Pembrokeshire: National Park Coastline, Oil Tankers, and Britain's Smallest City
Pembrokeshire occupies the far southwest corner of Wales, a county where the coastline does most of the talking. The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park — the only coastal national park in the United Kingdom — wraps around nearly the entire county boundary, 186 miles of cliff paths, coves, sea stacks, and beaches that range from the broad sands of Freshwater West to the sheltered harbour at Solva. The Pembrokeshire Coast Path, part of the Wales Coast Path, is widely regarded as one of the finest long-distance walks in Britain.
St Davids, with a population of roughly 1,600, holds city status by virtue of its cathedral — making it the smallest city in the United Kingdom. The cathedral sits in a hollow below the town, invisible until you reach the edge of the close, a deliberate medieval positioning intended to conceal it from seaborne raiders. Tenby, on the south coast, is a more conventional resort: pastel-coloured Georgian houses stacked above a harbour, medieval town walls, and beaches that fill with families during school holidays.
Milford Haven, the county's deep natural harbour, serves a rather different function. The waterway handles a substantial proportion of the UK's liquefied natural gas imports through two terminals, and oil refineries line the shore. This industrial presence sits in stark contrast to the national park landscape just a few miles away — a duality that defines Pembrokeshire's economy. The Landsker Line, an invisible cultural boundary running roughly east-west across the county, separates the historically Welsh-speaking north from the south, which was colonised by Flemish and English settlers in the twelfth century and is sometimes called "Little England beyond Wales."
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Pembrokeshire occupies the far southwest corner of Wales, a county where the coastline does most of the talking. The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park — the only coastal national park in the United Kingdom — wraps around nearly the entire county boundary, 186 miles of cliff paths, coves, sea stacks, and beaches that range from the broad sands of Freshwater West to the sheltered harbour at Solva. The Pembrokeshire Coast Path, part of the Wales Coast Path, is widely regarded as one of the finest long-distance walks in Britain.
St Davids, with a population of roughly 1,600, holds city status by virtue of its cathedral — making it the smallest city in the United Kingdom. The cathedral sits in a hollow below the town, invisible until you reach the edge of the close, a deliberate medieval positioning intended to conceal it from seaborne raiders. Tenby, on the south coast, is a more conventional resort: pastel-coloured Georgian houses stacked above a harbour, medieval town walls, and beaches that fill with families during school holidays.
Milford Haven, the county's deep natural harbour, serves a rather different function. The waterway handles a substantial proportion of the UK's liquefied natural gas imports through two terminals, and oil refineries line the shore. This industrial presence sits in stark contrast to the national park landscape just a few miles away — a duality that defines Pembrokeshire's economy. The Landsker Line, an invisible cultural boundary running roughly east-west across the county, separates the historically Welsh-speaking north from the south, which was colonised by Flemish and English settlers in the twelfth century and is sometimes called "Little England beyond Wales."
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