My Pembrokeshire by Paul Gogerty

My relationship with Pembrokeshire stretches way back. My final years at school were spent here and my very first - and best ever - job was as a deckhand ferrying lucky passengers across to Caldey island from Tenby. Since swapping Pembrokeshire for a globetrotting life as a travel writer and TV presenter (my very first BBC1 Holiday programme in 1994 was even shot in the Pembrokeshire National Park!), the attractions, beaches, cliffs and countryside have drawn me back regularly with my wife, two children, and our pooch Lucky. The truth is there are as many holidays in Pembrokeshire as there are towns, which is why we always keep finding something new, calling like a Siren to us from our North London home. There's bucketfulls of family stuff to do - wet or dry - and if you have willing children there's endless fine coastal walking and cycling trails to explore.

Autumn, winter and spring for me are when Pembrokeshire is at its very best; when it is unashamedly itself - rugged, wild, dramatic, and sensationally beautiful.It is also when some special events are held such as Ramsey Island guided walk (9th April); Newport Bay Spring Festival (1st to 4th May) andPembrokeshire Fish Week (27th June to 5th July)

Below I've picked out a few of my favourite experiences and places for you to enjoy at this time of year.

1. Britain's smallest city
St Davids is not only Britain's smallest city but its prettiest too by a country mile. If it weren't for the country's finest cathedral, with its elaborately carved Irish oak ceiling and fine stained-glass windows, which allows it to qualify for ‘city' status, it wouldn't amount to much more than a small town. Both St David and St Patrick chose it as home and they weren't bad judges. Surrounding the exquisite cathedral is a posy of pastel-coloured shops and restaurants, and beyond them the best coastal walking in Europe!

2. Out of time
According to The Mabinogion, South West Wales is Gwlad hud a lledrith, "The Land of Mystery and Magic" and nowhere better encapsulates this than the Preseli Hills which are peppered with Druid temples, burial chambers and the huge bluestones that were used to construct Stonehenge 5000 years back and 200 miles away. In Cwm Gwaun, an ancient forest of alder, blackthorn, hazel and hornbeam, the inhabitants still use a Gregorian calendar, commencing their new year on January 13!

3. Best family attractions
The Blue Lagoon, a fun indoor waterpark is a welcome new addition. It's next door to the Bluestone Holiday Village, it's open every day and just as much fun in the winter as it is in the summer. Folly Farm near Kilgetty in south Pembrokeshire is neither folly nor farm.  Sure it has 75 working cows, shire horses and French Lop Rabbits. But it also contains an adventure playground, a go-kart track and a zoo. Folly Farm has been well thought out with wet-weather indoor options such as treasure hunts and a wonderful Edwardian funfair, reputedly the largest in Europe. What's more many of the visiting families bring their own picnics - something that would have Walt Disney turning in his grave. It's open weekends only November - March, otherwise daily.

4.Coastal switchback
Britain's only coastal national park, stretches 186 bucking miles. Dotted with ancient submerged forests, offshore islands, Stone Age burial chambers, myths, legends and great watering holes for lunch (such as the pub where Cerys Matthews of Catatonia fame had her wedding reception). Sit long enough in these bays and moustachioed seals and their pups may well put in an appearance and, if you're lucky, an occasional shy porpoise. My own favourite stretch, like local lad and pop star David Gray, is around the headland from St Non's Bay to St Justinian. 

  5. The prettiest resort in the world
This particular bouquet goes to Tenby, according to the artist Augustus John. The internationally renowned painter said "You may travel the world over, but you will find nothing more beautiful; it's so restful, so colourful and so unspoilt." He clearly had a good eye: handsome pastel-coloured Tudor and Georgian homes stand corralled within the Norman ramparts and glorious beaches fan its flanks. The streets pitch as if left that way by an earthquake, the medieval walls and towers peer down imperiously, the oldest parish church in Wales slumbers on its grassy knoll, gnarled old fishermen's cottages hunker down on precipitous lanes, and tourist and specialist shops stay open for business year round. Offshore you'll see Caldey Island, an Italianate monastery inhabited by Cistercian monks, hibernating through the winter.

6. Peach of a beach. This is a real tough one as there are just so many sensational beaches along the coast but outside summer, my own favourite is Whitesands where the surf is invariably high and there's sensational walking either side (including nearby highpoint Carn Llidi with views all the way to Ireland on a clear day). Its Blue Flag award is one of 11 in the county as well as 32 Seaside Awards and 14 Green Coast. Even in winter you'll see hardy souls in wetsuits sitting on boards, hovering like dragonflies, patiently awaiting the right wave to ride their surfboards home. Fifteen hundred years earlier St Patrick used a very different kind of surfboard, in fact a coracle, to set sail from this very beach on his quest to take Christianity to Ireland.

7. Dog Country.

Our dog Lucky has a passion as great as ours for Pembrokeshire - the county is hands down the best in Britain when it comes to catering for dogs - there's even a brochure "A guide to Holidays with your Best Friend" dedicated to our mutts. A couple of years back we stayed in one of a cluster of handsome self-catering stone cottages adjacent to the forested walks of Llysyfran Country Park which always, miraculously, seemed to lead to a memorable pub around lunchtime. When we'd done with the Preselis, we moved on for more adventures and walks with Lucky along the coast where many hotels accept them as guests, and as it was autumn, summer dog restrictions had been lifted on the most popular beaches.

8. Eats
Pembrokeshire has long championed the use of local produce and there are many top-notch restaurants and intimate café's to choose from but do try to find some fresh fish, crab or lobster, all caught locally of course. At Porthgain, the distance from boat to table can be measured in feet not miles! Some foodie hotspots include St Davids with 3 good food guide restaurants, Newport, Fishguard, Solva, Tenby and Saundersfoot but there are great eateries all round the coast. But, whatever you do, don't miss out on the local Uptons ice cream.

9. Best watering hole.
The Tafarn Sinc - the Zinc Pub - in Rosebush, is my own particular favourite although I probably could list another 20 great pubs! The floor is covered in sawdust and its exterior dressed in a corrugated zinc sheet! A couple of doors down is the Old Post Office which boasts a shoebox-sized restaurant and even smaller adjoining bar and grocer's shop. Some counties may have lost their distinctiveness and character but Pembrokeshire certainly hasn't.

10. Six of the best
Should you be looking for something to do, there's plenty open in the winter. Pembroke, Cilgerran and Carew castles each have their intermingled tales to tell but if you want a bit of living history, head for Castell Henllys near Newport. This reconstructed Iron Age hill fort is as fascinating as it is authentic. St Davids Cathedral and adjacent Bishops Palace make for a good day out, especially when combined with a visit to the new National Park landscape gallery in St Davids, due to open later in the autumn.

11.Active Options

This doesn't necessarily mean donning an extra thick wetsuit and throwing yourself in the raging surf, although there are plenty of hardy surfers will tell you that you only get the best conditions in the winter. A bracing walk on a foam flecked beach with the surf thundering in your ears is invigorating and, dare I say it, fun! But what I had in mind was something indoors instead such as Phoenix Bowl in Milford, the Crystal Maze at Canaston Bowl or any number of indoor activities at Heatherton Leisure Park near Tenby.