Fishguard Wishlist: Art Holiday, Canon, Fort, Pub, Tapestry

Problem
However long I spend in Fishguard, it is never quite long enough.

Answer
I am now making a careful wishlist.

1 The Tapestry
It took me three years to get to see the Last Invasion Tapestry. I have now seen it twice. It gets better every time. I read more of the panels. I listen to more of the video about how they planned and embroidered it.

2 The Shop
This year I managed to get into the shop next door to the town hall, run by volunteers. I brought back a lot of leaflets about the area. So much to see and do. Honey. Chocolate.

3 Writers' And Artists' Holiday
I went to Writer's Holiday springtime event in February. We were lucky with the weather. But the weather didn't matter because my painting course kept me happily involved with an excellent teacher, Susan Alison. Next year I shall do more caricatures and animals and tiny figures of humans in every landscape. I should practise all year.

4 Fishguard Fort
A walk with a few and history and ruins.

5 Under Milk Wood and Moby Dick
Read account in the bar at Fishguard Bay hotel.

6 The Canon
See the canon on the clifftop

7 The Ferry
Take the ferry to Rosslare in Ireland. Or walk down to photograph the ferry.

8 Janes Craft Shop and Teashop
Visit Janes for tea and the craft shop. Look for the twins.

9 Royal Oak Pub
See inside The Royal Oak pub where the French surrendered

Lower Harbour. 

All photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

10 Lower Harbour
Drive down to the lower harbour. No car? Walk around lower town harbour. If you don't like walking and certainy not uphill, walk to the cafe on the corner (get map and directions from the tourist office ground floor of the town hall) and look down from the clifftop of the upper town.

Useful Websites
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g2067430-d320230-Reviews-Fishguard_Bay_Hotel-Goodwick_Fishguard_Pembrokeshire_Wales.html
https://www.facebook.com/susanalisonart/posts/10156259308051757?notif_id=1519725629285509&notif_t=mention&ref=notif
writersholiday.net
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g316015-d1551810-Reviews-The_Last_Invasion_Tapestry_Gallery-Fishguard_Pembrokeshire_Wales.html

What to see in Wales

Problem

Where to go in Wales?

Answer

The A40 from London goes to Wales (via Bristol or Bath for a stopover.

Or the M4 motorway. Or the train from Paddington in London to Newport, Cardiff and Swansea and change to go on to Fishguard. 

Bath (stopover in England)

- the Roman baths and 

Jane Austen.

Theater

Bristol - (stopover in England)

suspension bridge.

 Slave trail. 

RLS associations.

Caerleon

Roman museum

Roman Amphitheatre

Wooden sculptures

Caerphilly Castle

One of the most photogenic castles.

Cardiff

Cardiff Castle

Castle Coch

Cardiff Museum (free)

Fishguard

Last Invasion Tapestry.

Lower Harbour where Moby Dick was filmed.

Laugharne

Dylan Thomas Boathouse museum 

Llandudno

Monmouth

Nelson Museum

Newport

(Yo Ho Ho Morgan's Rum) Tredegar House.

Portmeirion

Italian style village with tropical gardens and feature folly houses and buildings. Accommodation. Charge to enter.

Swansea 

Liberty Stadium

Fine to view from a distance. Tours.

Tenby

Tips

If driving, budget for the toll bridge.

(More later.)

More travel information from:

http://www.dylanthomasboathouse.com

http://www.stdavids.co.uk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishguard

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tredegar_House

http://www.visitmonmouthshire.com (Nelson museum)

http://www.visitpembrokeshire.com

www.visitwales.com/

http://visitbritain.org

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have several other posts on Wales and Welsh language.  Please share links to your favourite posts.

Hiking and hostels: Wales and the world on a budget

Problem
How do you see Wales on a budget?

Answer
Camping, hiking and youth hostels.

Paddington, London
See supermarkets, Boots, and fast food outlets on Stations.

Food
Splurge: On the Arriva train, watch out for filling but pricey Welsh cakes - £1.50 for two tiny ones on the Arriva train.

Bargain: Tesco (at Fishguard in Wales and in London before catching the train): I bought Chocolate brownie flavour milk for £1. Sandwich for £1. (Often just ham on white bread. You have to add your own vegetables. Cucumber whole, or half, under £1.) Look for reduced price section.

Fruit: In July/August cherries five bananas for under £1. Pineapple £1. (You'll need a Swiss Army knife to cut it.) Cherries were down to 99p in Tesco, hard and not much flavour, but good if you want to avoid calorific chocolate snacks.

Carry a cool bag. Many hotels (such as Fishguard Bay Hotel) don't have fridges in the rooms. You would be more likely to find a fridge in a self-catering apartment. Rooms can get very hot in summer,  with windows closed to keep out sea gulls, or in winter with the central heating on. You might want to keep food, drinks and medication cool.

