Ep 73 – Carmarthenshire Coastline. Wales continues to shine. SPEED KILLS!

We leave Pembrokeshire and head into Carmarthenshire. Join us as we discover places you’ll want to see for yourself.

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.

[Music] welcome back to our trip around the coastline of England and Wales in this episode we’re making our way around Karan Bay in South Wales stick around for our top tip for what might just be the best place for a family day out in the car oh yeah I see that one so this is where are we pendine Sands pend pendine Sands and a very kind gentleman called Mark has allowed us to park our bike in his little field which has got four or five Caravans in it he noticed the bike and invited us in so thank you so much Mark that was great this is pendy Sands a 7mile beach on the shores of Kamar Bay today it seems unremarkable perhaps not the best beach we’ve seen But Pleasant enough in its own way but as you may be aware this place has a remarkable story and you don’t have to go too far back in history to Discover It cars and motorcycles first made their appearance at the dawn of the 20th century not long afterwards men became obsessed with how fast they could go you have to remember there were virtually no purpose built RAC tracks or runways at that time and certainly none that provided a long enough straight to achieve the high speeds that were possible beaches like pendy Sands provided a firm flat surface that was straighter and smoother than many major roads of the time motorcycle magazine described the Sands as the finest natural Speedway imaginable pendy not only became the preferred location for land speed records but also hosted Motor Racing events such as the Welsh TT trophy starting on September the 5th 1924 with a top speed of 146 mph and ending on February the 4th 1927 with a top speed of 74 mph pendy saw five land speed records broken in a battle between two men Malcolm Campbell and John Parry Thomas Campbell’s car Bluebird cost a 100 times more than Babs Parry Thomas’s car Parry Thomas returned and set a speed of 180 mph beating Campbell’s 175 mph record tragically the record wasn’t accepted because the spectator had interfered with the timing equipment and when Parry Thomas made another run he crashed and was killed [Music] instantly shortly after Parry Thomas’ ill-fated attempt more suitable locations in the US such as Daytona Beach took over Campbell went on to set a further five records at Daytona when Daytona could no longer handle the increasing speeds the Bonville Salt Flats took over and Campbell set his last record there on the 3rd of September 1935 reaching 301 mph in 1967 Babs was exuded from her Sandy grave she was meticulously restored and could be seen to day in the museum of lands speed that has recently been opened overlooking the beach at pendy [Music] pendy has been the UK’s predominant location for land speed records Campbell’s 1927 run was the last time the ultimate record would be set here or anywhere in the UK pentin continued to host other records and events and in recent years there’s been a Resurgence of interest in pend dy’s motoring heritage [Music] a a [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] I know we’re always saying about the places we’d like to return to but virtually all of the small towns and villages we rode through during this episode are on our must return to list we’ve never really explored Karan Bay before for and didn’t realize just how lovely it is even in High season hopefully you’ll see what we mean from the video [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so this is CL stepan PL Sten on the EST if you know your Welsh geography you might be aware that we need to make our way around three esteres now looking at a map they appear like a crow’s foot at the furthest Inland point where we need to cross the main Bridge lies the county town of Karan but we need to crack on or else we’ll never get to the end of this trip [Music] [Music] love it every side signal box it’s a bit like a ghost town isn’t it yeah like s of at the end of the road sort of place cuz it is really yeah yeah [Music] sure Another Castle up there Lovely isn’t it [Music] is Kidwell uh yes Kidwell RFC Rugby Football Club got their own Pub Club [Music] House are they in the Premier League I know I know they’re very very big on it here though aren’t they surpr Uris me you a lot of these little towns have got very very good rugby clubs really yes cuz Rugby’s big in Wales isn’t it lights train coming love a train look at that dreams coming got an old signal box there as well look so do we think left or right well straight on no the train which direction do you reckon the trains coming from I don’t know I think from the right you’ll have to say left I have to say left so it’s either what Swansea or what big place is in that direction [Music] Penbrook they’ve got loads of these level Crossings in Wales haven’t they but we haven’t got hardly any left it took ours away which way yay that’s right does that mean you want a medal there he goes oh blessed with two oh it’s a little pole just a little local one in it that shuts up and down anym doubt it cuz otherwise they catch up with each other not true we’re just s and enjoy the view oh there’s somebody in there he’s actually working properly oh how amazing is that see if it wa to me no he’s not looking he’s focused on keeping his train safe yeah thank thankfully uh so carry on exploring where we don’t know where we’re going nothing new though is it Jared no yeah it is down here but maybe if you go around that corner there’s a car park well