Fun in the sun

No, it wasn't me! My wetsuit wouldn't have fitted in my case. And so on.

Yesterday I blipped the island from the beach, so today I'm blipping the beach from the island.

The morning's weather did start off very well, and after a hearty cooked breakfast, I set off for St Catherine's island, just off Castle beach. It is easy reached at low tide, and from the high rocky steps to the fort I snapped these hardy swimmers. The fort itself has seen better days. The island was first a pilgrimage site to Start Catherine (no one knows which one), and fort was built between 1867 and 1870 to defend Britain's coast against Napoleon III's Invasion ambitions (nearby Pembroke Dock and Milford Haven are of strategic importance). The weaponry was obsolete before the fort was finished, and eventually the fort became, during the roaring 1920s and flirty 30s, the summer party house of a a society girl whose daddy bankrolled her lavish lifestyle until they went broke, and the champagne stopped fizzing. During the WWII the fort was requisitioned and furnished with more modern guns, and a new emplacement. The first time the top secret gun practice took place, every single window pane in Tenby was shattered!

Eventually the army moved off, and from the late 1960s to 1979, three consecutive couples ran a zoo on the island. They kept everything from a young gorilla to a tame badger, and an ex-Naval parrot with some very fruity language. The zoo never turned a profit, however, and the island languished for 30 more years until an individual took on the task.of restoration/reopening in 2012. This came to nothing, but I gather that the present trust has been running the conservation and education project since 2015. They plan to open up the basement next year, with a pirate exhibition to bring more families over. For now, it's a quiet place. Well worth a visit, though.

Afterwards, the sun was still shining so I got a takeaway coffee, and sat on harbour beach sands to finish my book. Then I wandered the town for some considerable time, going up and down the high street at least four times because I kept missing the 'secret turning' to the part of town I know better!

The afternoon turned cloudy and I returned to the B&B for a late snack. This evening's highlight was a moonlit walk to town to buy some excellent gluten free fish and chips. I ate them on the esplanade before turning in to watch the final episode of The Cry.

Tomorrow, if the sun shines, I shall take the boat to Caldey island. I should love to take a Landrover safari on Tuesday or Wednesday, but there aren't as yet enough people in my party (of one!)