Pembrokeshire ~ Harry Potter and Robin Hood

The  Pembrokeshire  coast in Wales is the UK's only truly coastal National Park.  Designated in 1952 for its spectacular coastline, the park has been a great getaway for holidaymakers.  It has 620 sq km of awe-inspiring coast and countryside and its protected landscape is a haven for wildlife.  Each year thousands of  holidaymakers join Pembrokeshire people to take a walk in this coastal park of more than 600 miles of Public Rights of way.

Walking among cattle  ..... many public paths in Pembrokeshire give access to farms where fields are grazed by cattle.  We stopped here for a shot and were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by these cows.  Likewise, they were curious too and just stared at us with their mouthfuls of hay!

Beautiful seaside with lots of fresh air!

Had lunch in this Druidstone Hotel at Druidstone Haven.  You can spot this on the map on top, it's on the left side, caved in, there's a picture of this hotel and also Broad Haven.

Interior of the hotel

While waiting for our food, we ventured out to take some shots and enjoy the awesome scenery, only to be greeted by strong and chilly winds!  We had to quickly snap a few shots and hurried inside to wait for our hot food!

Food alas, we had enough of European fare, so now's English/Welsh cuisine ......

Vegetable lasagne @ 8.50 pounds

Beef stew @ 10.50 pounds ...... quite a small portion,  (obviously those cattle we saw were not meant for this table!)

Chicken strip that was chargrilled @ 6.50 pounds

Meaty soup @ 5.00 pounds ...... this was a bit disappointing, tasted good but the portion was so small.

Chicken pie @ 8.00 pounds ...... The meal came up to 49.50 pounds, a bit pricey we all agreed but it's expected as this is a tourist area.

After lunch, we drove further up north to Newgale, another tourist spot.

Passed by this 'static' caravan  site.

Now, this is interesting.  On the map right at the top of this post, you can spot Freshwater West at the western tip of Pembroke, where you can see a picture of a guy on his surfboard (circled).  In the summer of 2009 the sweeping sands and dunes of this magnificient National Park took centre stage for key scenes in 2 blockbuster movies ..... 'Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows', its meticulously crafted Shell Cottage nestled in the dunes against the back drop of blue skies and scudding clouds.  Not long after the Harry Potter crew packed up their bags, in rode Russell Crowe and his team of hundreds of local cast medieval soldiers, horsemen, oarsmen to film scenes for the movie 'Robin Hood'.

The beach in front, that's the location shots for fighting scenes of  the movie 'Robin Hood'.

The 'Shell Cottage'   for 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' was built somewhere here against the background of undulating sand dunes which you can see on the left.  These are Pembrokeshire's most extensive sand dunes with some beautiful pyramidal orchids and sea holly in the summer.  The cottage was built between the sand dunes and the beach.   Close liaison between Pembrokeshire's Park Authority and the film companies ensured that the beach and dunes were protected throughout the filming process and that visitors could still access the area.  I hope that you've enjoyed this holiday as much as I did ....... Stay tuned for my round-up of this trip with a meet-up with a blogger friend in London!

Click here for a 'sneak preview' of Freshwater West and Robin Hood.  Enjoy!