beach.
Thorn Island Fort
The gaunt tower rising near the Wavecrest Café is all that remains of a brickworks that operated during the latter part of the 19th century, with three kilns producing a range of bricks, tiles and pipes. A narrow band of limestone runs through Angle, which was extensively quarried, the stone being used in the construction of the forts and the naval dockyards at Pembroke Dock as well as being burnt for agricultural purposes.
Leave at the far side, passing between the café and toilets. Follow the field edge away above the bay, and after delving through scrub higher up join a track past a disused building, part of a former military installation. The Coast Path then bears right in front of the derelict gun emplacements of East Block House hidden beneath an overgrowth of bramble, while over to the right is the ruin of a Tudor fortification overlooking Rat Island.
The stretch of cliffs to Rat Island
Regaining the cliff edge there follows a long, spectacular walk to Freshwater West. Striking chasms, sheer-sided coves and natural arches follow in eye-catching succession, each seemingly more impressive than the last, and not far along is a massive blowhole into which the sea washes through a cave. The work of man is seen here too in a couple of promontory forts, one above Sheep Island and another overlooking West Pickard Bay. There is also an unusual octagonal tower, a lookout or lighthouse built above the cliffs. Inevitably, the rugged nature of the coast is reflected in the path, and the walk is demanding with several steep descents and subsequent climbs. Eventually you meet your outward path above the northern cliffs of Freshwater West and it is not then far back to the car park.
WALK 6
The Dale Peninsula
| Start/finish | Dale (SM 811 058) |
| Distance | 6½ miles (10.5km) |
| Total Ascent | 1085ft (330m) |
| Time | 3¼hr |
| Terrain | Coastal path |
| Maps | Explorer OL36 South Pembrokeshire |
| Refreshments | The Boathouse Café and Griffin Inn at Dale |
| Toilets | By car park at Dale |
| Public transport | Seasonal bus service to Dale |
| Parking | Car park at Dale |
The Dale peninsula guards the entrance to Milford Haven and, with its counterpart across the channel – the Angle peninsula – has played an important strategic defensive role throughout history.
The path around St Ann’s Head, south of Dale, follows a long, convoluted stretch of coast, with constantly changing views as it turns from the Haven towards the open sea. The way back is across a narrow neck of sunken ground, a trench cut by meltwater released at the end of the last glacial period.
Follow the promenade down to the village, keeping left past the Griffin Inn to leave along a wooded lane rising along the coast towards Dale Fort Field Centre. When the trees clear towards the far end, look for the Coast Path leaving through a gate on the right. It follows the line of a prehistoric ditch and bank that defended a settlement on the point. Further back lie 19th-century defences, another ditch and wall to protect the landward side of a gun fort, one of several built under Prime Minister Palmerston. It now houses a field studies centre.
Dale
Dale Fort is part of a complex series of defences built around the middle of the 19th century in anticipation of an invasion attempt by Napoleon. At first sight it might seem that there was little need for such a show of force, with 15 separate forts and gun batteries being positioned along the Milford Haven waterway. Its importance, however, derived from the Haven being one of the finest deepwater harbours in the world and, perhaps more significantly, the gateway to Britain’s naval dockyards at Pembroke Dock. Napoleon prudently stayed away, and the Victorian guns were never fired in anger, but the batteries were brought back into use during World War II, when Pembroke Dock was again a target for enemy attack.
Carry on above the sloping bracken-clad cliffs behind Castlebeach Bay, the path shortly dropping into one of the several deep-cleft valleys that drain the headland. As you climb away at the far side of the stony beach, look for a lime kiln almost hidden beneath the undergrowth. Continue around the edge of successive fields, eventually passing the tall navigation beacon on Watwick Point.
The deepwater channel of the Haven made it an ideal harbour to receive the increasingly massive oil tankers that were being developed during the 1960s. During its industrial heyday several terminals, oil refineries and an overland pipeline to Esso’s main refinery at Llandarcy were built, as well as an oil-fired power station. However, the approach to the narrow estuary is difficult, and for colossal craft – that might take over a mile to stop – through passage requires both skill and accurate navigation. The soaring beacons on Watwick and West Blockhouse points help guide vessels into the inlet, but they failed to prevent the area’s worst shipping disaster, when in February 1996 the tanker Sea Empress ran aground, spilling 72,000 tonnes of crude oil into the sea.
Following the field perimeter beyond, watch for the path swinging left behind Watwick Bay. The main path dips only gently above its head, but a lower path descends to a small beach, exposed at low water. Further on, at West Blockhouse Point, the path passes behind another of Palmerston’s forts, this one now owned by the Landmark Trust and available for rent as a holiday cottage with a difference. Beside it stand a trio of navigation markers, while to the right of the ongoing path are the concrete wells of the Napoleonic gun emplacements.
West Blockhouse Point
The view in front is now to St Ann’s Head, on which stands a row of cottages built to accommodate the staff manning the station, a walled vegetable garden, and three lighthouses that at various times have blinked their warnings to passing mariners. Rounding the head of Mill Bay the path once more dips to the sea, passing the ruined walls of an old mill, fed from a pond formed by damming the stream above.
HENRY TUDOR
After 14 years in exile in Brittany, Henry Tudor landed at Mill Bay on 7 August 1485 with a small band of followers. Marching to England, he gathered supporters for his cause along the way and only two weeks later defeated the armies of Richard III at Bosworth Field. Crowned Henry VII, he founded the Tudor dynasty, which would last until the death of Elizabeth I in 1603.
Climb away beyond, working your way round at the field edge to St Ann’s Head. Leaving the cliffs below the cottages pass the walled garden and continue across open grassland towards the buildings overlooking the point, then follow the boundary fence right to a kissing gate. However, before following the track away from the station, take the cul-de-sac path opposite, which overlooks Cobblers Hole, a particularly striking example of double folding in the strata of
