Going for a run

A VIEW OF TENBY HARBOUR

Marilyn, Emily, Abigail and myself have been staying in Tenby for a few days this week.

Tenby is a beautiful Georgian Town on the rugged Pembrokeshire coast in South Wales. Marilyn comes form Tenby and we were visiting her mum and dad.

The weather in Wales is mostly wet. Last week there was a lot of sea mist and fog rolling in from The Bristol Channel and The Irish Sea.

Tenby itself is set within the Pembrokeshire Coastal National Park. The park comprises 300 miles of rugged, wild and beautiful coastline. It is the haunt of many wild sea birds, dolphins, small sharks, puffins and cormorants. Like Cornwall, the Pembrokeshire coast has traditionally been an area for fishing.

During the Georgian period Tenby was regarded as an elegant place to visit and take seaside holidays. Nelson and Lady Hamilton stayed here. George Elliot lived here for a short while. Jane Austen wrote in her letters about friends staying in Tenby. It is thought the Austen family may have visted Tenby. A nephew, in his reminiscences, recalls his aunts talking about it. Well known famous artists and actors have visited. Augustus John and Gwen John, his sister, were born and brought up in Tenby. Dylan Thomas used to visit Tenby from the boathouse at Laugharne just along the coast. Reputedly he left a first darft of Under Milk Wood on the bar stool in The Coach and Horses in Upper Frog Street. Beatrice Potter stayed in Tenby as a girl.

Last Wednesday I got up early, pulled on my NIKES and started out through Tenby town to the South Beach. Tenby is surrounded by beautiful beaches backed by rugged cliffs. There is North Beach, Castle Beach, yes it has a castle and South Beach. I chose South Beach because it is a mile of curving golden sand ending in tortuous pathways leading up onto rocky rugged cliffs .

The scene from the twindswept cliff tops, on a clear day, shows a great stretch of blue sea with Caldy Island and it's whitewashed Cistercian Monastery and other smaller islands that are inhabited only by sea birds. The view is magnificent. On Wednesday though, everything was shrouded in mist. A mysterious,Gothic scene. It felt dramatic running along the beach and up on to the cliffs. The smell of the sea and the strong wind made it feel wild and close to nature. It was an exilerating experience.

Here are some pictures from my run.