A weekend in Tenby

A wet November is the perfect time to look back at our holiday in Wesst Wales, although earky October it wasn't sunny when we arrived,, in fact it was a very stormy, with dy day. 

We have been to Tenby many years ago, before we were married and again when our children were young on a holiday with my Dad, so it was great to revisit. Tenby is a walled town, the medieval walls are Grade I listed and were built in the late 1200s by Llewelyn ap Gruffyydd to protect the town.

There are four gates giving access to the town and taxes charged helped maintain this impressive and important structure. The taxes provided enough income to also build a five arched entrance at the West Gate. In the late 1500s the walls were repaired with the lower sections strengthened, the walls raised by five feet and a parapet walkway added.

In the late 1700s there was less need for defences and much of the wall was dismantled leaving just the West Gate. The walls are now protected and the five way arch is an impressive entrance to the lively town that has a variety of small independent shops as well as some high street stores. 

 

Tenby has an outcrop of rock which geographically helps provide Tenby's harbour and was the perfect location for Tenby Castle. All that remains of the 12th century fortification is a tower; it's quite an exposed position with great views, the perfect position to protect the town.

In the middle of Tenby is the Merchant House, now a National Trust property this house and it's inhabitants played a key part in the  town's trading with the harbour bringing goods from all around the world. Now surrounded by other properties when built the house would have been dominant in the skyline and clearly visable from incoming boats, and with the house having a perfect view of the harbour the merchants knew exactly when a ship arrived.

Tenby is full of history and evidence of how the town has changed over centuries. There was a super Victorian post box, a rare sight and made me think about how many postcards have been sent via this red box over the decades it has stood here.

Castle Hill outcrop is also the location of Tenby RNLI's new lifeboat station, the old station is still there too. Tenby is in the far West of Wales on the Pembrokeshire peninsula and on the north coast of the Bristol Channel with Cornwall to the south. The RNLI station's location is vital for providing sea rescue on this busy channel as it leads out to the Atlantic Ocean. 

Our second day was much brighter and certainly less windy. We had previously walked into Tenby via the road but with the tide being out we enjoyed a Sunday morning stroll along the beach into the town and then along the harbour.

There are plenty of bars and restaurants in Tenby, it's a popular place for stag and hen weekends. We visited Harbwr Brewery which is located near the Merchant House. It had stopped raining and with the brewery being in one of the old alleyways it was sheltered enough to enjoy a drink outside.

We also visited Tap and Tan, this was our favourite brewery who do have a Tap Room next to the caravan site but unfortunately closed the weekend before we arrived for the winter season. There is a Tap and Tan pub restaurant in the food quarter in the town and is where we enjoyed a flight of beer, also outside as it was still dry and in a sheltered courtyard. 

Our other Tenby experience was a pot of prawns fresh from the fishmonger by the harbour. They were so fresh and far tastier than the prawns we buy in stores at home.

We had a great stay in Tenby, very different weather as you can see from our Saturday v Sunday photo. It is a place we would visit again but being the far West of Wales it's a long journey from home, however we can always have a stopover at our daughter's on the way. 

Guinness Storehouse

Our other experience in Dublin was a visit to the Guinness Storehouse for an amazing tour through the world of this delicious dark brew that we both enjoy especially when used to make Guinness cake!

As we approached the Storehouse through old streets surrounded by brewing buildings the excitement atmosphere was building. There were tourists chatting full of anticipation, coaches dropping tours off and horse drawn carriages waiting for visitors wanting a ride back into the city centre.

Once inside we were lined up with our fellow 12noon tourers not quite sure what to expect. It was amazing, we were ushered through into a massive 7 floor open plan storehouse with activity and noise on every floor. Our host guide explained that if we looked down we see we were standing on a huge circle and if we looked up to the topmost glass ceiling we'd realise we were actually standing on the largest glass of Guinness in the world. It was incredible design and construction and really did give that impression.

From then on our tour was self guided, each section leading to the next progressing up and up the building explaining in great detail about how Guinness is made and it's history.

 

Starting with fields of barley my photos will reveal all that goes into each pint of creamy smooth Guinness.

And there it is ... pure Guinness. The interactive displays were so good, the water was actual water falling in a sequence. 

Our tour then carried on upwards after going into the tasting room, jet black inside where we all had a tiny tasting glass of smooth black beer.

After the tasting room we wandered through exhibitions and advertising characters, including the fish on a bike, the hanging harp was so effective.

It was an amazing experience over 7 floors packed with interactive displays, knowledge and so much fun. 

Our tour ended in the high up Gravity Bar overlooking Dublin where we happily spent a couple of hours enjoying a pint or two chatting with visitors from America and Germany.

 

 

A few souvenirs to remember our amazing day in a very large glass of Guinness.

Our Chester Stopover

Our next trip is to Dublin, a new place to explore on my 60th birthday. We're currently crossing the Irish Sea which has been sufficiently smooth for me to write this.

We travelled half way to Holyhead and stayed overnight in Chester, a place we visited 10 years ago for a food & wine event Butcher, Baker and Winemaker with Yalumba.

The Holiday Inn Express by the racecourse was a great location. Just outside the city walls within easy walk of the beautiful town centre with it's double storied shop fronts dating back hundreds of years.

 

Caught in a rain shower we took shelter in a Greene King pub in the old vaulted cellars, it had so many hidden rooms and different levels, the perfect sheltering place although reading about the ghosts it hides a ghoulish past.

With blue skies returning we wandered along the cobbled streets, so many shops with frontage on two levels. Hubby had heard about a gone bar ... and yes we found it, The Cavern of the Curious Gnome. On the upper shop row we entered through the wine bar, what a vast selection, but we were hunting beer so ascended another level to a fabulous wooden beer hall. Complete with wooden pews, glass cabinets and a variety of pictures, paintings and Toby jugs it was certainly a cavern of curiosities including toadstool barstools.

The food matched the beer theme, very much like food in Belgium and Northern France. Hubby enjoyed half a chicken with paprika chips, I had ham hockey terrine, bread and chips: absolutely delicious.

We could have stayed longer and will definitely visit Chester again but as we needed to be ready for our onwards journey the next morning we walked back to our hotel passing the Cathedral and along the ancient town walks.

It was the perfect place to break our journey. Chester is an amazing city with so much to explore, we will certainly be visiting again and staying a little longer.