A Week Around Tenby

[GeoffandWendy]

Not the usual Holiday Tale from the Norfolk Broads, that's why I am posting it in the Lounge, instead of on the Holiday Tales Page, but I'm sure you will enjoy reading all the same. 

The Pembrokeshire coast of South Wales, has to be one of the nicest stretches of coastline in Britain, similar to Cornwall and North Devon. Wendy and I spent a week in a delightful B&B just a stones throw from Wisemans Bridge, approx two miles south of Saundersfoot. We decided to go after the B/H so set of early Tuesday morning, to miss the rush hour traffic on the M42 & M5.

We were down at Ross on Wye at about 7.30 am, and shortly after, were having a nice cooked breakfast in one of the truck stop cafes, that I have frequented many times in the past, when I was a truck driver. Having parted with £6.65 for two good breakfasts including tea and toast, (excellent value) we were on our way again. Rather than continue on to the M4 near Newport, we headed towards Abergavenny and over the Heads of the Valley's, which meets the M4 at Neath near Swnansea, saving twenty miles, and petrol too! 

Another stop, just past Carmarthen, for toilets and a cuppa, at a lay-by snack van and we were on our way again. After another twenty miles or so, we reached our turn off to Wisemans Bridge via Stepaside and Pleasant Valley. This area is very pleasant too, so you can see why it got its name. The road passes the old Stepaside Iron Works, now a Heritage site, set amongst trees and well cared for grounds. Opposite is the old mill caravan park, where I once stayed many years ago. The road from here is very narrow with occasional passing places, before you drop down to Wisemans Beach. It was nearly 10 am and although we couldn't book in to our accommodation until 2pm, we thought as we were close we would see what the situation was. Fortunately, it appeared that our room hadn't been occupied and we were told we could move in straight away. After being shown to our room, we were invited to a cake and cup of coffee, after we had unpacked, which was brought to us on a tray in the garden patio. What a nice warm welcome after out long journey and to think, we had managed to get our room four hours before the appointed time.

Our B&B called Pinewood, is a large bungalow, with four guest bedrooms and a large conservatory/lounge/dinning room. There are also 8 static caravans on site, in there own separate grounds, which the proprietors also own. Our room which was in the roof space as a dormer, was very spacious with en-suite shower and all the usual facilities to hand and a lovely view overlooking the sea. Each morning at breakfast, we were greeted to the many different birds, feeding on the bird feeders outside, whils we enjoyed our meal, with such a great choice to choose from. It's the sort of B&B that you wish you could stay at longer, good food, welcoming hosts, spotlessly clean and nothing too much trouble, should you require anything. A real home from home accommodation. Thoroughly recommended! 

Day One : Tues 1st Sept.

We took the car down the steep hill to Wisemans Bridge and parked at the far end of the beach. (all free parking) Then walked along the old railway trackbed, through the tunnels into Saundersfoot. This path starts from the old iron works at Stepaside, where it once was the trackbed of a narrow gauge railway, for transporting coal from the mines in the area, down to the harbour at Saundersfoot. The railway closed during the twenties and is now a foot path into Saundersfoot. It takes about forty minutes to reach Saundersfoot from Wisemans Bridge and at low tide, you can walk all the way back along the beach instead of going through the tunnels. A very pleasant walk of about one and a half miles. We spent most of the afternoon in Saundersfoot, browsing around the shops, sitting by the harbour watching boats coming and going, and having a nice lunch of crab salad sandwiches in a cafe overlooking the beach.. Later in the afternoon, we sat on the beach licking double cone ice creams with toffee fudge and rum/rasin for me, whilst Wendy, had raspberry ripple and pecan nut flavours. We were enjoying the lovely sunny day it turned out to be, so why not have an ice cream!

At about 4pm, the tide was well on its way out and this gave us the opportunity to walk back along the beach. Wendy slipped off her shoes and paddled most of the way along the lovely golden sands, which this coastline has to offer, until we reached a rocky part, where a bit of caution was required, before more sand made the going easier again. We had a few beers at the Wisemans Bridge Pub, before strolling back to the car and back to our B&B for a well earned rest, shower and change of clothes, before going to Amroth for an evening meal. It had been a long first day, since setting off at 5am and we decided to have an early night after our meal. We were in bed by 10pm and slept like a log.

