The reason

St Davids is my soul place.  I go to find calm and restore my spirit.  It works.  I walk the same paths each time to imbibe the beauty and relive my childhood.

It is a 20-30 minute stroll through back lanes from David and Frances' house to Non's Well.  It's a favourite place of mine to sit on a very comfy bench here and stare out to sea, sometimes do a bit of reading.  Non was the mother of St David.  She gave birth alone in the adjoining field during a wild storm. The well is said to have healing properties.

There is a passing parade of people walking the Pembrokeshire Coast Path  but it would be selfish to keep such pleasure to myself... and often there are dogs to ogle.

These rocks between St Non's and Caerfai are  my favourite place to lounge and read but, this trip, the weather was never ideal for this.

This postcard captures the joy I feel walking this path.

Today we'll start at St Justinians and we'll walk home to St Davids via Porth Clais and Non's Well even though it will nearly kill us.

David drove me to St Justinians to do a boat trip to Skomer Island mid morning.  Sadly the trip was not to be (more in another post) and I was stranded.  A boaty chap told  me it was a 2 hour walk to St Davids, so off I set.

this is the image that sits in my heart 

It was early Spring.  Lambs were strangely bossy.  Daffodils were nearly at an end. It was too early for the foxgloves, but oh the wealth of other flowers!

Many hours later I glimpsed the chimneys of 'My House',

by which I don't mean 'home' (note Carn Llidi in the background)

but my dream house, the cottage my child-self imagined would be where I lived with my Alsatian dog and pursued a career as a writer.

The cottage is on a cliff at Porth Clais so I stumbled down the track and nearly kissed the ground when I found the kiosk still open and serving food.  It was later than 3 o'clock, my legs were worn to stumps and I was very hungry.

Porth Clais is a fishing harbour.  As I ate a toasted sandwich, then a mango ice-cream, I noticed nesting boxes in some of the trees bordering the dry dock - look carefully.  Then it was onwards to Non's Well along the coast path.

Looking back to My House from the other side of the harbour

It was a long but glorious walk.  Of course, I could have used the roads but...

As for  St Davids, it is a city by virtue of having a cathedral.  It is the smallest city in the UK and I consider it a village.

We'll cruise the cathedral in another post.  I love St Davids but I acknowledge that there are prettier villages in Britain.

from outside the house where my Uncle George used to live

There are vistas I find uplifting

and little local gems.

The Visitor Centre is a beautiful space, its architecture inspired by cromlechs.  At this time of the year, the rooks are raucously nest building in its grounds.

The cathedral dominates even when you can't see it.  Here houses face the stone wall that once surrounded it.

Once this street was also within the cathedral walls.

And this is one of my favourite views / walks, a little known path leading from the village to the cathedral grounds.

Perhaps that's enough for now.