Cheap Ferry to Ireland
One day a week prices drop. Check their website. Normal prices are £12.50 return. You arrive at Rosslare. As far as I can see nothing much there except a beach, but you can add Ireland to places you've visited.

Cheapest Way to Get To Ireland?
If you want to stay overnight and see Ireland, you can take a train to the capital Dublin or spend a week touring by car. Prices vary wildly depending on your starting point, route and time of day and year or travel, booking in advance and so on.

One family I spoke to found, after extensive checking, that it was cheaper for them to fly from London, England, to Ireland and hire a car, than to drive to Wales and take their own car across on the ferry from Fishguard to Rosslare, which they had done regularly in previous years.

Tapestry Visit, Fishguard
The Last Invasion tapestry and the film about how they made it over two years, is beside the library upstairs, above the Tourist information office in the town hall, painted bright green on the main square in Fishguard.

Cardiff
In Cardiff the main museum is free. (You pay to go into the exotic, colourful, Castle Coch just outside town.)

In Caerleon look for the courtyard with shops and a cafe or two the wooden sculptures.

Seen From The Train?
Swansea's Liberty Stadium. Tours cost £10, but £5 for senior citizens. Other discounts for groups of 20 or more.

Tips
Ferries
http://www.directferries.co.uk/ferry_to_rosslare (Wales to Ireland and England to Ireland)
Hostels
https://www.booking.com/region/gb/wales.
Camping UK, Europe and Americas
https://www.pitchup.com/campsites/Wales/
Hotel comparison
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/News
Destinations
St Davids
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/St_Davids
http://www.visitwales.com
http://www.visitwales.com/holidays-breaks/family-holidays/free-family-attractions
http://www.newport.gov.uk/en/Leisure-Tourism/Attractions/Public-Art.aspx

Wales' Last Invasion Tapestry and the Bayeux Tapestry

Fishguard's town hall, painted green, is easy to find.

Downstairs is a three panel tiled panorama of Fishguard and Goodwick.

Here is the train which brings you to Fishguard, perhaps from Paddington Station, London, or elsewhere in England, Scotland or Wales, via Cardiff, Newport or Swansea, depending on time and route.

The Welsh lady, Jemima, who captured French invaders.

Typical Welsh woman's high Black Welsh hat and red cloak, national costume worn by Jemima, which fooled the French into thinking soldiers were marching around.

The long gallery housing the 100 foot tapestry.

Some souvenirs of Wales sold in the shop and tourist information centre of the ground floor of the town hall in Fishguard. (More goodies such as Welsh wooden carved love spoons in craft shops around the town.)

Photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
How do you celebrate the successes of the men and women of Wales?

Answer
With Fishguard's imitation of the Bayeux Tapestry. On the one hand it's a celebration of a victory over the French invaders, in 1797, on the other hand it is a tribute to the enduring popularity of the French Bayeux Tapestry which is a tourist attraction in Hastings in England.

Watch the fascinating film of how the story was researched. The backing and wool were obtained at the best value price. The drawings were made, with trips including one to the church which the French soldiers pillaged, and where they surrendered. Then the drawing was transferred to the backing. Finally, the kinds of stitches were selected, to make the whole tapestry consistent although each panel was sewn by a different groups of stitchers.

It all took time. Not without a few mishaps. One enthusiastic embroiderer was told her stitching was lovely, but she had sewn the wrong colour! She had to unpick it and embroider it all over again. Despite this, everybody was delighted with the new friendships, new skills, and contributing to something which enhanced tourism to the region and might last for centuries.

Tips
First stop:
Last Invasion Tapestry Museum
Town Hall
Fishguard
Pembrokeshire
Wales
www.visitWales.com
Fishguard Tourist Information Centre is on the ground floor.
See tile three part mural by children on ground floor. See tapestry upstairs. Watch the film.
Also see the website for Pembrokeshire tourist board.

2nd Stop
Royal Oak Pub
Fishguard Square
Fishguard
Pembrokeshire
This is where the peace treaty was signed when the French army surrendered.

3rd Stop
Lower Town where Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood was filmed starring Richard Burton.
The Ship Inn served the cast and crew. See memorabilia.

4th Stop
Fishguard Hotel, restaurant and Bar
Goodwick
See the story of how Richard Burton stayed here, panel on left of the bar. Fine view over the bay and on the terrace.

Tips
Read about the Bayeux Tapestry In England which inspired the one in Wales.
St Mary in the Castle
Pelham Crescent
Hastings
East Sussex
England
www.visit1066 country.com

Events:
Music Festival 24 July-4 August 2017.
Writers' Holiday Feb 2018.
www.fishguardmusicfestival.co.uk
www.writersholiday.net

Travel and Tours
https://www.visitbritainshop.com/world/ (trips, tours, offers: London; England, Scotland, Wales)

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have other posts on Wales and speaking Welsh. Please share links to  your favourite posts.