Everything about Pembrokeshire totally explained
Pembrokeshire is a
county in the southwest of
Wales in the
United Kingdom.
Geography
Pembrokeshire is a
maritime county, bordered by the sea on three sides, by
Ceredigion (Cardiganshire) to the northeast and by
Carmarthenshire to the east.
The
population (
United Kingdom Census 2001) was 114,131. The administrative headquarters and historic
county town is
Haverfordwest and other settlements include
Pembroke itself,
Pembroke Dock,
Milford Haven,
Fishguard,
Tenby,
Saundersfoot,
Narberth,
Neyland and
Newport.
St David's, in the west of the county, is the United Kingdom's smallest
city.
The highest point of the county is at
Foel Cwmcerwyn (1759 ft/536 m).
The county boasts 170 miles (≈275 km) of coastline comprising important
seabird breeding sites and numerous
bays and sandy
beaches. Almost all of the coast is included in the
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. A large
estuary and natural
harbour known as
Milford Haven cuts deeply into the coast, being formed by the
confluence of the
Western Cleddau (which goes through Haverfordwest), the
Eastern Cleddau and rivers
Creswell and
Carew. The
estuary is bridged by
Cleddau Bridge as part of the
A477 between
Neyland and
Pembroke Dock : the next bridges upstream on the Cleddaus are at
Haverfordwest and by
Canaston Bridge.
Major
bays include
Newport Bay,
Fishguard Bay and
St Bride's Bay. There are many small
islands off the coast of the county, the largest of which are
Ramsey Island,
Skomer Island and
Caldey Island.
In the north of the county are the
Preseli Hills (Mynyddoedd Preseli), a wide stretch of high
moorland with many
prehistoric monuments and the source of the
bluestones used in the construction of
Stonehenge in
England.
Elsewhere the county is relatively flat, most of the land being used for lowland farming of
dairy cows,
arable crops and
oil seed rape.
See the list of places in Pembrokeshire for villages, towns and cities in Pembrokeshire.
History
The county was founded as a
county palatine in 1138 with
Gilbert de Clare as the first
Earl of Pembroke. It has long been split between its mainly
English-speaking south (known as "
Little England beyond Wales") and its mainly Welsh-speaking north, along an imaginary line called the
Landsker.
The
Act of Union of 1536 divided the county into
hundreds which followed with some modifications the lines of the ancient subdivision into
cantrefs, which went back to before the
Norman conquest. The 1536 hundreds were (clockwise from the north-east):
Cilgerran or Kilgerran,
Cemais or Kemes,
Dewisland or Dewsland,
Roose,
Castlemartin,
Narbeth and
Dungleddy or Daugleddau. The
Genuki web pages on Pembrokeshire include a
list of the parishes
within each hundred.
Media
Narberth is home to
Radio Pembrokeshire,
Radio Carmarthenshire and Scarlet FM broadcasting to 100,000 listeners every week.
There are five local
newspapers based in Pembrokeshire. The most widely read is
The Western Telegraph (part of the Newsquest group).
The artists
Gwen John and her brother
Augustus were both born in Pembrokeshire.
Graham Sutherland painted locally between 1934 and 1936, gaining inspiration from the landscape.
Transport
The main towns in the county are well served with bus and train services, but those living in more rural parts have little or no access to public transportation.
There are no
motorways or
dual carriageways in Pembrokeshire. There are currently demands for the
A40 from
St. Clears to Haverfordwest to be made fully dual carriageway. The road is used heavily by traffic from the ferry port in Fishguard which then follows the A40 south to Haverfordwest and then meets the dual carriageway at St. Clears.
The nearest
motorway to the county town of Haverfordwest is the
M4 which terminates at Pont Abraham in
Carmarthenshire, some to the east.
The
A477 which runs from
St. Clears to the port of
Pembroke Dock is long, of which only are part-dual carriageway. This road is heavily used by businesses and tourists visiting Pembrokeshire and improvements to the road have been made in recent years.
The
Cleddau Bridge connects South Pembrokeshire with North Pembrokeshire across the
Cleddau Estuary.
