There has long been a Pembroke Town Trail to encourage people to explore our historic town, to draw attention to its many historic buildings and interesting features. It was originally devised by Pembroke Civic Trust, but over the course of time much has changed. It was a decision of Pembroke Town Council’s regeneration committee to update the trail, a project led by Linda Asman, member of both Pembroke Civic Trust and Pembroke and Monkton Local History Society, of which she is chairman.

The new town trail was launched some 18 months ago. It now begins at Pembroke Town Hall which houses both the Pembroke Murals and Pembroke Museum and proceeds around the town in a series of 30 bronze plaques set into the pavements. An attractive pocket-sized booklet (produced by Monddi Press) accompanies the trail which contains a fold up map and illustrations by local artist George Lewis, and can be obtained from Pembroke Town Hall, Information Centre and castle for just £1.50 (proceeds help fund the museum which has free entry).

The town trail was funded jointly by Pembroke Town Council and Pembrokeshire County Council’s Town Centre Support Programme. Now, wishing to enhance the trail further, a new digital trail has been launched.

Last year, the history society successfully applied for a ‘sharing your heritage’ grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to implement this. Working with Modern Print and Design, Pembroke Dock, this has now been completed - plaques bearing QR codes are now situated by the town trail points to be scanned with a phone to reveal information about the site complete with heritage photographs. The QR codes link website www.pembroketowntrail.wales

The advantage of the digital trail is that it is easily accessible and can be continually updated - for example the newly installed Henry VII statue and enhanced Mill Bridge area have been added. The website is bi-lingual and the digital trail can be followed in Welsh, as well as English.

There are further plans - it is hoped the Henry VII statue will be the start of a statue/art trail, but that is still on the drawing board.

The history society will be holding a meeting in Pembroke Town Hall on Saturday, October 7, 10 am, to discuss the way forward. Further information to follow, but keep up-to-date on www.pembrokeandmonktonhistory.org.uk.