ACTING Chair Sonia was delighted to welcome guest speaker Vicky Tomlinson to the October meeting of Narberth Ladies Probus Club for a tour of Castlemartin Ranges.

Vicky is a volunteer leader for walking groups and accompanies a minibus tour of the Castlemartin Ranges. She began her talk by giving a brief overview of the area, a coastal plateau fringed by 14km of Carboniferous Limestone cliffs with a spectacular series of caves, rock arches, sea stacks and folds. The War Office requisitioned the area from the Cawdor Estate during the Second World War.

The National Park offers two forms of access: one is a minibus tour covering both Range East, St Govans to Stack Rocks, and Range West, Stack Rocks to Brownslade; the other is a choice of two walking routes through Range West.

Vicky then took the ladies on a fascinating and beautifully illustrated simulated minibus tour of the range, commencing at the guard house at Merrion where a pair of army tanks flank the gates. The volunteer leader registers the group here and receives a key to the range padlocks.

After looking at the view towards Broadhaven South, Vicky took her virtual visitors west via St Govan’s Chapel, passing the famous Huntsman’s leap and an iron age fort known as Buckspool.

Next, she took them on the road to Stack Rocks, and a detour to view Flimston Chapel and the adjoining Flimston Farm. This gave an insight into the richness of the farming area before it became a military range during the Second World War.

The tour then entered Range West which is only accessible to groups led by Park volunteers. Here, the audience encountered an area known as The Wash, a site where fossils of corals and other marine life can be seen.

It was then on west to the bays on either side of a sea stack called Penyholt. The stack itself has a profile resembling a head, likened variously to General de Gaulle, Margaret Thatcher, Bart Simpson and President Trump!

From Penyholt, Vicky took the ladies towards Linney head, the most south westerly point of Pembrokeshire. They passed Linney iron age fort on the way which also has some huge arches and caves. From Linney head they were shown views towards Freshwater West and St Anne’s Head and Skokholm and Skomer islands.

Vicky then guided the tour inland past tracks which carry targets for the military exercises, before reaching the remains of Brownslade Farm. Here, the club learned about the Cawdor family who owned the 6000+ acres of the Stackpole estate for some 200 years from the late 18th century.

Finally, they exited Range West at Brownslade Gate.

Vicky described other features of Range West seen on the walking route but not on the minibus tour, including Second World War remains such as a few Tobruk shelters and the picturesque Flimston Mill which stands half drowned in a small lake.

Vicky concluded her talk by showing pictures of wildlife to be seen on the range, such as seals, choughs and guillemots, The flora is particularly special as the land hasn’t been subjected to heavy pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers. Plants such as spring squill, thrift, golden samphire and sea lavender form carpets of colour through the spring and summer.

All agreed that it had been a most interesting and informative talk and many hoped to be able to join a minibus tour of the ranges next year.