Cenarth Falls

 Cenarth is a small village on the border of Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire. The focus of the village is Cenarth Falls, a series of small waterfalls and pools on the river Teifi known as The Salmon Leaps.Visit Date September 2023The waterfalls are one of the first real barriers to salmon and seatrout on their way up the Teifi from the sea to spawn.There has been a mill...

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Grove Colliery

In 1849, after the establishing iron furnaces at Kilgetty the Pembrokeshire Iron and Coal Company considered the possiblity of sinking a new pit at Grove to mine the Kilgetty anthracite vein and provide anthracite to the ironworks.Visit Date October 2023The Pithead and ShaftThe pit would have to be sunk to a depth of 182 metres to reach the vein.The final decision was taken...

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Skenfrith Castle

Skenfrith Castle (Welsh: Castell Ynysgynwraidd) is an ancient medieval fortress with a substantial central tower.Visit Date August 2023Commissioned by William Fitz Osbern, the Earl of Hereford, in the early 12th century the castle comprised earthworks with timber defences.What is left of the remains is the later constructed fortress by Hubert de Burge in the 13th century.Built on an earthen mound...

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A Portrait Bench. . .

A Portrait BenchThe Richard Burton Trail is a short walk aroundthe forest park near the Welsh Village of Cwmavon.Along the trail is a tribute or "portrait bench" installed as a tribute to those who have hailed from the areaVisit Date April 2022The walk is a reminder of Port Talbot’s most famous son, Oscar winner Richard Burton CBE. Richard Burton was born in the village of Pontrhydyfen on 10th...

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Captain Cat.

 ___________________________________________________________________________________C a p t a i n   C a t A sculpture in SwanseaHere we see a sculpture which seems to encompass two elements of the Welsh history and culture of this area.The statue erected in the heart of Swansea's maritime quarter is of a sailor looking out and ringing a bell.The statue is named Captain Cat sculpted...

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Swansea Jack.

Visit Date 05-2022. .Today's blog was inspired after my walk took me along the seafront at Swansea when I came upon a monument to one of Swansea's greatest lifesavers and perhaps a story not known to many.I suspect that if you were to ask anybody in Wales to name the most famous dog (Movies excluded) I suspect they would answer Gelert.The reason for this is that the story is of a dog that is buried...

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Monknash Rocket House

Visit Date: April 2022. For today's blog, I am visiting another South Wales coastal bay at Monknash in the Vale of Glamorgan.Monknash bay or beach is at the coastal end of a small valley called Cwm Nash.The reason I have visited here this time is not for the breathtaking coast and cliff but for this small building high on the cliffs.This is a Coastguard Rocket Station.This is an early example of...

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Margam Radar Station.

 Visit Date 04-2022. .Overlooking the Bristol Channel from high above Port Talbot, I visited the remains of the Margam Radar Station.The station is a Chain Home Low Radar Station. The original Chain Home Radar system was developed to detect enemy aircraft, but whilst it was extremely effective at identifying aeroplanes at a distance and flying at high altitudes, it could not see them when they...

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