St. David’s, St. Nons and Porthclais

Hello again people and pooches. Joe the Cocker here after a walk from St. David’s, Tyddewi in Pembrokeshire, Sir Benfro. We met up with Dave, an old workmate of my human. Dave brought his lovely 17 year old cross Jack Russell-Whippet called Gwladys. She is one fit pooch, going deaf but she really bounces along. Dave lives in the area and offered to give us a tour around some of his favourite spots.

St. David’s is the smallest city in the UK with a population of only 1600. The place gets its name from being the presumed birthplace of St. David, the patron saint of Wales. We started our hike from the cathedral, the most ancient cathedral settlement in Great Britain dating back 14 centuries! The current building dates back to 1176 and survived the attacks of the Norsemen in the Dark Ages.

My human typically spent an age in awe of the building and taking the obligatory photographs. Me and Gwladys were eager to get into the countryside, but we had to let our humans have their fun.

Next door to the awe inspiring cathedral is the ruins of the Bishop’s Palace. In the 12th century the pope stated, after visiting St. David’s, that one visit there was worth two for Rome. St. David’s became a major pilgrimage site for Christians worldwide.

The Bishop’s Palace was deemed unfit for pilgrims to visit, so between 1328 and 1347, the building was turned into a huge grand palace. The Bishop of St. David’s created an impressive structure to match the grandiose of the adjacent cathedral. However, the palace suffered a slow death during the Reformation, and today stands as ruins.

My human chose to view the buildings from the exterior as dogs are not allowed inside the cathedral and palace. We headed off through the narrow lanes of the city. After a couple of minutes, we were thorough a kissing gate and into the countryside. The weather was forecast to be warm with plenty of cloud cover. It turned out to be glorious with clear blue skies and a gentle breeze sweeping inland from the turquoise sea.

The footpaths in the area are obvious yet narrow, but well waymarked. The grass was quite tall, and Dave warned us about the presence of adders in the area. Adders are the only venomous snake native to the UK. My dad has bought me snakes for me to play with in the past. Once I removed the squeaker from them, I got bored, so meeting one in the wild didn’t worry me.

We headed along footpaths towards the rugged Pembrokeshire coastline. Dave explained how he forages along these paths. I like to munch on the grass as we are walking in areas like that. My human hadn’t got a clue what to look for that maybe edible. Mind you, he struggles in the vegetable aisles in Aldi. All he seemed to be concerned with was the possibility of being ‘nettled’. Wimp!

As we neared the coast with Gwladys blazing the trail in front of us, we gained our first views of St. Non’s Chapel. St. Non was the daughter of Cynir, a local prince, and mother of St. David, after being raped by Sant, a  Prince of Ceredigion.

We headed to the Chapel of Our Lady and St. Non, which was built in 1934 and adjacent to St. Nons Retreat. The retreat was the home of three nuns of The Sisters of Mercy until it was left abandoned two years ago. The Catholic Chapel was built from stone from Whitewell Priory.

I waited outside with Gwladys while the two humans had a mooch around the interior. We braved the possibility of an adder attack while we were abandoned like sacrificial lambs.

The small chapel is beautifully maintained and contains a number of stunning artifacts.

The Arrival of St. Non and St. David in Brittany is a beautiful stained glass window.

The stained glass windows depict St. Non, St. Bride, St. David, St. Winifred and St. Brynach. Local people leave small momentos in remembrance of lost loved ones.

A large statue of Our Lady of Victories stands in one corner, a copy of the one in Notre Dame in Paris.

The humans reappeared from their little detour. I jumped up at my dad to greet him as if he had been gone for a week. Separation anxiety is one of my failings. I didn’t even get a treat. Hay ho!

As we left the new chapel, we came to the nearby St. Non’s Well and shrine. The ornate shrine overlooks the well whose water is reputed to have healing properties. Eye problems are said to be healed by the water. Pope Benedict XVI used the water on his visit.

I tried to take a slurp of the water, but my human dragged me away. It brought back memories of a visit to St. Celynin’s Well at Llangelynin back in 2020, where I fell into the well. Don’t laugh. It was embarrassing! This spring is said to have appeared on the day of St. David’s birth.

Next to the well is the original chapel. It is said that it was built on the site of St. Non’s house and is possibly the oldest Christian building in Wales.