Day Two : Wed 2nd Sept.

Up at 8am and down for breakfast at 8.30. to be entertained by Blue Tits, Coal Tits, Great Tits, Gold Crest, Sparrows and a Robin, all busy feeding on the feeders outside the conservatory windows, with a dormouse quickly grabbing some seed droppings now and again, who had made his home amongst the shrubs next to the feeders. Jim told us that it was the first year they had seen a dormouse in the garden and that he had been taking food all summer, they call him Dasher, because he's so quick coming and going.

It was a little bit cloudy after breakfast, with the weather supposed to be brightening later in the afternoon, so we decided to go to St Davids, taking the coast road through Newgale and Solver. This part of the coast is really beautiful, with some stunning views as the road drops down towards Newgale. We stopped off here for half an hour, just watching the tide come in, with gentle waves rolling onto the lush golden sands. There were a few bathing on the beach, with the life guards in attendance all day, which seems the norm for this part of the coastline from Tenby, right up to St Davids. Apparently, with all the coves and inlets, it produces rip tides, that can be dangerous in certain areas, so the safe bathing areas of each beach is marked out with red and yellow flags, by the lifeguards, who are on hand during the day at popular beach resorts.

After a nice cup of tea from a beach side cafe, we were soon on our way again and reached St Davids for 11.30. Parking is about half a mile out of the city, the smallest in Britain, but is no larger than a village. There isn't really a great lot to see at St Davids, except the cathedral itself and the ruined Bishops Palace. Just a few shops and cafes and the odd pub and that's it really. You can book a boat trip out to one of the bird reserves on one of the islands, but the landing stage is three miles away from St Davids, at the Lifeboat Station. We just spent a few hours looking round the magnificent cathedral and Bishops Palace after first having had some lunch in a nice tea garden, on the way down to the cathedral.

We left St Davids at 3.30pm back along the coast road, the way we had come. A stop off at Solver is well worth a look, with its small harbour and its very steep long narrow inlet squeezed between rugged cliffs on each side. There is a nice pub overlooking the harbour inlet, but parking is a bit limited and is pay and display. We decided to just have a cup of coffee, then get on our way again. We decided to eat in Tenby this evening, so parked the car in the multi story car park at £2 for three hours, which would be ample time to find somewhere to eat and not have to rush.

Strolling along the top promenade, where most of the hotels are located we found that the Belgrave Hotel were doing three course meals for non residents at £9.95 for two courses from the specials menu, with a reasonable choice to choose from. We both had Welsh Lamb, with new potatoes, and two veg, followed by a dessert.  It was very nice and not skimpy either. We booked a table for another meal here later in the holiday.

We spent an hour sat on the promenade after our meal, just watching the world go by and managed to get back to the car, ten minutes before the ticket ran out. It was back to Wisemans Bridge to finish off the evening, with a few drinks. The pub here is quite popular with locals as well as tourists and always seems busy when the weather is nice. There are lots of tables on the terraces overlooking the beach and planty of staff on hand to serve drinks, so you don't have to wait ages to get served. We found an empty table against the wall overlooking the beach and watched the sun set behind the headland looking towards Saundersfoot. It had been another lovely day, so decided to head back up the hill to our B&B. 

More to follow Later!

 

WISEMANS BRIDGE                                       Our B&B just through gap in trees

   

TENBY HARBOUR AT LOW TIDE

 

 

ST DAVIDS CATHEDRAL

 

SOUTH BEACH TENBY

[Hockham Admiral]

What a lovely tale, Geoffrey & Wendy... l'm quite captivated with the idea of a holiday in such a charming place!   

[Polly]

Mum and Dad had their caravan at Stepaside, the site of the old ironworks. Thanks for taking me there again

[BroadScot]

Hi Geoff,

You have just reminded me why I drove over five hundred miles to get to that lovely part of South Wales. Nice to see all the repair work has been done at the Cathedral grounds at St David's too. Nice pics.

 

Iain.

[SwanR]

Lovely photos Geoff. We were there about 20 years ago. Stayed a little to the east of where you were, at Amroth. Had a lovely self catering cottage, fantastic weather and one of the best family holidays ever. Who needs to go abroad when there are beautiful places like this to visit in Britain.

[Viking23]

What a great descripion of a great place, the Welsh Tourist Board couldn't have done a better write up.

