Welcome to Tenby or, for old friends - welcome back. May you have good weather and enjoy whatever makes a holiday special for you - our beaches and safe bathing, boating, watersports, good food, wonderful scenery, or just lazing about.

But, whatever you might be doing, or where, look around you. Tenby has a long history. Back in the ninth century a bardic poet wrote of 'A fortress set above the sea. Happy, on festive days, is that fair hill above the ceaseless chorus of the deep'. Seven hundred years later an Elizabethan historian described it as 'one of the finest little towns and inhabited by the best people that I ever came in', and now, a further 400 years on, it is unspoiled and as hospitable as ever.

The studious visitor should start at our museum, on the Castle Hill, where all our history is to be found - but with not a dull moment. It is well known as one of Britain's outstanding local museums, with the best art gallery in West Wales. Do not miss it. It is in what was part of our castle and to get to it you pass through the ruins of the barbican gateway.

After your visit, go out on to the hill, to stroll or just sit. On the top is the old castle keep - a little one - the old Coastguard House and signal station and the Welsh national memorial to Victoria's consort; Albert the Good. The poem by that bard is interpreted by Jonah Jones' mosaic mural. Below is the bandstand, built, through the efforts of a group of local ladies, to replace the Victorian one which was sacrificed for essential metal during World War II.

Further round you pass the steps which led to the Royal Victoria Pier, sadly demolished in the '50s, which is why you have to disembark at low tide by a precarious landing stage in the shelter of St. Catherine's Rock. The fort, by the way, is also Victorian. It never fired a shot in anger, but did mount a gun when the South Beach was on the list of invasion risks in 1940.

You cannot miss the lifeboat house and launching slip. We have had a lifeboat for nearly 150 years; go in and see the Sir Galahad and the record of our crew of volunteers, for many a long family tradition of service. Carry on round, past a portion of what was castle wall and emerge into Castle Square. The white house with a Greek inscription over the door was built at the beginning of the 19th century as baths and assembly rooms, in the tradition of the inland spas, but here the waters were salt! But, as the Greek translates: 'The sea washes away all ills'.

You can, if you choose, buy one of the trail guides or join a conducted tour and take in the town in one gulp, but if you do not have the time for that, do look around you; wherever you happen to be it will add to your enjoyment.

You will certainly visit the harbour. The stone quay dates back to the 1300s. Our ships traded with Bristol and Ireland and down to France and the Iberian peninsula, bringing back wine, vinegar for preserving, citrus fruit and salt. Medieval Tenby was prosperous; visit the Tudor Merchant's House and see how well they lived. The quay was originally curved to give greater shelter, but had to be straightened in the 19th century to give access to larger ships. This meant the demolition of the ancient chapel which stood on the end. To replace it, St. Julian's Church was built in 1874. Although in the shadow of the great church of St. Mary's, it is in full use, with a faithful congregation.

If you walk up St. Julian's Street when you leave the harbour, look at the elegant houses of Lexden Terrace, built in the 1830s. The loss of our continental trade during the Elizabethan wars, the Civil War, in which Tenby was besieged twice, and a spread of the plague had left Tenby destitute and in ruins. It began its resurgence as a resort in the late 1700s. The earliest houses of quality in this part of the town were East Rock House and Little Rock House next to it, built by the Greville brothers, sons of the Earl of Warwick and nephews of Sir William Hamilton. In 1802 you could have seen Sir William, accompanied by his wife Emma and Lord Nelson, walking up to the theatre in Frog Street, with the bells of St. Mary's ringing out a welcome to the naval hero.

They will not have walked through the open space of Tudor Square you see now. It was then a triangle of cottages and markets and a hive of activity. They all came down in the 1830s as part of the Tenby Improvement. Further up the High Street there were houses on both sides; those backing on to the church came down at the same time.

Do go into the church. It is one of the largest and finest in Wales and proof of the prosperity of medieval, mercantile Tenby. If one of the volunteer stewards is around you can have a guided tour; if not there are helpful booklets. It is over 800 years old and the centre of our history, in the centre and highest point, enclosed by the town walls and overlooking the harbour and castle.

To the right of the altar steps are the tombs of Thomas White and his son, John. Thomas was a leading character in Tenby's most enduring legend. After the Battle of Tewkesbury, in the Wars of the Roses, Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, who was on the losing side, escaped with his 14-year-old nephew Henry, to Tenby, from where they sailed to Brittany. Fourteen years later, in 1485, Henry returned to Pembrokeshire and, gathering an army on the way, defeated King Richard III at Bosworth Field and, as Henry VII, was our first Tudor King. At the time of the escape from Tenby, Thomas White was Mayor and he is credited with having concealed the fugitives in the cellar of Jasperley House, which is the present site of Boots. The cellar runs under the High Street to the corner of the churchyard gate.

By the way, Tudor Square is not named after that event, but after the Tuder family, who lived there - the council clerk got the spelling wrong.

You are bound to find yourself in St. George's Street sometime, with the inside of the Five Arches ahead of you. Next to the churchyard gate are some bars with a slate tablet saying that the jail was nearby; its door was a little further on. The barred and raised piece was originally the main path to the church and round to the High Street.

The jail was beneath the medieval Guildhall, where justice was meted out, so culprits had not far to go - 'down the 11 steps' - you can see where they were from inside the churchyard.

You enter the Five Arches through what was the gateway, and the arch to your right still has the slots in which the iron portcullis was raised and lowered. The other arches were opened much later, when the tower was no longer needed for defence, for traffic.

