Croeso i Sir Benfro! - Pembrokeshire Quiz

Answer: St. David's

Approaching St. David's Cathedral from the south-east, visitors descending into the hollow in which the building is set will negotiate a flight of thirty-nine steps. Over the centuries, these steps have been worn almost as smooth as mirrors so care needs to be taken when ascending or descending to and from this beautiful building.

The current cathedral is believed to be the fourth on the site upon which Saint David, the Patron Saint of Wales, established a shrine in the sixth century. To the north of the cathedral stand the ruins of the Bishop's Palace; this building was destroyed during King Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries.

It is believed that the earlier buildings on the site were constructed in the hollow in order to prevent the cathedral from being seen from the sea by marauding Vikings, but local legend has it that the ground surrounding the site rose up during a sermon that was being delivered at the site by Saint David himself.

Answer: Fishguard

Fishguard, or Abergwaun as it is known in the Welsh language, was chosen as the location for the filming of this 1972 adaptation of Dylan Thomas' most famous radio play. The film, directed by Andrew Sinclair, features a stellar cast which includes Welsh actors Richard Burton, Sîan Phillips and Angharad Rees and other international stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and Peter O'Toole.

There are many village locations in Wales that could have been chosen, but the area known locally as Lower Town fitted the bill perfectly possessing a charming harbour and being surrounded by low but steep cliffs, all of which are heavily wooded.

This location was also used to film a very small number of scenes in the 1956 film production of Herman Melville's novel 'Moby Dick' starring Gregory Peck.

A visit to The Ship Inn, a public house at the heart of the community, reveals many items of memorabilia of both films.

Answer: Skomer, Skokholm and Grassholm

Skomer is less than a mile offshore. It is estimated that around half of the world's entire population of Manx shearwaters, some 315,000 pairs, nest on both Skomer and nearby Skokholm. In addition to these numbers of shearwaters, Skomer is also home to around 6,000 breeding pairs of puffins. With some of the richest seas to be found anywhere around the coast of Great Britain, these islands are a must visit destination for both birdwatchers and dolphin watchers.

Skomer takes its name from two old Viking words, 'skalm' which means cleft or cut, and '-ey' which means island. Skokholm derives its name from Viking words meaning wooded island and is around two and a half miles out at the southern edge of Saint Bride's Bay. Skokholm was the site of the first seabird observatory in the British Isles. Grassholm is the smallest of the three and is entirely uninhabited. Lying eleven miles out, it is the most westerly point of Wales and appears to be white in colour. Grassholm is home to around ten percent of the world's population of gannets, around 39,000 breeding pairs, and there are no prizes for guessing what gives this poor island its white colour!

Answer: Preseli Hills

The Preseli Hills, or Bryniau Preseli in Welsh, are located in the northern part of the county of Pembrokeshire; its highest point is a mere 536m above sea level. As with most upland areas the terrain consists mainly of moorland and heath which provide a habitat for a surprising number of plants and animals, some of which can be considered to be quite rare. Of particular interest in the area is the Tafarn Sinc - The Zinc Tavern - located in the village of Rosebush. The tavern was originally intended to be a temporary building for use after work by local slate quarrymen and consists of a simple timber framework with an outer covering of corrugated zinc sheet. Although the Tafarn Sinc is little more than a shed, it is very popular and has a reputation that extends far outside of the local area.

Other points of interest include: a stone circle known as Bedd Arthur which, according to legend, is the final resting place of King Arthur; an impressive collection of ruins dating back to the Bronze Age atop the hill known as Foel Drygarn; and, perhaps most importantly, the materials used in the second phase of the construction of Stonehenge some five thousand years ago were quarried from the Preseli Hills.

Answer: St. Bride's Bay

At around ten miles deep and seven miles from north to south, Saint Brides Bay is a large inlet at the western edge of Pembrokeshire. Its southern limit is marked by Skomer Island although Wooltack Point on the mainland is also considered to be so. The northern limit of the bay is marked by Ramsay Island at St. David's Head.

The quaint village of Solva in the north was an important staging post for those wishing to migrate to the Americas during the nineteenth century; interestingly, a one-way ticket from Solva across the Atlantic to America cost around four pounds, just slightly more than the cost of one pint of ale in any of Solva's modern hostelries! During the medieval period and through to the 19th century, Solva with its sheltered, deep water harbour, was an important port for the export of lime which was produced locally and a number of its lime kilns have been preserved along the harbour side.

Answer: Fishguard

The last invasion of the British mainland took place not far from Fishguard when French troops landed at Carreg Watad Point. After an abortive attempt to land near Bristol, the French force commander, a seventy-year-old Irish-American called Colonel William Tate, set sail for Cardigan Bay where the French 'Plan B' was to be affected.