When I was very young, we camped in a field in New Hedges I think, and many years later when I had my own family, we camped at Newgale.

A beautiful coast, we went to Tenby a while back and stayed bed and breakfast, and walked in, it was October, and Tenby was often very windy. Car parking was the biggest problem, but knowing they have a Multi story could be useful.

We would certainly want to go back again.

Thanks for the reminder.

[Gracie]

That was a lovely read Geoff & Wendy, thank you. I so agree with Jean, people are in such a rush to jump on a plane to head out of our Country for a holiday when there are so many beautiful places to visit here. I think I've read somewhere that the Broads are pretty special lol

Grace

[GeoffandWendy]

What a great descripion of a great place, the Welsh Tourist Board couldn't have done a better write up.

When I was very young, we camped in a field in New Hedges I think, and many years later when I had my own family, we camped at Newgale.

A beautiful coast, we went to Tenby a while back and stayed bed and breakfast, and walked in, it was October, and Tenby was often very windy. Car parking was the biggest problem, but knowing they have a Multi story could be useful.

We would certainly want to go back again.

Thanks for the reminder.

That was a lovely read Geoff & Wendy, thank you. I so agree with Jean, people are in such a rush to jump on a plane to head out of our Country for a holiday when there are so many beautiful places to visit here. I think I've read somewhere that the Broads are pretty special lol

Grace

Thank you all for looking in. The Multi story car park is a God send, it has two areas, short stay on the ground and floor one (up to two hours) and long stay on floors two and three (up to twenty four hours) Just £3.50 for 24 hours. There are lifts and toilet facilities (20p entry) and it is just two minutes walk from the Five arch gate of the town walls.

Yes Grace, who needs to go abroad when we have places like the Pembrokeshire National Park, there is so much to see and do, as you will see when I post up the next part of our holiday. Although we had a few cloudy days, the weather did manage to stay dry and we just had a slight bit of drizzle on Wed morn. After that, the week got better until the following Tuesday, when it was time to go home.

The Cathedral had scaffolding round it when I last visited Ian, and all the restoration work is now complete. The grounds are so peaceful and a pleasure to walk round.

Day Three : Thurs 3rd Sept

Our plan today, was to visit Caldey Island, by boat, but the weather forecast had given out showers and Friday, promised to be a much nicer day, so we decided to visit Colby Woodland Gardens, which is a National Trust Property, just five miles away from where we were staying. Then, spend the rest of the day looking round Tenby.

After our entertaining breakfast with the birds again, on the feeders, we took the car along the coast road to Amroth. The road drops down a steep 1 in 5 gradient as you enter Amroth and the view is magnificent. Passing through the coastal village for about two miles, there is a turn to the left, which takes you through lush green woodland (very narrow with passing places) for a further two miles, until you reach the entrance to the property. As members of the NT, parking and entry was free for us. The gardens are mainly woodland gardens with just a small walled garden (part of the house) which is not open to the public. There is a lovely cafe/restaurant which does very tasty home made cake, situated in the Bothy. This building was originally the accommodation for the estate workers. Naturally, we had to sample the cake and we both had a slice of lovely Victoria sponge, ouzing with fresh cream, Mmmm!

Opposite the cafe, is the entrance to the walled garden, which has a delightful summer house at the top, whichis open for a look round (see attached photos of the garden)

THE BOTHY TEA ROOMS

 

THE GARDEN & SUMMERHOUSE

It really is a nice place to visit and there are many woodland paths throughout the grounds. We decided to see some of the woodland whilst we were there and there is a nice stream meandering through the grounds, which can be crossed in several places. The NT have provided lots of things for children to do, sculptured logs to climb on, and even a rope swing over the stream. As we were the only people about, I couldn't resist having a go on the swing, well you can't let an opportunity of being a kid again, slip you by can you. Sorry but there was a fault with the photo upload, still it spared me the thought of you all having a laugh at me. 

