Practical Boat Owner — January 2018

TENBY PORT GUIDE

vessel’s leaving, but he wants to stay in
Tenby longer, so asks David if he can
jump ship.
‘I don’t sail to the calendar, only to the
conditions,’ he explains. ‘Crew get on and
off, and I stay until I’m ready to go.’
David cruises all over the Bristol
Channel, but Tenby is his favourite port.
‘The harbourmaster and all the staff are
so welcoming. When you come back here
it’s like meeting old friends,’ he says.
‘My nine-year-old daughter sometimes
joins me. Imagine how she loves it when
she can just climb off the boat onto the
sand and play!’
We say goodbye to David and his new
crewman, and walk along the breakwater,
past the James Noel, one of the Caldey
Island boats, owned by Charles Cockford,
a lifeboat mechanic for 25 years.
Matt shows me around the old town,
whose walls date from the 13th century
when they were built to protect the
Normans from raids by Welsh princes and
their armies. They also helped the town
hold out for 17 days from an attack by
Cromwell’s parliamentarian forces during
the Civil War in 1648. Many of the notable
features, including two levels of arrow slits,
keyhole ports, cannon port and garderobe

A short history

of Tenby

Tenby, whose Welsh name ‘Dinbych-

y-Pysgod’ means ‘little fortress of the

fish’, is one the few towns in Wales

whose stout medieval walls remain

almost intact. It was built as an

adjunct to the 13th Century fortress

on Castle Hill and by the 16th

Century it was an important sea port,

trading in vinegar, spices, woollen

cloth and coal. In 1566 the town

received Wales’s first shipment of

oranges – from Portuguese seamen.

After being fought over in the Civil

War and then decimated by plague,

Tenby fell into decay until the

beginning of the 19th Century. Sir

William Paxton, the politician and

merchant banker, invested in the area

and built a bathhouse for wealthy

visitors. Tenby was renowned as a

health resort and centre for botanical

and geological study and with the

arrival of the railways and shipping

lanes the tourist industry boomed.

Firing Ranges

Linney Head to Burry Inlet

Castlemartin Range extends 12M WNW
from Linney Hd in an anti-clockwise arc
to a point 12M S of St Govan’s Hd.
When firing is in progress R flags are
flown (Fl R at night) between
Freshwater West to Linney Head and
St Govan’s Head.
Manorbier Range covers a sector arc
radius 12M centred on Old Castle
Head. On firing days red flags are flown
either side of the headland. Warnings
are broadcast on Ch16, 73 at 0830,
1430 and on completion. Yachts on
passage should either keep 12 miles
offshore or transit close inshore via
Stackpole Head, Trewent Point, Presit’s
Nose and Old Castle Head. Contact
Manorbier Range Control on Ch16 or
73 (tel: 01834 871282 ext 209), Milford
Haven coastguard on Ch16.
Penally Range (Giltar Point) seldom
interferes with passage through Caldey
Sound.
Pendine Range is between Tenby and
Burry Inlet. However, it’s usually
possible to steer the rhumb line course
from Tenby to Worms Head without
interference.
For daily info on all range firing times
call Milford Haven coastguard on
Ch16/67 or 01646 690909. For
further details, refer to the Reeds
Nautical Almanac.

The pastel houses provide a colourful backdrop to the pretty but often underused harbour

In settled weather, the beaches near Tenby are stunning

A local brew or four can be drunk at the

town’s first microbrewery, Tenby Harbour

Brewery, situated in an old warehouse

The Tenby lifeboat is equipped and ready

to go. It is frequently called into action ➜