H
ad you run aground on
Woolhouse Rocks 150 years ago
you would have been able to
climb to the top of a ‘bird cage’
and admire the view. What you would have
seen – a sweep of cornflower and
candyfloss terraces above a deep sandy
cove – wouldn’t have been too different to
what you’d view today. True, the fishing
fleet no longer sports sails, or the ladies
billowing bathing suits, but the Welsh
harbour of Tenby – with its cheerful visitors
and grand promenades – is as charming
today as it was during Victoria’s reign.
When I arrive one morning in the summer
every B&B sign is flipped to ‘Full’, yet there
are very few yachts in the harbour and
none on the swinging moorings. Matt
Broadhurst, the harbourmaster, tells me
this is because they haven’t been serviced.
‘They were leased to outside contractorsbut they couldn’t make enough money so
they gave them back,’ he says. ‘It costs us
more to collect the fees than the money
they bring in, so we just tell people to use
them at their own risk and put a donation
in the RNLI box.’
That said, there is space for seven yachts
alongside the harbour wall, and there are
toilets, showers and laundry facilities. If you
want fuel, Matt or one of his colleagues will
drive you to the petrol station.
Honesty boxes and lifts ... it seems Tenby
harbour, though short on cash, is full of
community spirit, a fact that’s confirmed
when Matt flags down the first passer-by in
a lifejacket and persuades him to take me
out on his RIB. ‘There’s no harbour
launch,’ Matt says with a shrug, ‘we lost
that in the budget cut.’
Luckily for me, the passer-by happens to
be military ranger Joseph Thomas and hisTimeless Tenby
This charming resort has drawn tourists for centuries – but
are yachtsmen missing a trick? Ali Wood visits west Wales
David Philips, right, aboard Castiard talks
to prospective crew for the return passageCRUISING