| Gt escapes: Pembrokeshire 7 |
| Out and about |
| Looking further afield, this trip takes in Dylan Thomas' home, a vineyard, an eco-friendly visitor centre and a glass-blowing workshop |
For our final day, we actually moved outside Pembrokeshire for one visit which turned into two. Because we were so near the home of Dylan Thomas (of Under Milk Wood fame) at Laugharne in Carmarthenshire, we decide to detour the 10 miles or so from our campsite at Moreton to visit his home and grave.
For the remainder of the day,
we returned to Pembrokeshire and visited a Welsh vineyard and an environmentally friendly visitor centre.
1. Dylan Thomas' home
To get to Laugharne, take the A477 Pembroke to St Clears road and, just before entering St Clears
turn right onto the A4066. As you drive through Laugharne, you'll pass St Martin's Churchyard where Dylan Thomas and his wife Caitlin are buried. Continue until you come to the car park.
Walk out of the car park, go up the hill and follow signs to 'The Boathouse' where the poet lived. It was while doing this that we came across The Laugharne Glassblowing Workshop Gallery and Restaurant, which is the second visit I mentioned – but more about that later.
The Boathouse is situated at the bottom of a cliff, and is where Dylan and Caitlin Thomas and their children Aeron and Llewellyn lived for four years, from 1949 until Thomas' death in 1953.
To reach the house you have to walk along the cliff path then go down a flight of stairs. As well as some of the original furnishings and other memorabilia, there are audio-visual presentations depicting his life. On the cliff path is the garage where he worked, and which he referred to as his 'writing shed'. It remains much as it was during his lifetime.
To see his grave, drive back along the road through the village and park at the entrance to St Martin's Church. As you walk through the old graveyard you will arrive at a flight of concrete steps: climb them and cross the bridge into the new graveyard. Look to your left and you will see, roughly in the centre, a grave marked with a white cross, and that's where Dylan Thomas is buried, together with Caitlin, who died about 40 years later.
• Tel 01994 427420
2. Laugharne Glassblowing
Coming across this glassblowing workshop while on the way to Dylan Thomas' Boathouse home was a stroke of luck (see point 1, above).
We had never seen glassblowing before, and to watch the craftsman at work was a real treat.
If you don't know, glass is made from sand, lime, soda, barium carbonate, potash and potassium nitrate, mixed together in various quantities and then heated in a furnace at a temperature of 1400ÞC. When working the glass, the temperature falls to 1100ÞC.
The blowing iron is used to remove the molten glass from the furnace, after which it is rolled on a steel plate before being dipped into coloured glass powder. Further heating and working takes place before the piece is put into an annealing oven at just under 500ÞC.
I have to say that the part which intrigued me most was to see the glass blower working the glass in his hand with no protection other than a few sheets of wet newspaper.
• Tel 01994 427476
Email sales@laugharneglass.com
Website www.laugharneglass.com
3. Scolton Visitor Centre
The Scolton Visitor Centre is on the B4329, about four miles from Haverfordwest.
The Visitor Centre is part of the Pembrokeshire County Museum and comprises a Victorian manor house, exhibition hall, stables, and a 40-acre country park with nature trails, picnic sites, play areas, visitor centre and tea rooms.
On arrival, you realise that everything about Scolton has been designed with the environment in mind – so much so that outside the visitor centre is a bank of solar panels capable of producing 400W of power. A little further away is a wind generator which, according to the information panel, can produce 250W from a 22 mph wind. All I can say is, on the day we visited Scolton, the wind speed was such that had the generator been connected to the national grid,
I suspect it could have provided enough power for the whole of Haverfordwest.
• Tel 01437 731457 (park);
01437 731328 (museum)
4. Cwm Deri Vineyard
This vineyard was another place we found purely by accident. We were on the A4075 about 400 yards south of Oakwood Theme Park (see p89) when we saw a brown sign pointing down a country road opposite the
junction of the A4075 and the A4115. We drove down the road for about two-and-three-quarter miles through the hamlet of Martletwy, to the vineyard.
Cwm Deri produces a range of local rosé and white wines, as well as liqueurs and country wines. Parking is free and visitors are allowed to walk around the vineyard before returning to the tasting room to sample the wines. Dogs, incidentally, must be kept on a lead.
While the adults are sampling the vineyard's produce, children can pass the time by looking at the collection of more than 300 teddy bears which the owner's wife has collected over the years and put on display in the reception area. Prices of the wines range from £5.60 to £6 per bottle.
• Tel 01834 891274
Email wines@cwm-deri.co.uk Website www.cwm-deri.co.uk
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Distance Varies depending on attraction visited
Time 8 hours
Start/finish Moreton Farm Leisure Park, Saundersfoot
Suitable for all the family
Refreshments
Portreeve's Restaurant, Laugharne Tel 01994 427476
Tourist Information
Saundersfoot Tel 01834 813672
Tenby Tel 01834 842404
Email click here
Fishguard Tel 01348 874737
St David's Tel 01437 720392.
Email click here |
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