The French force consisted primarily of an ill-disciplined mob of former convicts and after landing they discovered a number of barrels of alcohol; rather than advance inland as their mission demanded, they remained where they were, became very drunk and were incapable of fighting or defending themselves.

They were quickly surrounded by the local militia, a force which included a number of women. The French commander surrendered to Lord Cawdor and signed a peace treaty at The Royal Oak public house situated on Fishguard town square on the 25th of February, 1797. Sadly, at the time of writing, this historic public house is currently closed for business and is being allowed to fall into a state of disrepair.

This raid is also celebrated in the one hundred foot long Last Invasion Tapestry which can be viewed at Fishguard Town Hall.

Answer: Petrified forest

One of the earliest written records of the petrified forest at Newgale was noted by Geraldus Cambrensis, the chaplain to English King Henry II. He saw the forest during the month of March in 1188 whilst he was on a journey to Tyddewi, the city of St David's, to deliver a sermon in support of the Third Crusade. Although Geraldus' writings were made over 800 years ago, even earlier tales from the area tell of Cantref Gwaelodd, the 'Welsh Atlantis', which legend says the forest was a part of.

During 2014, further discoveries were made at Newgale which included a number of preserved animal tracks and human footprints all of which have been radio-carbon dated to the early Bronze Age, proving that the area has been inhabited for many thousands of years. The Pembrokeshire coast is dotted with relics such as these, with other important sites being located at both Freshwater West (to the west of the town of Pembroke), and at Amroth situated between the town of Saundersfoot and the Pendine Sands.

Answer: It is at the mouth or confluence of two or more rivers

The term 'Aber' is derived from an ancient Brythonic word meaning 'to pour away' and any Welsh place name prefixed with Aber will be at the mouth of a river or at a confluence; areas from which the water literally pours away. Not surprisingly, and given the history of the area, most of the towns and villages prefixed with 'Aber' are to be found in the northern region of Pembrokeshire: Abercastle, Abermawr and Abergwaun for example.

The county was historically split into two areas: the area to the north of what was known as the Landsker line was distinctly Welsh, its language and culture fiercely maintained by the Welsh lords who held sway in that area; and to the south, the culture was more anglicised with Welsh rarely spoken and the many 'Little England beyond Wales' place names reflect this alien culture established in this far western corner of Wales.

Answer: Pembroke Dock

The huge estuary upon which Pembroke Dock stands is a type of flooded river valley known as a ria. These features are formed by rising sea levels which flood the river valleys or by the erosion of the local land. Because of the nature of their formation, rias when viewed from the air will always have a tree-like appearance.

Work began on the building of Pembroke Dock, or Doc Penfro as it is known in Welsh, in 1814 when a royal dockyard was established on the southern shore of the River Cleddau; this was eventually to become one of the most important dockyards in Great Britain. Over its years in operation, the town's shipbuilders constructed over two hundred and sixty vessels for the Royal Navy.

During World War I, Pembroke Dock maintained a large garrison, and the forts and barracks which protected the town and the dockyard are still visible. With the closure of the dockyard in 1926, the economy of the area was dealt a severe blow but after the arrival of the Royal Air Force in June 1931, its fortunes improved significantly. Throughout the war, Pembroke Dock was home to 210 Squadron and its range of flying boats which included the huge Short Sunderland; the sheltered haven there provided the perfect base for flying boats and by 1943 Pembroke Dock was home to around 99 of the aircraft. As a crucially important base in the fight against Germany's U-Boat fleet, Pembroke Dock was regularly attacked and by 1941 much of the town had been bombed into ruin. The town was a base for the RAF until 1957 and the garrison until 1967 when the last units left the area. Since 1979, Pembroke Dock has also been a ferry terminal for services operating between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

Answer: The Pembrokeshire Coastal Path

Pembrokeshire is not a large county; in fact, there is little more than 25 miles between its northern and southern coasts, but the 'Llwybr Arfordir' or Coastal Path within its boundaries is 186 miles in length! Winding its way around the coastline from Amroth in the south to St. Dogmael on the border between Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire in the north, the stretch of coastal path in Pembrokeshire is a part of the Wales Coast Path, the first path of its kind to encompass an entire country. Rarely does it stray too far inland but when it does it passes through some of this county's tiniest and most attractive hamlets. Generally, the path follows the coastline very, very closely; sometimes by just a few inches and there are sections where the walker is separated from a sheer drop of hundreds of feet by nothing more than a foot or so of precariously perched tussock grass and a low hedge! But, irrespective of any danger that may be encountered on the coastal path, the scenery is stunningly beautiful whether the day is bright and calm or if the weather is dark and grey and the coastline is being battered by big seas in a storm.

A walk around the Pembrokeshire coastal path should be on everybody's bucket list.