You should walk the length of our town wall. Tenby is the founder, and inspiration, of the Walled Towns Friendship Circle, which has over 130 member towns from some 22 countries, so far. Tenby's place at the centre of the organisation will be recognised in October, 2000, when the 10th annual International Symposium of the Circle will be held here. The Five Arches is its logo, recognised throughout Europe.

If you look to the right along the length of the South Parade, with its shady trees, you will see a tower with open sides which gives access through an arcade into Frog Street. The apertures were originally made to give a long straight run for the manufacture of ropes - a 'rope walk'. The separate strands were twisted into rope with a windlass which stood outside the portcullis gate.

The arcade leads you to the market. Don't miss this - apart from shopping you can enjoy a coffee while studying Eric Bradforth's brilliant mural of the history of Tenby. There is a key diagram to help you sort it all out.

Back at the wall; if you continue along you will see from the masonry and the two levels of arrow slots that it was built in three stages. The whole thing took about 200 years, off and on. Shortage of money for public works is nothing new. Round the corner tower the wall now ends at Frog Street; it once went on to the sea, with a great North Gate; the main entrance to the town. It was removed in the 18th century to open the road for easier access.

The Norton, down the hill, was North Town, originally the only extension outside the town walls, in the direction of Carmarthen. The right fork from The Norton, along the sea front, takes you on to The Croft; an elegant mid-Victorian terrace from which you get that much sketched, painted and photographed view into the harbour, fringed with pastel houses and with the Castle Hill behind.

It was while on holiday at No. 2, The Croft, that Beatrix Potter wrote letters to her governess, illustrated with little drawings of what was later to become Peter Rabbit.

At other times you might have met other literary ladies. Jane Austen knew Tenby and one Mary Ann Evans, lodging in Bridge Street, woke one morning inspired to write a novel. She chose, as a pen name, George Eliot. Perhaps they will encourage you to raise your 'wish you were here' cards to new heights.

Going along from the Five Arches in the other direction, towards the sea, the first tower has a house inside. The next one, large and square, was built after guns started to take over from bows, with keyhole ports for the weapons. Just before it is a larger port to take a cannon and, above that, a curious addition to the top of the wall, which was a lavatory seat and an exercise for your imagination.

The large opening beyond, giving access to this end of the town, is the Belmont Arch. The very end tower was the last addition to the wall; look over and you will see why. It goes a long way down and building it was a problem but, without it, the corner was a weak spot.

If you pass through the Belmont Arch, you can follow on, via Tor Lane/Cob Lane back to Tudor Square and the harbour or, at the far end of The Paragon, down the Iron Bar steps to the beach - the bar is now only a memory and a name. The railing on The Paragon is a good spot to watch the breakers on a full tide and a windy day. Don't get carried away; a runaway horse once went over here, milk float and all. The little public garden below was once the site of the town battery, hence the name Gunfort. You will find a nice little story about John Paul Jones and his ship in the guide books.

Outside the Belmont Arch again there is The Esplanade, overlooking the South Beach to Giltar Point with Caldey for a backdrop - don't miss a walk along the cliffs.

The south cliff was planned and developed in the 1860s, when the opening of the through railway to Tenby created a new demand for accommodation, from fine residences to lodging houses. Take a look at the Atlantic Hotel. Warren de la Rue, of the printers of banknotes and playing cards, converted two of the houses into his residence. The horse's head over the door represents Trayles, his Ascot Gold Cup winner.

The Esplanade is a fine elevated promenade with views of the dawn over the Gower coast and sunset behind the Ridgeway over Penally. On a clear day you can see Ilfracombe, but Lundy Island is concealed by Caldey. On your cliff walk you can see it on the horizon, when it is clear enough. The house on the corner of Victoria Street, now part of the Belgrave Hotel, is where the artist Augustus John was born and a plaque on No. 32 Victoria Street shows where he and his now even more prestigious sister, Gwen, were brought up. Their first art teacher lived nearby.

World War II changed the lives of everyone in some way or other and Tenby was no exception. It became a headquarters and barrack town for troops training in South Pembrokeshire and the great majority of hotels and boarding houses were requisitioned, along with most public buildings. One of the public air raid shelters was in Tudor Square. The South Beach bristled with railway lines to prevent aircraft landing and it was lined with trenches both for defence and for training.

Belgian troops who had been evacuated from Dunkirk were assembled here and trained into an effective battalion. When they were passed out as efficient they marched, with their new colours, in review, past their Prime Minister and the Mayor of Tenby at the saluting base outside their headquarters, the Atlantic Hotel.

They were followed, in 1943, by Americans of the 28th Division, Pennsylvania National Guard. They made many friends. By D-Day the town was empty of troops; the Belgian Brigade Piron fought its way from Normandy to the liberation of Brussels, with, appropriately, the Welsh Guards at the spearhead. The 28th Division greatly distinguished itself, all the way from the beaches of Normandy and in the Battle of the Ardennes. It was the first US Division to enter Germany in force.

When the troops had gone, however, Tenby became a temporary home for evacuees from the V weapon attacks on London. There are still several clues to those wartime days to be seen in the town for those who are interested.

Whenever you come, Tenby has something to offer, even on stormy winter days, but our weather is so much better than most of Britain - look for us on the weather map. In July, Tenby bursts into flower and is a consistent winner of the Wales in Bloom trophy. In September it is into music and song during the annual Tenby Arts Festival.

If you live far away choose your time according to your taste; if you live within easier reach, keep dropping in - you might even decide to settle; that age old hospitality is still here.