatsApp calls to the grandies back home.
We reprovisioned at the local version of an IGA, went for a quick drive down around Fishguard harbour then headed for Aberglaslyn National park, just over 3 hours away.
Before leaving Fishguard, we stopped at the fort on the headland that had defended the UK from the last actual invasion in 1797 (see the inscription above the door of the hotel we were in last night- yesterday’s photos).

As we drove further north, the villages got smaller, the scenery became more mountainous, English became the secondary language and the need to refuel became a little concerning.
One tiny town did have a service station, but no fuel in the pumps. Just when things were starting to look a little concerning, a service station and adjacent Starbucks appeared in the middle of nowhere.
The staff were all speaking Welsh to each other. Even when they spoke ‘English’ to us, we could barely understand it.
Never having been a fan of Starbucks coffee and against our better judgement we ordered a Cappuccino.
Perhaps it was the language problem now exacerbating the endemic Starbucks problem, because what we received in the cup resembled bitter dishwater rather than coffee. However, the caffeine boost was welcome and we continued on to Aberglaslyn Pass which was the start point for a scenic walk in Snowdonia National Park.

After a bit of lunch sitting in the car park-there were absolutely no food facilities so our self catering independence was invaluable here - we set off on a delightful walk following the banks of a beautiful mountain stream.
As we ascended, the path got considerably more tricky. One of the locals we met told us about an abandoned railway line just above the track which he had walked along many years ago.
We spotted this just above the walking track and decided it looked much easier walking than the rough track we were on.
However, when we got to the rail line there were very functional looking steel rails set on solid looking sleepers.
Being a responsible traveller, at this point I decided I needed to immediately submit a formal risk assessment to the travel insurance company for this little adventure, but there was no mobile signal.
I assured Loss that the fact that the tops of the rails were fairly shiny was of no concern- the Welsh signage we had seen almost certainly said that ‘tourist steam trains only run occasionally on weekends’; and today was Monday.
Additionally, the train driver speed signs for this section of the track were so slow (10mph) we were pretty sure we could have actually outrun the train if necessary. We briefed each other on how to press ourselves against the side of the tunnel if necessary, then set off on a leisurely walk along the tracks, through a couple of tunnels and enjoyed the view of the river from this new vantage point.
No trains were encountered (after all it was a Monday) and we retraced our steps to the car park and continued on toward our overnight destination.
We drove straight to the most historic castle in Wales - Caernarfon Castle, which has history stretching back to Edward 1 and Constantine the Great.
So historic is the castle, that it is where the Queen chose to invest Charles as ‘Prince of Wales’ in 1969.
Our accommodation tonight is a 500 year old hotel inside the old city walls with direct views to the Castle.Read more