Manorbier weekend away

I had decided on Manorbier for our regular April weekend away, at St David's last September and it seemed to be a popular choice at that time.

Roll on, six months (plus), and the keen interest was certainly still apparent.As always some were staying in Manorbier Hostel with a few camping--BRRRRR!!!--and with others in dorms and private rooms there.

Many others were scattered in and around the Manorbier area in bed and breakfast establishments and one in a rented cottage.

I had seen Jon and John from Gloucestershire on the Friday whilst I was cruising --no, not THAT cruising!!--the streets of Tenby looking for a parking space.

Later on, on Friday, when Liz and I went to the local pub in Manorbier for our evening meal, we were joined by Huw and Sandy, and others coming on the weekend were there for a drink before a night out on the town in Tenby.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny, if a tad cold with a northerly wind.

Robert D, the walk leader scooped up a few who were missing from the start and who were waiting in a different car park.

Soon 26 of us --including 3 people from other groups that we hadn't met before--were ready for the off and Robert led us firstly on the coastal path high up on the cliffs with fantastic views and where there was at least one seal, staring back at us from the open sea.

We made our way inland and passed the aforementioned Youth Hostel and on to Skrinkle Haven with views down to church doors.

Then we ventured further inland and made our way back to Manorbier to complete one loop of the figure eight walk, and where we had our lunch sitting on the beautiful beach.

I think some of us could have stayed there all afternoon but all too soon Robert had us up and off again, this time in the opposite direction on the coast path, going westwards to Swanlake Bay.

We had tried to do this same walk in November 2013 on one of the most windiest days ever, and we had had to hang on to each other getting to this lovely Bay area, otherwise we would have been blown over.

This time it was much calmer and a far nicer experience.We then came inland with a little bit of road walking before diverting off down a lovely track towards a recently renovated large dovecote and eventually back to Manorbier, with Robert supplying lots of interesting history of the area, on route.

We all descended on the local cafe, totally confusing them with our orders for weak tea, strong tea, coffee, lattes, and hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows, plus an array of cakes to go with the refreshments.

It was a good job that most of us were happy to relax until our orders arrived, our just rewards, for a most beautiful walk.

That night, 25 of us gathered in a local hostelry for what turned into a very lovely meal.The staff were extremely efficient in serving our food orders, with only the very patient Huw, seeming to wait the longest.

What a really nice night we had, catching up with friends old and new.

After a good nights sleep, another sunny morning dawned and we all assembled yet again, this time at Penally railway station near Tenby, for the Sunday walk, led by yours truly.

It was really nice to see Sian who popped along to say hello, even though a knee injury prevented her from joining the walk.

As I was giving details of the walk to the 21 attendees, someone pointed out that they were raising the red flag which normally meant that we could not walk where I had intended on the coastal path, as the army were firing on the range there.

After a bit of confusion,a soldier did say we could go on the path but when we had made it to the top, and were taking in the great views over to Caldey Island, another soldier directed us off the headland, so we had to cut short that particular part of the walk, and come back down and walk alongside the road for a bit instead.

As we were making our way down, new member Jim, who had only recently moved to Tenby, joined us, and continued on the walk with us, to Penally and back to Tenby. 

Who mentioned the Grand Old Duke of York??!!

As we walked along the road we could hear the firing and bang, bang, bang of the bullets behind us, which was more than a bit unsettling.

Very shortly we were back on my intended route, and we climbed up on a lovely green path and through some fields up to a high vantage point looking down on the sea in one direction and we had great views inland too.

We eventually made our way to the centre of Penally village with its famous St Deinol's Well and lovely church of St Nicholas and St Teilo, and we stopped for our packed lunches on the village green.

After lunch, Liz bade her fond farewell and the rest of us dodged our way through a golf course and surprisingly soon we were in Tenby and walking along the promenade there.

We saw the impressive Castle walls and made our way to the old harbour area and around passed the Lifeboat.

A few decided to drift off to spend a little while in very lovely Tenby and the rest of us dropped down onto the beach and walked along the sand, back to Penally.

Most were ready to get straight off, but a few of us ventured back to the scrummy coffee shop in Manorbier for coffee and cake, getting served this time in double quick time!!!

Many thanks to Robert for the wonderful walk at Manorbier and to the loyal supporters (and a few newbies who joined us) who love this regular April weekend away.

The sun shone on everyone, with the little known Manorbier being such a lovely place, that some will be returning really soon I'm sure.

With my forward thinking hat on, what about Newport in Pembrokeshire for our weekend away next April???!!!! 

 

 

 

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