Pembroke

Pembroke Castle from the Mill Bridge

We are staying near Pembroke, visiting old friends, and clearly we have to have a look around the town. We start our exploration at the castle, where we also acquire a copy of the Town Trail which I had found online here.

The castle, where Henry VII was born, dates back to the Norman Conquest. The first earth and timber castle was built in 1093, although there is speculation that an iron age hill fort preceded it. It was replaced by a stone castle in the early 13th century and this was progressively enlarged up to the mid 15th century.

This is the initial view that we had as we approached along Westgate Hill.

Once we walked through the Barbican and the Great Gatehouse I was delighted to see my first Red Admiral of the year - an unexpected delight.

Once inside we climbed the Henry VII tower and enjoyed this marvelous view to the north. On the left is the well-named Great Tower. It was commenced in 1204 and is 25m high and 16m in diameter. It is a rare example of a circular keep.

We had a very enjoyable ramble around the castle building, although we resisted going underground to see the Wogan, a vast natural cavern which was a shelter for cave dwellers during the ice age.

Emerging from the castle we turned right to reach Main Street and pass St Mary's church. On the left was Pembroke Town Hall with its splendid clock tower. The building dates back to 1820.

Heading along Main St we came to Orielton Terrace, a lovely group of presumably Georgian or early Victorian houses.

On the right after this was the rather handsome Congregationalist (?) church which we were warmly invited to visit by some very friendly worshippers.

A bit further on was the former Wesley Chapel, now an antiques centre.

We doubled back here and turned left into the New Way, the first street to breach the town walls and turning left at the bottom follow the line of the former walls. We passed the Gun Tower, one of six defensive towers.

Further along was the Gazebo. The base was originally another defensive tower onto which a gazebo was added in the 19th century. It has lately been restored and is now a rather lovely private house.

We headed back up towards Main St and then followed Black Horse Walk which brought us down to the Upper Mill Pond, with the 13th century Barnard's Tower on the right.

The pond had impressive wildlife including a family of Moorhens, herons and Cormorants. A passing local advised us that there was a great view point behind the reed beds and I duly took advantage of this excellent tip off.

We headed along the side of the pond and reached the bridge at the end. This offered a final, splendid view of the great castle.

Conditions: warm and sunny.

Distance: about 3 miles.

Rating: four stars. The castle was really impressive, but the town seemed to be in decline. We spent time discussing how it might be revived, but without coming up with any very convincing ideas. WE thought its remote location was probably the core challenge to renewal.