Walking in Pembrokeshire. Dennis Kelsall
of the car park across an undulating sea of grassy sandhills. Just before reaching the beach, swing right, the path shortly rising among gorse and bracken above the sandstone cliffs closing the northern end of the long strand of Freshwater West. Over a rise, the way drops steeply into a small valley, where you should abandon the Coast Path over a stile on the right. Towards the top of the gully mount another stile on the left, and walk directly across the fields to reach a lane.
The tide appears lethargic in Angle Bay, the water imperceptibly creeping in and out under its heavenly influence. At low water extensive mudflats are exposed, rich in worms and burrowing shellfish, and such an abundance of food attracts a wide assortment of birdlife, particularly in winter. Common are oystercatchers, curlews, sandpipers and redshanks, but you will also see divers, cormorants and, of course, the ubiquitous duck.
Go left, and then at a junction go right, down a narrow, leafy lane, which curves in front of wrought-iron gates to end on the shore. A track to the left runs behind Angle Bay, eventually joining a road that leads ahead into the village. Just before the church, turn right onto a pot-holed lane, cross a stream and go right again, continuing around the bay to the Old Point House (public house). Keep ahead, following the edge of successive fields to Angle Point, where a narrow, stepped path hidden in the hedge drops to a stony beach below.
The old lifeboat station
The battered walls remain from the Haven’s first lifeboat station. Established in 1868, it continued in service until 1927, when another boathouse was built a little further along the coast. That too has been superseded by the present station, which was constructed beside it and opened in 1992.
Back in the field, stride on around the point overlooking the Milford Haven waterway, the way becoming a hedged path and shortly meeting a crossing track (which leads to the current lifeboat station). Cross and continue with the path above the coast, again at the perimeter of successive fields.
Across the Milford Haven waterway, jetties march out on stilts to the deepwater channel, where massive tankers once docked to discharge cargoes of crude oil. During the boom years of the 1960s and 1970s, five separate refineries and an oil-fired power station were built around the shore. More recently, with the prospect of North Sea gas reserves running out, the Haven has been redeveloped to service tankers bringing super-chilled liquefied natural gas from Qatar. It is stored in massive tanks, each large enough to hold the Royal Albert Hall and, after warming, is fed by underground pipeline across Wales to Gloucester, where it enters the national grid. The gas also fuels a new generation power station overlooking the Pembroke River, putting the area to the forefront in meeting Britain’s energy needs.
There is soon a view ahead to the Dale peninsula before the path dips into the upper edge of a sycamore wood that falls to the sea below. Hidden in the trees at the far end are gun trenches, part of the outlying fortifications of Chapel Bay Fort, which lies just ahead. Emerging at the far side, join a field track to the right and walk past a couple of cottages to a junction by the entrance to Chapel Bay Fort. Now restored and with a café, Chapel Bay Fort is open from Friday to Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays during the summer.
Milford Haven was one of the most heavily defended places in the country during the period of Napoleon III’s (nephew of Bonaparte) expansionist ambitions. Garrisoned forts and artillery batteries covered the entrance to the waterway and lined both shores as far as Pembroke Dock (where the naval dockyards were situated) and there was even a fort built upon Stack Rock, which lies plumb in the middle of the channel. This walk passes three of the installations: Chapel Bay Fort (now extensively restored and housing a fine museum of military weaponry), Thorn Island just off the point ahead, and East Block House a little further round, where the massive gun emplacements are largely overgrown with bramble.
Carry on through the gate in front, winding past Chapel Bay Fort and on towards the point, off which lies Thorn Island. Finally decommissioned after World War II, Thorn Island’s fort was converted into a hotel, but has subsequently lain empty for many years. Despite passing through several owners since, its future remains unclear. Rounding the point, the way loses height along craggy cliffs, below which impressive rock folding and erosion is exposed by the tide. Carry on to the head of West Angle beach.
Thorn Island Fort
The gaunt tower rising near the Wavecrest Café is all that remains of a brickworks that operated during the latter part of the 19th century, with three kilns producing a range of bricks, tiles and pipes. A narrow band of limestone runs through Angle, which was extensively quarried, the stone being used in the construction of the forts and the naval dockyards at Pembroke Dock as well as being burnt for agricultural purposes.
Leave at the far side, passing between the café and toilets. Follow the field edge away above the bay, and after delving through scrub higher up join a track past a disused building, part of a former military installation. The Coast Path then bears right in front of the derelict gun emplacements of East Block House hidden beneath an overgrowth of bramble, while over to the right is the ruin of a Tudor fortification overlooking Rat Island.
The stretch of cliffs to Rat Island
Regaining the cliff edge there follows a long, spectacular walk to Freshwater West. Striking chasms, sheer-sided coves and natural arches follow in eye-catching succession, each seemingly more impressive than the last, and not far along is a massive blowhole into which the sea washes through a cave. The work of man is seen here too in a couple of promontory forts, one above Sheep Island and another overlooking West Pickard Bay. There is also an unusual octagonal tower, a lookout or lighthouse built above the cliffs. Inevitably, the rugged nature of the coast is reflected in the path, and the walk is demanding with several steep descents and subsequent climbs. Eventually you meet your outward path above the northern cliffs of Freshwater West and it is not then far back to the car park.
WALK 6
The Dale Peninsula
| Start/finish | Dale (SM 811 058) |
| Distance | 6½ miles (10.5km) |
| Total Ascent | 1085ft (330m) |
| Time | 3¼hr |
| Terrain | Coastal path |
| Maps | Explorer OL36 South Pembrokeshire |
| Refreshments | The Boathouse Café and Griffin Inn at Dale |
| Toilets | By car park at Dale |
| Public transport | Seasonal bus service to Dale |
| Parking | Car park at Dale |
The Dale peninsula guards the entrance to Milford Haven and, with its counterpart across the channel – the Angle peninsula – has played an important strategic defensive role throughout history.
The path around St Ann’s Head, south of Dale, follows a long, convoluted stretch of coast, with constantly changing views as it turns from the Haven towards the open sea. The way back is across a narrow neck of sunken ground, a trench cut by meltwater released at the end of the last glacial period.
Follow the promenade down to the village, keeping left past the Griffin Inn to leave along a wooded lane rising along the coast towards Dale Fort Field Centre. When the trees clear towards the far end, look for the Coast Path leaving through a gate on the right. It follows the line of a prehistoric