both ways look interesting this is to a car park we want to see a bit of water I think we’ll just go around and bring my yeah actually your both ways oh I don’t know though that still I said no better not for sure I know could we the Quarry is the other way oh well good yeah we don’t want to annoy the dog walkers and that path will probably Peter out probably ends at the beach but might be able to get there so that was the car park have a quick look by in kidwelly Quarry Kidwell oh sorry fella you might be sticking out a bit oh this looks interesting we might get our view of the water maybe not oh yeah there’s a boat there that’s [Music] promising should off yeah I think we should don’t you there people over there are bird watchers there are some incredibly interesting wading Birds here I think that’s a red [Music] shank very interesting place really ancient port for the transport of coal this is where we’ve come out to so we came down that was the first one we carpart we went into and then we came up and we’re right there part the old ancient canalways for transporting the coal fascinating and quiet too nobody here nice and quiet while they’re all at uh freshwater East West Boson [Music] [Music] a castle and Abby old canals for transporting the coal did it say it was the biggest Welsh port for transporting coal at one point I think it might have done thanks for sticking around at the start of this episode I said we would show you the best family day out in the car and here it is pmry Country Park in the last episode we explained why the common good was superior to the greater good while penry Country Park proves the point we’ll get to the history of the site in a moment but today it’s a 500 acre public Recreation Area possibly the best thing about it is the vehicle access in recent years many places have restricted vehicles and some are openly hostile here at PM the network of Roads gives access to pretty much the whole park even at the most busy periods like today you’ll still be able to find plenty of space and can even tuck yourself away if you want to avoid the crowds from what we could see parking on the grass setting up gazebos and even having a barbecue are all permitted but there’s much more to pembry than that it hosts regular events and there’s lots to do the activities include a dry ski slope tobogan kidy Fairground Crazy Golf Adventure Playground cycle hire Miniature Railway laser tag surfing horse riding Outdoor Cinema and a cycling circuit if you want to stay longer than a day then there’s two sites the Caravan and motor home Club run one but there’s another open to everyone that also allows 10 the location is a fantastic combination of Woodland and Coast there’s miles of sandy beach and walking trails to enjoy over to J for the history even from a cursory glance it’s not difficult to see this was once the sight of a munition factory the site is perfect far enough away from population but close enough to access a Workforce the soft gr lends itself to Bunker building and absorbing explosions explosives were first produced hair in 1882 at the outbreak of the first world war production was drastically increased pem’s main product was TNT and cordite the propellant used in bullets and other ordinance 4,000 people mainly women were employed producing 200 tons of TNT and 225 tons of cordite a week and assembling shells at the end of the Great War production virtually ceased but was ramped up again in the second world war many workers gave their lives either from explosions or the poisonous nature of the chemicals used many others were recognized for their courage during emergencies at the site today the site is an urban Explorer’s playground with a lot of the old structures remaining hello I’m trying to get out machine does not recognize the motorcycle there’s no picture of us it it’s done on face front A and P so he won’t pick up your motorbike okay so what most people on motorbikes do as you’re going down towards the barrier right there’s a pavement on the right hand side they just go up and around and totally avoid on the mud on the right side okay all right yeah I thought that might be the case okay everybody on does over on the right where those people are walking that’s where we want to go isn’t it up there we want to go up there hello that was kind he meant next right but not into the housing estate presumably we’re just getting into the part of South Wales that was once dominated by mining predominant ly coal this is bur port and like feride earlier pretty much owes its existence to the ceries South Wales industrial Heritage fascinates me the social economic and historical impact is profaned no doubt we’ll see more of it in future episodes like much of South Wales Berry Port is a shadow of its former self but has Against All Odds survived more lovely sand on the 17th of June 1928 Amelia Airhart landed her sea plane here at bur Port making her the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic oh there’s a cycle path here isn’t there yes we’ve done this cycle path very very nice that little toy poodle enjoying his walk isn’t he I can see worm head at rili cuz over there that’s the go it’s been a long day and we’re just arriving at Lenley Beach not so long ago this was also a very Industrial Area modern Redevelopment is a common site along this South Wales Coastline but it takes a lot more than just a few new buildings to reinvigorate an area despite the makeover you can still sense the proud working class character at this place this is CL [Music] clly that’s it for this episode and today join us next time as we continue the journey