3.2 - DALE - MARLOES
A distance of about 9 miles .
------------------------------
From Dale - Pickleridge / follow the main road / passing Lime Kilns and remains of a Windmill on the hillside / to Dale - Public House , cafe .....here / a watersport centre / overlooking the sheltered waters of Dale Roads .
Then the main road , before joining a side road with trees below ( protected from the salt laden south westerlies ), to the Dale Fort Field Centre , one of a number of fortifications built in 1850's .
The Path passes :-
Castlebeach with a small pebble and sandy beach , then past a Lime Kiln / Watwick Tower ( a navigation tower for Milford Haven Port ) / Watwick Bay ( footpath down to a pleasant sandy beach ) / 5 Gun emplacements and 3 tall navigation towers with beacons above West Blockhouse Fort (1857 ) , another Napoleonic Fort (Palmerston Follies) . Now Landmark Trust with the emplacements above from World War 1 & 2 .
Then Mill Bay (a pebble backed beach with some sand ) , where Henry Tudor landed with 55 ships and 4,000 men , from France on the 7th August 1485 / after 14 years in exile / marching into England / defeating Richard 3rd at the Battle of Bosworth - 22nd August.
Commemorative plaque near the path.
Round St Ann's Head / missing the headland . From mediaeval times St Ann's Head had a Fire Basket , Chapel and Hermitage for the monks who attended the fire. The Tudor chapel was dedicated to St Ann .
Manx Shearwaters - the Seabirds with nocturnal habits - may be glimpsed / during the breeding season (may - sept) / near St Ann's Head and the coastal path to The Deer Park / thousands flying low over the sea , in the evening and early morning , as they move between their feeding areas and nesting sites on Skomer / Skokholm Islands .
Passing the 2 old lighthouses , one in use , the front light , (1841) - range 18 miles + a fog horn / a replacement for a coal fired light / the other , the rear light , now a Holiday home ( 1714) .
A short path leads to Cobblers Hole - showing dramatic folding in the red sandstone rock strata / path follows the rugged Western coastline of the Dale Penninsula , in contrast to the sheltered eastern side / passing Frenchman's Bay / Little Castle Point / Welshman's Bay / Long Point / Great Castle Head - Site of an Iron Age Fort / to Westdale Bay with a sandy beach / a footpath from here crosses the penninsula to Dale .
Nearing Marloes, the remains of the World War 2 Dale Airfield may be visible / on to Hoopers Point with views over Red Cliff ( Old Red Sandstone ) to Marloes Sands.
Then on to the fantastic Marloes Sands , passing one of two paths down to the Beach.
Car Park :- Dale - Pickleridge , Dale - village , Kete - footpath to coast , Westdale - ( lane near beach) - SM 799.061 , Marloes ( near YH )- footpath to coast .
Bus - "Puffin Shuttle" , Dale , Marloes Village (Lobster Pot Inn) - bus continues to St Davids.
------------------------------
From Dale - Pickleridge / follow the main road / passing Lime Kilns and remains of a Windmill on the hillside / to Dale - Public House , cafe .....here / a watersport centre / overlooking the sheltered waters of Dale Roads .
Then the main road , before joining a side road with trees below ( protected from the salt laden south westerlies ), to the Dale Fort Field Centre , one of a number of fortifications built in 1850's .
The Path passes :-
Castlebeach with a small pebble and sandy beach , then past a Lime Kiln / Watwick Tower ( a navigation tower for Milford Haven Port ) / Watwick Bay ( footpath down to a pleasant sandy beach ) / 5 Gun emplacements and 3 tall navigation towers with beacons above West Blockhouse Fort (1857 ) , another Napoleonic Fort (Palmerston Follies) . Now Landmark Trust with the emplacements above from World War 1 & 2 .
Then Mill Bay (a pebble backed beach with some sand ) , where Henry Tudor landed with 55 ships and 4,000 men , from France on the 7th August 1485 / after 14 years in exile / marching into England / defeating Richard 3rd at the Battle of Bosworth - 22nd August.
Commemorative plaque near the path.
Round St Ann's Head / missing the headland . From mediaeval times St Ann's Head had a Fire Basket , Chapel and Hermitage for the monks who attended the fire. The Tudor chapel was dedicated to St Ann .
Manx Shearwaters - the Seabirds with nocturnal habits - may be glimpsed / during the breeding season (may - sept) / near St Ann's Head and the coastal path to The Deer Park / thousands flying low over the sea , in the evening and early morning , as they move between their feeding areas and nesting sites on Skomer / Skokholm Islands .
Passing the 2 old lighthouses , one in use , the front light , (1841) - range 18 miles + a fog horn / a replacement for a coal fired light / the other , the rear light , now a Holiday home ( 1714) .
A short path leads to Cobblers Hole - showing dramatic folding in the red sandstone rock strata / path follows the rugged Western coastline of the Dale Penninsula , in contrast to the sheltered eastern side / passing Frenchman's Bay / Little Castle Point / Welshman's Bay / Long Point / Great Castle Head - Site of an Iron Age Fort / to Westdale Bay with a sandy beach / a footpath from here crosses the penninsula to Dale .
Nearing Marloes, the remains of the World War 2 Dale Airfield may be visible / on to Hoopers Point with views over Red Cliff ( Old Red Sandstone ) to Marloes Sands.
Then on to the fantastic Marloes Sands , passing one of two paths down to the Beach.
Car Park :- Dale - Pickleridge , Dale - village , Kete - footpath to coast , Westdale - ( lane near beach) - SM 799.061 , Marloes ( near YH )- footpath to coast .
Bus - "Puffin Shuttle" , Dale , Marloes Village (Lobster Pot Inn) - bus continues to St Davids.