After a couple of hours, we left to go into Tenby for the rest of the day, using the Multi story car parking facilities, which are close to the centre and reasonably priced. For those of you who have never visited Tenby (you don't know what your'e missing) It was once a busy trading town back in the middle ages and still remaind a fortified town, with almost all of the town walls intact. There are several gateways, the main one being known as the Five Arches. Narrow cobbled streets form the main part of the town with a lovely church at the centre. From here, you can head down to the harbour and main beach, or turn south along towards the south beach. It is quite a hilly town with different levels, from the lower harbour, to the central higher town area and north promenade, where there are some beautiful gardens and paths, overlooking St Catherine's Island, that lead you down to the beach far below. The views from this promenade are outstanding, with Caldey Island in the distance and the sweeping beach towards Penally.   

 

THE HARBOUR AT TENBY. St CATHERINES ISLAND & LIFEBOAT STATION IN THE BACKGROUND

 

IMPERIAL HOTEL & PART OF THE TOWN WALLS FROM THE NORTH PROMENADE

 

St CATHERINES ISLAND AT LOW TIDE (Napoleonic Fort is being restored for opening to the public)

 

VIEW OF CALDEY ISLAND FROM NORTH PROMENADE

 

VIEW OVERLOOKING THE SOUTH BEACH TOWARDS SAUNDERSFOOT

We walked our socks off exploring Tenby and it is all up and down hill, but stopping for a sit down to admire the views across the bay, with an ice cream, or a nice cup of coffee in one of the lovely cafes, it was well worth the effort. Twenty years ago, we could have skiped round no effort, but it's a matter of just taking your time nowadays, but really relaxing and enjoyable day we had in Tenby. We would be back again tomorrow for a boat trip to Caldey Island, but now it was time to head back to Wisemans Bridge for a meal at the pub, and a couple of drinks of course.

It was quite busy on this occasion, not like the photo shows, which was taken a few days before in the early morning. We had a lovely meal of a mixed seafood platter, chips and side salad, washed down with a few pints of Stella lager, before heading back up the hill with Wendy driving (had a few too many drinks) to our delightful B&B. picture below. Our bedroom was the window in the end gable, with a nice sea view.

THE HOLIDAY TO CONTINUE LATER!!!

[SwanR]

Really enjoying seeing all your photos Geoff - thank you for sharing them.

I remember seeing the old lifeboat station at Tenby turned into a home on Grand Designs. And having done a bit of searching I have discovered that another very similar lifeboat station has just been up for sale at St David's, not that far away from Tenby really.

[GeoffandWendy]

Day Four : Friday 4th Sept.

Ok, time to get your life jackets on, for today we are going on a boat trip to Caldey Island. Yippee! As promised, the weather turned out to be a lovely day, with a slight wind blowing from the sea, so we went prepared with anoraks for the crossing. You don't need to book these boat trips, as they run every half hour and can carry about thirty five passengers.

There are two different trips available, one that does a whole round trip of the Island (but doesn't land) and the other trip is the boat to the island itself. This is the one that we were taking, It costs £12 return, £10 for us old pensioners, which is well worth it for the good half hour trip. We boarded our boat at 10.30 am from the harbour, as it was high tide and set sail for Treasure, sorry I mean Caldey Island, getting carried away again. Once we left the harbour and sailed past St Catherines Island, the wind was blowing a bit, but not enough to cause any discomfort. The view of Tenby from the boat is quite breathtaking, as you can see the whole of the coastline as you get further out to sea.

We arrived at Caldey, just after 11.am and it was just a ten minute walk to the cafe and other facilities, which was a welcome after our sea journey. Caldey Island, is home to twelve Cistercian Monks, who have lived here since the new Monastery was built in 1910. Before then, the old Priory was used, which is now mostly a ruin. Visitors are not allowed in the monastic buildings and you don't see any of the monks whilst you are there, except civilian staff, who look after the visitor amenities of the island. There is a Post Office, where you can send a post card from, with its own Caldey Island stamp. A Perfume shop, Gift shop and further towards the centre of the island, is a small Chocolate Factory, well more of a small building than a factory, which make chocolate and fudge, staffed by two young ladies. I was a little bit disappointed that I didn't see Wiily Wonka. Anyway, I didn't have the golden ticket, so just managed to come away with a bar of fruit and nut.

Close to the chocolate building, is the old priory, which dates back to the sixteenth century when it was used by an order of Franciscan monks, who left the island sometime during the 1800s. Although the priory is now in ruins, the main church has been slightly restored. The island has many paths, that lead all over the island, which is about 3/4 mile in length and just over 1/2 mile across, at its widest point. There is a lighthouse on the highest point, which you can visit, but it was too far of a climb for our weary bones, so we gave it a miss, much easier going down hill than up. 

