Lamphey, Wales, United KingdomLamphey Hall Hotel Lamphey Wales
I was up before my alarm at 7:15 am and showered before we went to breakfast at 8:30 am.
I had ordered smoked salmon and scrambled eggs but they were out of the salmon so the waitress talked me into the eggs anyway with toast. They were quite good.
We caught the bus to Pembroke and paid for a visit to Pembroke Castle. "In 1093, Arnulf of Montgomery built the first castle at the site when he fortified the promontory beside the Pembroke River during the Norman invasion of Wales.[3] A century later, the castle was given by Richard I to William Marshal, who became one of the most powerful men in 12th-century Britain." (Wikipedia) We joined an excellent tour at 11 am and learned a lot about the first castle house and the house where Henry 7th was or was not born. We checked out the ramparts and the vast cavern where he kept his wine cellar, being a proper Norman and all. Pembroke was the most significant of the Norman castles on the coast of Wales taken over from the Welsh kings. From here, the English King and the Prince or whatever he was went over to Ireland to take it over. (I am not at all sure about this part.) So it has historical significance more broadly than just Wales. It was only defeated once when besieged by Oliver Cromwell and surrendered by the mayor of Pembroke.
After the castle tour,, we had coffees in the cafe and then went out onto the Main Street for a walk. We walked down a bit, saw some of the sights, found it not all that exciting, then decided to have lunch so we stopped in Brown's Fish & Chips.
Marilynn had a cheese sandwich and I had a cheese toastie and we shared a pot of tea. The cheese was shredded and I couldn't really tell what kind it was. but I guess Wales is famous for its cheddar. It does seem a bit odd to have cheese sandwiches at a fish & chip restaurant.
We then continued the walk across the bridge and down the opposite of the river from the castle. There we had the best shots of the castle because the light was better. We also got to see a pair of swans and a whole bunch of birds - they were on the other side. After this we went to catch the bus back to Lamphey. We got into a conversation with a couple from Lancastershire - Peter and Joan who were retired but did a lot of mountain hiking in their prime. Their daughter married two different Americans and lived in the states - Michigan or Montana, I can't remember if it was either of those or somewhere else.
When we got back to the hotel, Marilynn was OK with going to check out the Farmers Fair - not enough to pay 10 pounds to get in, but since it was free that late in the day, she came in to lok at the sheep, cows, donkeys and goats.
`Once we got to the farm machinery, she went back to have a drink on the terrace and I continued to the show tents and shop tents for another half hour. An old-fashioned fair in British countryside certainly appeals to me.
I met Marilynn on the terrace and then we came back to the room and make some of our next bookings. This was not easy because there wasn't a lot of accommodations left where we were going next along the coast of Wales. We barely finished before it was time to go to the Dial - the restaurant up the street where we had made a reservation.
The food was pretty good. I had the Cajun tuna steak and Marilynn had two starters but we waited a much longer time to be served than our neighbors. It also took them a long time to get us our drinks. There were some very noisy families in the there too but we managed to pass the time in conversation. Once we got back to our room, Marilynn put on the tv and we watched another mystery series - Lewis. I got too distracted watching to work on anything so when it was all finished at 10 pm I started on this blog. I did also get today's Nikon photos uploaded to the computer but not much else done. Now I am ready to get to bed.
2025-05-22