Day 8 of my virtual hike along the Pembrokeshire Coast Path took me from Martin's Haven (by Skomer), around St Ann's Head and along the north coast of Milford Haven to a spot south of St Ishmaels. I've now completed 107 miles of the trail, which leaves about 80 miles to go and I must stress that it's only the imagery that's virtual - the miles are very real indeed!
The scenery for the first 6 or so miles today was not unlike that of the previous 100 miles: an undulating clifftop path with rugged coast on my right, grazing land on my left with occasional views of wonderful bays and beaches. But I've posted images of all that before, so I'll just focus on the novel parts of today's section...
St Ann's Head overlooks the northern side of the entrance to Milford Haven and boasts two lighthouses. As I approached the first, I thought it might be a windmill in an unusual spot, but it turned out to be a converted lighthouse with an observation platform on top, and I think the entire building is now holiday accommodation.
The working lighthouse is tucked back in a private area behind some cottages and this is as close as I could get:
The footpath crossed a field with bullocks in (only my second cattle encounter so far) and typically, with all that available field to stand in, two stood their ground on the path. I bravely walked right between them...
St Ann's Head felt a bit like an island and that feeling was strengthened by the need to use a causeway to get back to the 'mainland'. I love the causeway's name: Pickleridge.
Interestingly, my OS map seems a little confused here. It shows the PCP heading north up a B-road instead of going east across Pickleridge, but that doesn't make sense - unless the causeway isn't passable at high tide and the road is an optional detour?