A short walk from the ruins brought us, through a wooden gate, to the clifftop path, which is part of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path. This long-distance footpath runs for 186 miles, and by the look on my human’s face, we will be walking it one day!

The area, known as St. Nons Cliffs overlooks St. Bride’s Bay and over to Skomer and Skokholm. Dave advised that I was put on a short lead at this point as one of his friends had recently lost their pooch in a fatal fall from the path. So sad!

To the east, the weather looked menacing with some rain hitting the sea.

To the west, the weather looked more welcoming. So, we headed west!

Dave explained to my human that this area was basically his playground. He sea kayaks, paddle boards, fishes, and catches lobsters around the cliffs and coves.

My human fell in love with the area with its rugged sandstone cliffs. The flowers hugging every possible nook and cranny add to the natural beauty of the area. Prolific birdlife and the crashing of the waves on the rocks below, along with the fresh sea winds, make this an area of sensory overload. From my point of view, the area provides great sniffing!

The weather was truly being kind to us as the conditions were perfect for an early summer walk. Me and my human enjoy wild and wet weather too when we are hiking. This would be a perfect area for a wet walk as the wild winds and horizontal rain would provide a totally different experience.

We continued along the footpath, taking care to avoid the eroded cliff edges. We stared out into the bay to check for dolphins, porpoises, and even whales. No luck this time, but with a longer stay in the area, we would hope that our luck would change.

We soon came to an inlet where a natural harbour is formed at Porthclais. Dave met another member of the Penknife Club as the path dropped to the waters edge. St. David’s Penknife Club is a fundraising group in the area that is 30 years old.

The harbour is a 12th century construction built to import coal and timber. It is managed by the National Trust and is used to harbour and launch small crafts used by local fishermen and recreational boats.

The pretty harbour is popular with sightseers. It provides shelter from the weather and wild seas in the bay for up to fifty small craft. In 2017, the harbour was hit by Storm Ophelia, and five boats were sunk, with many others receiving irreperable damage.

The path dropped into the harbour, and it was noticible how quiet it had become. There was no wind, and the water was flat with no waves. It’s a lovely tranquil place.

Some of the best preserved limekilns remain in the harbour from the days when limestone was imported to be roasted to provide lime to adjust th pH of the local acidic soil.

We sat at the kiosk while the humans drank coffee and chatted to the Harbour Master. The owner of the kiosk had just run a 100-mile ultramarathon. My human used to run marathons and said that he could not comprehend how running almost four marathons consecutively would feel. After the two legs were caffeine boosted, we headed across the fields to St. David’s.

As we returned to civilisation, we discovered that it was market day. Thankfully, only half a dozen stalls. Shopping is not my thing unless it’s for treats, obviously.

The Cross Square holds a market on Thursdays during the summer months. The humans were in need of refreshment, so we didn’t linger long at the stalls. Dave recommended a pizzeria a few yards away.

Grain is a collaboration between The Canteen for food and the Bluestone Brewery for beer. They serve stonebaked pizzas in a great dog friendly atmosphere. We sat outside in the courtyard. Eventually, I was fed a few scraps of pizza crust. My human said that the pizza was perfect and the Bluestone Pyjama Republic was a refreshing wheat beer with cloves and banana undertones. He read that from the website!

St. David’s is a compact city, the size of a small village, with so many tempting eateries and watering holes.

After the humans had stuffed their faces with pizza, they were kind enough to take us starving pooches for an ice cream. We walked back past the market to The Bench, the ice cream parlour where Anne, Dave’s wife, works part-time. She treated us all to an ice cream.

Wow, that doggy ice cream was good with doggy choc toppings. My human insists on taking the most embarrassing photographs of me. This time, I didn’t care. I was busy feeding my face!

Gwladys loved he ice cream, too. I don’t know how she keeps her figure. I’ve got a pot belly, and I’m less than half her age.

The next couple of hours were spent in the beer garden of the Farmers Arms. My human sulked because he had to drive later, so he was limited to diet coke. Yes, diet coke! You have to laugh!

We had a perfect time, and we can’t wait to return to the area. Maybe the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path next year. Thank you to Dave for being our tour guide for the day and to his better half for the ice cream. Thank you to Gwladys for putting up with my sniffing!!! Til next time.