Aberystwyth

Beautiful morning for a walk around Tenby. As avid Grand Designs watchers and  with just a little interest in stuff to do with the sea, we had to look at the old lifeboat shed that has been restored and converted into a private residence. It is a much grander version of our one at Queenscliff. It was impressive, but the maintenance of the steel piles and bracing underneath obviously takes a lot of effort. Had a quick look at the new lifeboat station and boat. The boat would make a big splash when it was launched. Still the same principle as the old one. We walked around the harbour and up to Castle Hill for great views over the town.




We also visited the Tudor Merchant’s  house (importer and exporter), which was a cosy and basic but attractive building, in which all the replica objects could be handled, which is not often the case in National Trust properties.





On then to Carew to see a restored tidal mill and castle (not restored). It seems that our definition of restored is  different to the Pembrokeshire National Parks', who manage both. The building has been restored, but not the waterwheel and mechanical stuff. The mill is set in a tidal estuary and when the tide comes in, it fills the 20+ acre mill pond. When the tide drops below the waterwheel, a gate opens and the millpond water turns the 2 large water wheels. As the mill only works during water outflow, milling times are determined by the tides. The castle is a ruin, but still interesting.

With the fuel gauge reading just above empty, we set off towards Aberystwyth looking for petrol. It can sometimes be hard to find petrol, seems that you need to find the right road to turn on to sometimes. Anyway, we managed to fill the tank and drove on to Aberystwyth, a very popular sea side town in summer (and warm weekends). Drove straight to the sea front and found a B&B only 10 mins walk from the centre of town and 2 mins (didn’t know at the time) from the main reason we came here. We wanted to see the cliff railway, yes another one, that we’d seen on one of the travel programmes on TV at home. We’ll ride on it tomorrow.
We explored the town, also keeping our eyes open for a place to eat. We settled on Cod and chips at PD’s diner on the terraced seafront, sitting outside watching the sea and people. It was still warm at 7pm and people were still lying on the beach.