Ep 68 – Britain’s smallest city and more hidden gems of Pembrokeshire

Hello and welcome to the Great British Biking Adventures Coast Series. In this series we are travelling around the coast on our motorcycle, a Honda VFR1200X Crosstourer.

A lot of our viewers are bike enthusiasts but this series will appeal to a wider audience. Why? Because there’s so much more to the Coast series than motorcycles. There’s the challenges, the journey, geography, history and people. You get to travel the entire coast of England and Wales with us, see how we did it, share our ups and downs, experience English culture, the history and hear about the people that made Britain ‘Great’!

What’s also good about the coast series is it doesn’t matter when you start watching, it’s like one of those open top bus tours – you can get on at any point and just keep going until you arrive back where you started.

Who are we? We’re a husband & wife living in an unremarkable coastal town in England. We’ve been married 35 years and were brought together by motorcycles. One day, Esther’s Honda Melody broke down and she brought it to Jarrod’s motorcycle shop – the rest (as they say) is history.

One cold February day, we started riding along the seafront and just kept going. We wanted to record the experience to have something to watch in the future – the YouTube channel was an afterthought. Take a look at those first few episodes to see just how novice we were, cobbling together what little phone footage we had to try to make a story. To make up for our amateur recording and shyness we added information in the editing. This set the tone and style of our videos, we hope you like it. We like to think we’ve improved and hopefully you’ll agree, take a look, compare our earlier videos with the later ones and let us know in the comments.

There’s also the filming and production journey. When we started we knew nothing about filming, video and audio production, editing, YouTube and the like. We’ve learnt loads and spent loads in time and money along the way but it’s been almost as enjoyable as the journey itself. You’ll hopefully appreciate how far we’ve come.

But what’s with all those bible verses we hear you say. We know some of you don’t appreciate this aspect, one or two have told us in the comments! That’s fine – it really is. All are equally welcome here, believers and unbelievers. It would be a pity if you enjoyed everything else but just stopped watching because of the Christian references but we completely accept you’re free to do as you please.

Our faith has prompted us to include a bible verse in our videos and sometimes a Christian perspective on the things we talk about. The channel is not about Christianity but our faith cannot be separated from it. We hope and pray that it will make you think, inquire and even bring you into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