There are three branch railway lines- terminating at
Fishguard,
Pembroke Dock and
Milford Haven.
Industry
Tourism
The main industry in Pembrokeshire is
tourism.
Tenby and its surrounding area attracting the most visitors.
Oil and gas
The banks of the
Cleddau Estuary are dominated by the
oil and
gas industry with two oil refineries, two large
liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals and a large
National Grid switching centre. A gas-fired
power station has been proposed for the site of the old coal-fired Pembroke Power Station which closed in 1997 and subsequently demolished in 2000.
The two oil refineries in Pembrokeshire are:
Chevron: 214,000 bpd (barrels per day) and
Murco:
The LNG terminals on the north side of the Cleddau are scheduled to open in 2008.
Agriculture
Pembrokeshire's mild climate means that crops such as its famous new potatoes often arrive in British shops earlier in the year than produce from other parts of the UK. As well as arable crops such as potatoes, the other main agricultural activities are dairy farming of cattle for milk and cheese, sheep farming, beef production and some other arable crops, such as rapeseed. Falling farm incomes have led to diversification into other novel farming and tourism related activities. From 1,700 km² of land, about 126,000 (74%) are used by agriculture. The majority of this land (60%) is down to permanent grassland and 26% is arable. Farm revenues are less than the UK average, but agriculture still provides 7,000 jobs.
The former large sea fishing industry around Milford Haven is now greatly reduced, although limited commercial fishing still takes place.
Flag
The unofficial flag of Pembrokeshire consists of a yellow cross on a blue field. In the centre of the cross is a green pentagon bearing a red and white Tudor rose. The rose is divided quarterly and counterchanged: the inner and outer roses have alternating red and white quarters.
On television and film
Pembrokeshire is a popular location for filming locations. The following is a list of movies and television programmes filmed in Pembrokeshire:
The Edge of Love (2008) Filmed in Tenby and Laugharne
I Capture The Castle (2003) Filmed at Manorbier Castle
Magic Harbours & Magic Islands (BBC, 2003) Filmed throughout Pembrokeshire
Pobl Porthgain (S4C,2003) Filmed in Porthgain
Television ident (ITV, 2002) filmed at Broad Haven Beach (south)
Delerium (ft. Sarah McLachlan) Music Video (2000) Filmed on Newgale Beach
Chronicles of Narnia (BBC Television, 1988) Manorbier Castle
Treasure Hunt (UK game show) (Channel 4, 1983) Filmed at Stack Rocks, Pembroke Castle, St. Florence and Tenby
Jabberwocky (film) (1977) filmed at Pembroke Castle and Bosherston
Under Milk Wood (1972) Filmed in Fishguard
The Onedin Line (BBC, 1971) Filmed near Milford Haven
The Lion In Winter (1968) Filmed at Pembroke Castle, Marloes Sands and Milford Haven
Moby Dick (1956) The coast off Pembrokeshire
Local government
Under the Local Government Act 1888, an elected county council was set up to take over the functions of the Pembrokeshire Quarter Sessions. This, and the administrative county of Pembrokeshire were abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, with Pembrokeshire forming two districts of the new county of Dyfed : South Pembrokeshire and Preseli - the split being made at the request of local authorities in the area. In 1996, under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, the county of Dyfed was broken up into its constituent parts, and Pembrokeshire has been a unitary authority.
Schools
Top performing secondary schools in Pembrokeshire, (5 GCSEs, grades A-C), according to the latest inspection by Estyn
72% Ysgol Y Preseli, Crymych (Bilingual)
68% Ysgol Dewi Sant, St Davids
64% Tasker Milward VC School, Haverfordwest
57% Sir Thomas Picton School, Haverfordwest
57% Ysgol Bro Gwaun, Fishguard (Bilingual)
51% Greenhill School, Tenby
45% Milford Haven School, Milford Haven
42% Pembroke School, Pembroke
Places of interest
Beaches
Whitesands Bay
NewgaleFurther Information
Get more info on 'Pembrokeshire'.
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