At home in Llanwnda, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom

Time to stop and live somewhere for awhile.  I am in Llanwnda in the lovely home of Carmen and her family.  I have the pleasure of playing house in a really nice place for a few weeks, plus the pleasure of meeting folks who live in the area. Cooking, laundry--yay!  Walks along the National Coastal Trail--more yay!  Neolithic and Iron Age remains, seabird watching sites--more and more yay!

Llanwnda is a village--no businesses but a collection of farms and houses.  Houses have no numbers, only names.  Is this like a British novel?  I have only lived in houses with numbers until now. Unfortunately, the names are in Welsh so I cannot pronounce them nor remember them.  Sigh!

A lovely small church dates back to the Middle Ages when Christianity was re-established in Wales in the 5th and 6th C after the withdrawal of the Roman forces. We are part of Goodwick and Fishguard which are actual towns. From there a ferry goes daily to Ireland or a train goes several times a day to Swansea and then to England.  Llanwnda was bigger and more important in the middle ages as it was part of the pilgrimage path to St. Davids and even on to Rome and Jerusalem.  It is a tiny place 3 miles west of Goodwick now. For those who walk the Pembrokeshire section of the Coastal Trail, it is a bit of a jig off the main path.  The whole area is part of the National Park and walkers park here to access the trail. Thus, to many it may seem remote.

For me right now, it is the center. As I prepare to move on to the next phases of my journey, I recognize that I am sad to leave.  I have met really nice people here--folks I would like to keep as friends. As usual, I find that I have barely scratched the surface of the things to explore.

Carmen's House
I found Carmen's house on Airbnb.  As usual, it was a "best guess" of a place I might like.  It has been delightful--a combination of peaceful time to myself with social activity with the family and village friends.  Best of both worlds.  If you come to Wales, you should stay here.  Follow the link to find the place.  There is also a fine B & B here, snugged right up next to the neolithic cairn and with a lovely view.  Follow this link for more information about the area.

My home for a few weeks on the edge of the national park

Sunny kitchen--beautiful and well-equipped

Morning coffee and toast in front of the fire

Ingenious laundry solution for a rainy area

Church
St. Gwyndaf's Church has been central to this village for centuries and remains so today.  It is important enough to have its own post so follow this link for more.

Eccentric tea house
The first thing you see in Llanwnda is this eccentric place with many signs inviting you in for a cup of tea.  If you were walking the trail, you would have seen the invitations at the gate of the path.  It is so charming--dirty boots and wet dogs welcome. I only briefly met some of the family who live there but it was a charming welcome to the area.

Neolithic remains
All of Wales was heavily populated during the Neolithic. As a mining center it was also populated during the Bronze and Iron ages. Remains are in small bits here and there where later land use has not covered them over or reused them. I am fascinated with this period and seek out burial chambers, field systems, forts wherever I can ferret them out.  This burial chamber is at the entrance to the village more or less though you have to walk up to it.

Neolithic burial chamber on hill in village

Standing stone in Llanwnda, south of the burial chamber. I do not know the probable age of this stone; others in the area are iron age when there was a big increase in population in the area.

Strumble Head and Pembrokeshire Coast path
Strumble Head is the westernmost point along the coast hereabouts.  It is a Seawatch site for bird migration, now for those going south.  If you are lucky you may also see dolphins and porpoises as well as birds.  Everyone was quite far out to sea while I was watching but I got good sightings of the cliff birds--pipits, choughs, raptors.

The Coast Path goes along here a short hop from where I live.  It goes from Newport, a bit north and on south to an area on the Severn estuary.  I have been taking on tiny bits of it where it is not steep and rocky-no more broken ankles for me.  Really stunning seaviews.  It helps that I have had great weather.  Right now the trail is quite busy with people going out to look at the baby seals who are recently born and still on the beach.  Right here out of Llanwnda are several safe rocky beaches with many babies with their mothers.

This section is also called the Butterfly Coast.  Right now the main butterfly is the Speckled Wood butterfly. It would be fun to be here a bit earlier in the year when more kinds are present.

Strumble Head lighthouse

Coast Path south of lighthouse

Cairn at Carreg Wastad, marking the site of the French Invasion. Visible from my house.

Trail section with seal cove

Way mark

Path into Llanwnda

Speckled wood butterfly--they are everywhere.

Sunset and good-bye

The sun sets over the Irish Sea and Strumble Head--the view from the kitchen window.  I have been drinking Spanish wine and watching the sunset pretty much daily.  I am getting ready for Spain which is in the near future for my travels.  The photo is the sunset on my last day.