very nice um where does it go go straight on it would no unauthorized Vehicles something something in something in Welsh no parking no touring private road okay I think yeah we’re not authorized so no I’m authorized it must go do you think it does go out to the lighthouse then out there oh Google Maps I just going this way but I’m not sure we’re going to do you think it you’re thinking that’s not an official sign aren’t you I don’t think it is but but if it’s private property that would be a bit weird wouldn’t it to see yeah and then it looks there go there access to authorized so do we risk it or not that one actually says Private Road [Music] no can you ride or drive Offroad in the UK UK in this video I’ll attempt to answer this question I say attempt because there’s not a simple straightforward answer the fact that is so complicated is shall we say part of the problem unless you’re an expert on rights of way definitive maps and ancient byways you can easily find yourself somewhere you shouldn’t be this is frustrating for people who just want to enjoy the pleasures of taking a motor vehicle off-road keep watching to find out why and how to navigate your way through this political mindfield I think we’ll yeah be good people yeah we’ll avoid any confrontation yeah on OS Maps it’s marked as a bridal way but that doesn’t necessarily prevent it from being a legal Lane it’s also shown as an unclassified Road and that often means vehicle access is permitted without local knowledge or access to what is called the definitive map we couldn’t be sure not this time do we need to take away marker out well no I think what we’ll do is we’ll go up and we’ll see if it re Roots us okay yeah take a look left for me if you would please clear yeah I think we’re close said Davids that is the way we would have come out I think through there [Music] yeah there’s a little church in there ruin but I don’t think it’s not the Abby oh yeah that there the ab it’s a cathedral Cathedral it’s only left here yeah Cathedral on a bike oh why not it’s cut it there is it go car would you well you got this car sorry yeah I’m wcky because there’s your Cathedral view yeah I know that’s right yeah off you go [Music] don’t worry I’m taking over the narration for this to save you from information overload what can I say it’s a cathedral but I can’t leave it there or else he will take over the present building dates back to 1181 but there’s been a monastery here since the 500s it was founded by you guessed it St David although he was no saint back then we told you about St David on St David’s day in episode 60 so I think I’ll leave the history lesson there we’ve visited the cathedral several times over the years and if you haven’t been you really should give it a go along with the other buildings and ruins here such as The Bishop’s Palace while the religiosity and dare I say some of the practices of the established church can leave a lot to be desired you have to admire the effort and architecture that’s gone into St David’s Cathedral and other buildings like it while there’s no doubt places like the Coliseum Taj Mahal and the pyramids are wonders of the world there’s also lots to discover on our own doorstep what makes this place particularly fascinating is its tucked away location in the far southwest corner of Wales [Music] very busy [Music] yeah it’s a very very popular place to come isn’t it St David’s to see that awesome Cathedral and it really is awesome it’s absolutely beautiful and it’s in a tiny little place called s d which is the smallest city in Wales the only city in Wales city in England in Wales the smallest city I believe in the United Kingdom Oh I thought Wales was smaller no recent Wales is the smallest city well it’s not really it’s the second smallest city in England oh because the city of London London is smaller I believe yeah both geographically and believe it or not in population right because there’s not many people actually live in the city no of course not very foggy put lights on that sh what lights going on [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] here [Music] [Applause] [Music] some very happy memories here crocodiles come to M yes and canoe things yeah lovely family beach it goes out nice and slowly depthwise I mean nice bit of sand bit of a river going through it’s in a nice Bay so it’s never too don’t have to worry too much about currents it’s just a really nice family beach and in rock pools at either end little Haven next yeah [Music] [Music] so he’s going to have to wait for you [Music] surely crumbs is that her yeah now she needs to let you go by sced as well she all right want me to get off so I can look in either direction yeah I you’re going to have to [Music] good to go come right land you’re all good little is it yeah it’s also absolutely beautiful [Music] so we’ve parked up at some Brides right there hold a certain presents doesn’t it here’s the skipper it’s a bride’s Church looks very nice and over there is a mansion house that’s my second home my [Applause] dreams you thought you were a clever bloke didn’t you but not when it comes to church Gates they don’t want you going in oh that’s nice you may have gathered from Esther’s remarks at St David that as far as our faith is concerned we’re not your typical church goers but we do enjoy the history and architecture of what some call the established church many of these churches are left open for people to visit as they please if nothing else it makes for a very cheap day out for us the smaller Parish churches are as interesting as the large more imposing buildings perhaps not on an individual basis but certainly when it comes to the scale of their geographical reach there are around 12,500 Church of England parishes each has its own Parish Church historically in England and Wales the par Parish was the principal unit of local Administration for both church and civil purposes but that changed in the 19th century when separate civil parishes were established even on the shortest of road trips you will encounter a Parish church with their tall towers or spares they decorate the landscape of Great [Music] Britain swallows probably nesting any own the church here at St Brides is very typical but there are some more notable Parish churches that for a variety of reasons ended up being more Grand back in episode 28 we visited St Mary Magdalene in gney Lincolnshire which has been dubbed the Cathedral of the f oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] lots of sparrows oh no they swallows those ones so it wouldn’t be the coast Adventure without a bit of Sea Mist would it no we’ve had a lot of it today yeah simply cannot see the Gast of sea so no Horizon whatsoever the cloud and cover is just thick PM Brookshire is like a big Peninsula with lots of little peninsulas dotted all around it these create lovely Headlands Bays beaches and cliffs to explore many are only accessible on foot but we’ve managed to get to St an’s head on the Dale Peninsula while there’s a lot of nature to admire here my attention is drawn to the buildings a coast guard station as well isn’t it you say it’s a lighthouse and it is cuz that’s there and that’s flashing as all but this is like a coast guard station there are two lighthouses and a number of associated cottages the presence of two separate lights dates back to 17713 the towers you see today were constructed in the 1800s they are what’s called leading lights when aligned in a certain way Mariners were able to navigate safe passage to Milford Haven avoiding several perilous rocks today only the lower lious is operational the Old Lighthouse ceased operation in 1910 at the start of the second world war the lantern was removed and the imposing flat Lookout you can see was built the Coast Guard used this Lookout until 1993 it’s empty isn’t it yeah lovely place to have is a House Co today the Old Lighthouse is privately owned and is actually currently for sale look it up on right leave [Music] as you’ve probably gathered we’re not the type to Holiday at the same place year after year but there are a few places we’ve returned to over the years the accessibility Beauty and the variety of penri Shire has drawn us back a few times our first visit was in 1995 and we stayed here at Sandy Haven in one of the Old Fisherman’s [Music] Cottages it’s a secluded little in look just inside Milford [Music] Haven delightful isn’t it yeah this is a little gem we know of called Sandy Haven it’s really lovely at low tide there’s a cway that can be crossed on foot saving a 4 Mile height to get to the Village of her Branston a couple of years ago we discovered it’s a great place to harvest muscles have you like us fallen in love with pemer yet need more convincing join us next week and discover the equally lovely and some say even more lovely southern part of pemrick Shire thank you so much for watching don’t forget to like this video by clicking the thumbs up if you haven’t 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