Dale, Pembrokeshire

It's been over 2 months since I last walked any of the Wales coast path. This is partly because I have taken a diversion to walk the coast of the Isle of Man and partly because of work and other commitments. Anyway, there is a window of opportunity here, so on we go again.

It was sunny when I left Broad Haven last April, and sunny again when I returned. The evening before this section of the walk started, it was lovely to have a walk up and down the beach after having fish and chips, an evening of relaxation before the serious walking starts again tomorrow.

The next day began by walking along the road to Little Haven There isn't much to say about the road, but the village itself is a pleasant enough little place. The path then leaves the road and follows a few headlands round to Mill Haven, and just a little beyond that, at St Brides, I realised that I was making good progress.

I was told that the walk to Dale, today's destination, is not exactly strenuous as far as hills are concerned. This is true. There are a few ups and downs to contend with, but they are nothing compared to the Cardigan to Fishguard stretch at the beginning of the Pembrokeshire coast.

Yet a few more headlands, and the first of today's beaches, Musselwick Sands, is reached. Whilst a day on the beach would be very nice, and whilst there is absolutely no pressure of time, it's not a beach holiday, though I will visit a beach or two along the way I'm sure.

The walk had been reasonably quiet up to this stage, though not deserted. The summer had brought some people out – I certainly met more people in June than I did last February! Indeed, there was a whole crowd of people at Martins Haven. They were waiting for boat to Skomer and Skokholm. Yes, I had to read that twice as well. The name of an island just off the coast here does sound and look very similar to the name of the Swedish capital!

I can't say that the Welsh language is similar to Swedish, but there are a few similarities here and there. Not only in some place names, but also, last year in Stockholm (and this time I do mean the Swedish capital!), I noticed that the Swedish for “Market” was “Marknad”, only a letter different from the Welsh “Marchnad” (ch is one letter in Welsh!)

I decided not to go round the deer park, it's not part of the official coast path, it only brings you back to where you started and it didn't seem to contain any deer, so I tried to follow the official coast path – I say tried to, but the route was blocked by cows lying down, so I took a diversion through the car-park. The good thing about that, though, was that I passed the ticket shop for the boat trips – and I was able to get a coffee there!

The next bit really was a delight. From the cliff-tops the views down onto sandy beaches such as Albion Sands are quite beautiful. At Marloes Sands I decided that it was time for lunch. I also couldn't resist the opportunity to have a paddle!

If that had been a delight, the next 5 miles or so were sheer torture. The problem began at Westdale Bay, from where I could see Dale, about a mile or so away across country, but to get there via the coast path meant that there were still 5 miles to go.

The highlight of these 5 miles should have been St Ann's Head. I suppose it was the highlight in a way, but as I was getting my phone out to take a photo of the lighthouse, the battery ran out. I really would have liked it to have been working a mile or so further on when I came to the bay where Harri Tudur landed in the 15^th century. Harri Tudur? He's better known to the English-speaking world as Henry Tudor, who, after landing here and raising an army, was victorious at the battle of Bosworth in 1485 and became King Henry VII.

The approach to Dale was on road. I'm not quite sure why. I was following the path, but somehow lost it when it came to a field. Trying to correct myself, I came to the road, checked the map and realised that I was on the approach to Dale, so decided that this would do. It was mainly downhill as well, which helped!

I like Dale. It's a pleasant little place, and the B&B was lovely. In the village pub, the fish menu boasted that all the fish had been caught in the bay, so I had a look out across the blue waters of the bay – and started straight at the oil refinery. Oh well, I suppose fish and oil do tend to go together! I opted for the skate, so you could say I was living on a wing and a prayer!

The next day was purely functional and, unfortunately, entirely on roads. Part of it had to be. At high tide, the official path is flooded and the inland diversion has to be taken. When I set out, it was an hour before high tide. But also, it was becoming apparent that work was mounting up back at home. Indeed, before getting back home later that day, it became clear that I would be having 3 funerals to deal with on my return. One of them I knew about, but the other 2 had come my way whilst I was down here. So when the diversion came to an end and I reached the official path again, I spotted a sign saying that it was only 1½ miles to Milford Haven. I decided to take that path and get to the station. Apart from anything else, the rucksack I was using was starting to come apart, and when I reached Milford Haven, it started to rain. It was not the sort of day that I like to spend when walking, but it became a case of get to Milford Haven, then get home as soon as possible.

The journey will continue, hopefully at a more leisurely pace....