A Pembrokeshire scheme aimed at attracting more visitors to enjoy the county's rich military history is the first to get underway under the Welsh Assembly Government's £19m Heritage Tourism project.

Defence of the Realm - Pembrokeshire - is a £500,000 scheme which will see the former coastal defences' battery at Chapel Bay Fort, Angle, restored and opened to the public for the first time.  

Other attractions will include a new visitor centre and improved aviation exhibition at Carew Cheriton airfield with its unique World War 2 control tower, a new heritage centre at Dale and a travelling exhibition of war art drawn by naval personnel on a former Royal Navy airfield's barrack room walls.

The scheme will highlight Pembrokeshire's strategic importance to the defence of Great Britain as a whole and tell the story of how the Milford Haven waterway and the wider region were defended, linking the military theme to various sites across the county.

Defence of the Realm will be delivered by a consortium led by Pembrokeshire County Council and is the first of a number of schemes expected to be supported across Wales under the Welsh Assembly Government's £19m Heritage Tourism project - backed with £8.5m from the European Regional Development Fund.

The project aims to maximise the economic value of heritage through increasing the volume, length and value of visits to Wales, linking themes of Welsh heritage at national, regional and local levels. 

Minister for Heritage, Alun Ffred Jones, said: "I am delighted that the first scheme has been awarded under the ambitious Heritage Tourism project. Defence of the Realm will not only attract more visitors to enjoy Pembrokeshire's outstanding heritage, it will also generate employment opportunities for the local community and attract further investment to boost the region's well established tourism industry."

Cadw - the Assembly Government's historic environment service - and Pembrokeshire County Council will be working with communities, heritage partners and the tourism sector to develop tours, trails and events as well as encouraging exploration of existing sites across the county, providing a range of heritage tourism attractions benefiting visitors and the wider community as well as the tourism industry. 

The county council led consortium also includes Carew Control Tower Group, Chapel Bay Fort and Museum, Coastlands Local History Group (Dale, Marloes, St. Brides and St. Ishmaels), Pembroke Dock Museum Trust, the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust, West Wales Maritime Heritage Society and PLANED. The consortium will also have the support of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority.

Clr. John Davies, leader of the council, welcomed the news.  Speaking on behalf of the consortium, he said: "We are very proud in Pembrokeshire of our rich military heritage and there are already indispensable projects in existence which are keeping the important events in the county's history in the forefront of people's minds today. 

"We are delighted Pembrokeshire has been awarded the contract, which will allow us to work with Cadw to achieve the goal of strengthening and widening our heritage tourism offer and visitor experience, to include not only the heritage sites themselves, but also the surrounding communities."