Kidwelly for New Year

Hi there everyone 😀

I know it seems like an absolute age ago but we had a big family get away for the 2017-18 New Year. There were 11 of us in total ... Martin and I, mum and dad, my brother and sister, their partners, my two nephews and my brother’s partner’s mum ... so a real spread across the age range, from toddler to pensioner.

We stayed in The Old Cow Shed, a converted barn at St Ishmael, close to Kidwelly, a village on the Welsh coast south of Carmarthen.

It was the perfect location, pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but with plenty of lovely and interesting places to visit within easy reach. It was toasty warm, with plenty of room for everyone, reliable WiFi and had a hot tub, which didn’t get that much use, and a pool table, which went down very well.

As well as lots of eating and drinking, celebrating the New Year and having plenty of quiz nights, we managed to get out and about a fair bit.

Our first trip out was ‘en masse’ and on foot. We had a walk from where we were staying, through the local caravan park, under the railway which was just a little wet, though there were no wet feet worries for the little guy ...

... and through the Parkdean Holiday Park to the beach ...

We were lucky with the weather and even saw some sunshine on the beach and the selfie stick certainly came in handy ...

The Holiday Park was closed for the season and was almost eerily quiet, though I can imagine it would be heaving at a different time of year ...

We had hoped to make it a circular walk, but ended up having to retrace our steps as the second tunnel under the railway was flooded and impassable without getting very wet feet.

On New Year’s Eve we all took the short drive back into Kidwelly where we spent a good hour or so exploring the castle ...

... with lots of family photo opportunities ...

... culminating with this one shot which managed to inclue everyone ...

After exhausting everything the castle had to offer we walked into the Main Street of the village in search of refreshment. We found a little cafe where we lucked out and managed to grab a table big enough to seat us all.

The cafe was owned by a lovely lady who used to be the local mayor. I was completely in awe of the most beautiful quilt displayed on the wall and she told us all about the story behind it and the fact that the each of the cats belonged to local people who were represented on the quilt.

It was a very welcome pit stop, the little guy was shattered, and there was cwtching all round as we left.

We took the path alongside the river back to the castle where we were definitely treated to the best view ...As well as lots of time spent together as a family there were days when we all just pretty much did our own thing and Martin and I did head out on our own a couple of times.

On New Year’s Day the sun was shining and the sky was blue. We spent the afternoon in Ferryside, another tiny village on the edge of the estuary, just a couple of miles up the road.

We followed the railway along the side of the estuary ...

... stopping off now and then along the way ...

There isn’t much at Ferryside at all, other than a railway station and the most beautiful of beaches ... 

There were also masses of shells and we couldn't help but collect a pocket full ... 

For our other big day out Martin and I headed to Tenby, which was about 40 minutes away. It was a glorious day and it had been so long since we’d visited that we’d both forgotten just how lovely it was ...

We parked in the multi storey car park and did the usual circuit, heading for the south beach and walking along the beach past St Catherine’s Island.
Again, we were lucky with the weather and it was really bright, but very windy and the sand was being blown along like a sandstorm. We were glad we weren’t walking into the wind.

The tide wasn’t out far enough for us to carry on along the beach around the castle so we took the steps up and walked round the mound, past the old and new life boat stations to the harbour ...

... and then on to north beach where we were aiming for a photo of that iconic view of Tenby looking back across the harbour ...

We then headed back into town where we had lunch in The Lighthouse restaurant, before making our way back through the pretty streets to the car. We took the coast road back to The Old Cow Shed, via Saundersfoot and Laugherne, where the roads were littered with pebbles that had been left behind as a result of the storms that we’d had whilst we’d been away.

We actually managed to cram in far more than we'd been expecting to over the course of the week and, whilst it had been lovely spending lots of time together as a family and to have been by the sea at a different time of year to normal, I think we were all ready to come home for a bit of peace, quiet and personal space and to get cracking on with 2018 😀

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