 

ALL ABOARD THE SKYLARK!

 

THREE VIEWS OF St CATHERINES ISLAND FROM THE BOAT

 

 

 

 

CALDEY ISLAND FROM THE JETTY

 

MAP OF THE ISLAND DESCRIBING ALL THE FACILITIES

 

THE MONASTERY WITH THE POST OFFICE/MUSEUM IN THE FOREGROUND.

 

AS USUAL, I GET LUMBERED CARRYING THE BAG! I THINK WENDY HAD BEEN ON THE BOTTLE WHEN SHE TOOK THIS PHOTO. SHE SAID A WASP WAS BUZZING AROUND HER!  OH WELL AS GOOD AS AN EXCUSE AS ANY!  -  THIS WAS THE GIFT SHOP! WERE THEY HOPE TO RELIEVE YOU, OF SOME OF YOUR SPENDING MONEY!

 

AH WELL IT WAS TIME TO BOARD THE BOAT AGAIN FOR OUR JOURNEY BACK TO CIVILISATION!

 

GOODBYE CALDEY ISLAND

 

BACK ON DRY LAND AGAIN. THIS TIME ON THE BEACH AT LOW TIDE>

It was a lovely day and we arrived back in Tenby at 4 pm. We decided to spend the rest of the day at Saundersfoot and have a meal, so decided to have some good old fish and chips at the cafe overlooking the harbour. It wasn't as good as we expected, so that was one for the No No list in future. We had a stroll along the beach towards Wisemans Bridge as far as the end of the beachside properties, then headed back to the car park for the drive back to the pub at Wisemans Bridge, where we finished off the evening sat on the terraces with a few drinks, before returning to our B&B. All in all a very nice day, except for the fish and chips!

 

OUR FAVOURITE WATERING HOLE

 

FROM THIS VIEW OF WISEMANS BRIDGE, TAKEN FROM THE OLD RAILWAY TRACK, THAT LEADS TO SAUNDERSFOOT. YOU CAN SEE OUR B&B ON TOP OF THE CLIFF FAR RIGHT WITH LOVELY SEA VIEWS.

 

Tomorrow it was off to see a few of the castles around Pembrokeshire. Watch this space!

[GeoffandWendy]

CONTINUING WITH THE REST OF OUR HOLIDAY

The weather forecast was actually improving and the rest of our days spent in and around Tenby were quite good. After breakfast on Sat, we decided to head south along the coast, through Amroth, Pendine Sands and on to Lauharne. This charming village sits at the head of an estuary, dominated by its ruined castle. The Welsh poet Dylin Thomas lived in the village during the later part of his life and wrote some of his poems whilst living here. 

 

TWO VIEWS OF THE CASTLE

 

 

We spent a few hours here, then drove inland towards Tenby and on to Manorbier and Carew, where there are two more castles worth visiting. Unfortunately, the photos we took at Manorbier didn't turn out properly for some reason, so I am unable to show these. Pity really, as we took quite a few photos of this lovely beach side location. We didn't actually go round the castle, but sat on the beach for a while, before having a nice lunch of ham salad baguette and pot of tea. We then drove the short distance to visit Carew Castle & Tidal Mill, which was not too far away from Manorbier.

CAREW CASTLE

 

 

CAREW TIDAL MILL     This mill was erected in the early 1800s, which replace a much older mill used for grinding corn. The present mill is not in working order, but restoration is on hand to get it back to working condition again. The large water wheels below the mill, are operated by the flow of the tide. As the tide comes in, the incoming water is guided through a number of channels, which turn the water wheels. At full tide, water is held back by sluice gates and can then be released to operate the water wheels in reverse, until the next tide brings in more water.

We left Carew at just gone 2pm and had enough time to visit nearby Pembroke Castle. This castle is quite magnificent, with most of it intact. It was quite an important castle, being the birth place of a young boy, who later in life became Henry VII, who killed Richard III at Bosworth, to start the Tudor dynasty. Henry VII's father Edmund Tudor (grandfather to Henry VIII) is buried in St Davids Cathedral, which saved it from destruction when it was an abbey, during the dissolution of the monasteries. 

