Bathed in Gold

Bear has a wallow in the waters of the incoming tide. He rarely gets out of his depth and stays close to the riverbank. His head and tail never go underwater - he has a natural 'plimsoll line'!

The Western Cleddau, or Cleddau Wen (White Cleddau) is an example of a 'misfit' river: the valley is deep, often spectacularly so, although the stream that flows in it is small. The valley was formed at the end of the last Ice Age, when the River Teifi, swollen with melt waters, was prevented from flowing into the Irish Sea by an ice dam, and flowed instead westward through the valleys of the Nyfer and Gwaun, then south along the course of the Western Cleddau.

The county town of Haverfordwest/ Hwlfordd was born 900 years ago (1110) when a Fleming called Tancred built the original castle. There was probably an Iron Age fort here before but any traces have been obliterated.

The tower on the skyline is that of St Thomas' church, one of four in Haverfordwest overlooking the town below and the Augustinian Priory. The castle is out of sight on a spur of land around the bend in the river and dominates the town which climbs the hill to its south, effectively making Haverfordwest a town of two parts: the Riverside and Top of Town, a lovely area with a small town feel and without the big town chainstores.