Pembrokeshire bound

After a leisurely morning of packing and loading the car, we headed west on the A48, and joined the M4 at Pyle. This turned out not to be a good idea. We drove up the slip road straight into a traffic queue which added an hour to the journey past Port Talbot, Swansea, turning inland at Carmarthen to go north west and then follow the Teifi Valley all the way to Cardigan/Aberteifi, and thence to the small village of Moylegrove or Trewyddan (lit Irish-town in  Welsh), a mile up a wooded valley inland from the Irish sea. With no difficulty we found our destination holiday cottage at Pengwern Farm, half a mile to the south of the village.

What used to be the farmhouse diary has been converted into self catering accommodation for two, with a sea view from the attic bedroom window. Just right for a very quiet time together. There's no phone or internet, the mobile signal is weak and erratic, so you have to walk three hundred yards up the hill to be able to send a message.

We brought our own supplies with us and feasted on sea bass for supper. Then, we walked to Ceibwr beach down the winding narrow road, flanked by grassy banks and hedges, three hundred feet below. Few trees of any size are able to thrive here, with cold and salty winds blowing inland off the sea. The cliffs here are 150-200 feet high strikingly patterned with folded Cambrian rock strata in dramatic dark grey, stained rust red. These are capped by a rolling landscape, a patchwork of young grass pasture and ripened wheat ready for harvest - colours which reminded me of the great rice plain of the Ebro delta where I spent last summer, yet so dramatically different.

We sat on the beach and enjoyed the evening sunshine for half an hour, but no sooner had we set out for home than it started raining, and we both got soaked. 

Fortunately it wasn't cold, but we went up the hill as fast as we'd descended despite the road's steepness. The rain had stopped by the time we got back and the farm's friendly sheepdog was there to greet us, tennis ball in mouth, hoping to persuade  one of us to play a game of 'Fetch', but we just wanted to get inside, change clothes, relax and enjoy this haven of peace.