Pembroke

That's a good question.

I mean, I think my dad always made the comment when I started doing a PhD on coastal engineering at Southampton that, well, you were meant to do this because as a boy, my father came from Pembroke in the West Wales.

And so every childhood holiday until I was 17, we went to Pembrokeshire.

And there were lovely sandy beaches there.

My grandparents lived in a place called Freshwater East.

yeah, for sure.

So this is a cliche, but we are very curious to know what is your favorite coastal location?

what's my favorite coastal location? Probably I'll go to Pembrokeshire.

So Milford have postponed that one.

Four West A, Aberystwyth Athletic 30, Pembroke Dock Harlequins 10.

Oof.

Llangamm, Llandovery, and Pembroke, Narberth Athletic, both post, uh, both postponed.

Then we got St Davids winning 31-7 at Tyru Crymych.

Tenby Athletic 34-28, Newcastle Emlyn Dreigiau.

So this Saturday we got Newcastle Emlyn Dreigiau against Pembroke, Llandovery against St Davids, Aberystwyth Athletic traveling to Narberth Athletic, Pembroke Dock Harlequins at home to Llangamm, and Tenby Athletic hosting Tyru Crymych For West B, we got Kev Nathan winning 36-nil against Bertos.

Llandybie 19-8 away to Fall Bay.

Um, first thing first, grandad, where's, where's he from?

Uh, Pembroke.

Pembroke?

Yeah.

Actual Pembroke town? Because I'm gonna put you on the spot now.

[laughs]

Is it Pembrokeshire?

Uh, Pembrokeshire.

The Norman conquest of the south coast of Wales was exceedingly rapid, and castle after castle rose to mark the new victorious advances.

Coeti, Kenfeg, Neath, Kidwelly, Pembroke, Newport, Kilguren.

So far the Norman advance has been a most quick one.

In less than twenty-five years from the appearance of the Conqueror at Chester, the whole country had been overrun except the mountains of Gwynedd and the forests of the Deheubarth.

He showed that the Norman army could be beaten in battle and that a Norman castle could be taken by assault.

After his father's death, he spent much of his youth in exile or in hiding.

Sometimes we find him in Ireland, sometimes in the court of Griffith ap Conan, sometimes with his sister Nest, now the wife of Gerald, the custodian of Pembroke Castle.

But he had one aim ever before him, to recover his father's kingdom and to make his people free.

built this.

And it's quite funny in a way because the Great Tower is the style that William Marshall bought back from the continent in 1200 and Pembroke is the first one.

But because he's the greatest knight in the realm, everybody copies him.

Of course.

I've been to two things, just been to two things.

Just been to Pembroke rock climbing with a bunch of great friends.

And I've just went to Wales and did some Jank Rack podcast recordings.

So the first day of the Pembroke thing, what a joy to go back there.

That experience, waking up in that field, in that beautiful, quiet village with the Norman Church, the pub, the old cafe.

Waking up in that field as your friends get up and put the kettle on.

Come back up, eat a sandwich, drift home, drift into the pub, have a couple of pints, back to the campsite and have a laugh with your friends.

go to sleep that night and then wake up next day and do it all again.

And we have an agriculture saying down here when somebody, uh, marries a farmer's daughter, that he married into the place, and that's what exactly what happened, Marshal.

He married Isabel de Clare, the granddaughter of, uh, Diarmait Mac Murrough, and by marrying her, he acquired all her lands of Leinster, Pembroke in Wales, and, uh, some in Normandy.

So he won the lotto, basically.

[laughs]