 

PEMBROKE CASTLE

 

 

I think I have bored you enough about elephants and castles, well maybe not elephants, but certainly castles. The rest of our holiday was spent in and around Tenby, which you have seen in the photos shown already, so I will just wrap up this rather lengthy topic, with a some photos we took during the week we were there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's the lot I'm afraid. Wendy & I have enjoyed sharing our holiday with you all and next month, we are off to Llandudno for four days, so hope to bring you another holiday tale, this time from North Wales.

 For now!

 

 

 

[BroadScot]

That's the lot I'm afraid. Wendy & I have enjoyed sharing our holiday with you all and next month, we are off to Llandudno for four days, so hope to bring you another holiday tale, this time from North Wales.

 For now!

Hi Geoff,

You are heading to where I was nearly born. I hope you manage up the Great Orme, the views are stunning from up there. Take a trip over the Menai Bridge if you have time, to a small village on the coast called Moelfre. http://www.moelfre.org/

Have a safe trip when you go.

Iain.

[GeoffandWendy]

Moelfre looks very nice Ian, we will certainly bear it in mind if we visit Anglesey. Spent many holidays in Llandudno and lost count of how many times Iv'e been up the Great Orme, but you can't not go up the Orme if you visit Llandudno. .

[Viking23]

Moelfre... yes another fine place, if you can find a place to park lol. Fishing off the rocks is great for mackerel too.

Benlech is also great to visit on Anglesey.    

Barabrieth, a welsh type of fruit cake, great with fresh welsh butter.

Must go back there too.

[BroadScot]

Give Llanfair PG a miss, unless you wish to take a pic on the station platform with you standing beside the name!

I have a family connection to Moelfre, be it a distant one. At one time in that village, marriage was difficult if not impossible, as all the families were inter related I believe. Hughes,Evans and Owen) Dick Evans http://rnli.org/NewsCentre/Pages/Double-celebration-for-Moelfre-RNLI-as-new-£27M-lifeboat-arrives-and-revamped-S.aspx is the gentleman I am related to down my mothers side of the family. He was on This is Your Life with Eamonn Andrews. Both my Mother and her other two sisters were on standby, to appear on the programme, but were not called as it happened.

Viking, I can thankfully park there anywhere within reason with my Blue Badge, but as you come into the village on the Right hand Side, there use to be a viewing area for a few cars. I admit its well over 40 years since I was last there, but villages like that don't change much. The Pub did sell the "REAL" Guinness in those days, not the watered down stuff we get here today.

Sorry to highjack your thread Geoff, was only going to be a line or two! Ooops!!

 

Iain

[GeoffandWendy]

Ha ha! Did you mean. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwillantysiliogogogoch? The thing is Ian, can you say it backwards? 

I doubt whether we will be going over to Anglesey,as we are only spending three nights in Llandudno and want to visit Conway, Porthmadog, as well as spend some time in Llandudno itself.

Edited September 16, 2015 by GeoffandWendy

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello Geoff & Wendy,

Being are you are in and around North Wales how about popping into Portmeririon. We rather liked it there.

Regards

Alan

Edited September 17, 2015 by ranworthbreeze

[BroadScot]

Portmerion use to charge entry by the state of the weather! We were fortunate enough to see the architect Clough Williams Ellis on the day we were there in 1974, The Prisoner was very much the thing then where it was filmed. Dull n wet was a lot cheaper. Parking in Porthmadog can be a bit of a challenge too!  So much to see in that area, that four days is just tickling the surface. Enjoy it all.

 

Iain.

[GeoffandWendy]

As Ian has said, four days, doesn't allow time to visit everywhere. There are lots of places like Bodnant Garden, Penrhyn Castle, and a ride on The Welsh Highland or Ffestiniog Railway, we would have liked to squeeze in, but impossible to do everything, so it looks like Portmerion will be getting a miss also. We have manage to book a one night show with Jim Davidson at the Cmry Theatre on the first night of our visit, so that should be interesting, as long as he remembers that he is not telling jokes in a working mans club. 

[BroadScot]

If the weather is kind to you Geoff, it NEVER rains in Wales ...Honest! Swallow Falls is always worth a walk down the steps. Just remember to take a rain mac for the spray!

 

Iain

[GeoffandWendy]

I never go to Wales without a rain coat or a Brolley! But touch wood, I usually end up lucky with the weather when we go on holiday!