Pembrokeshire (Welsh: Sir Benfro) is a county in
the southwest of Wales.
Geography and History
Pembrokeshire is a maritime county, surrounded by the sea on all sides except in the northeast where it is bounded by
Ceredigion (Cardiganshire) and in the east where it is bounded by Carmarthenshire.
The population (2001 census) was 114,131. The administrative headquarters and historic county town is Haverfordwest. Other settlements include Pembroke itself,
Pembroke Dock, Milford Haven, Fishguard, Tenby, Saundersfoot,
Narberth, Neyland and Newport. St David's, in the west of the county, is the United
Kingdom's smallest city.
The highest point is at Foel Cwmcerwyn (1759 ft/536 m).
The county boasts 170 miles (≈275 km) of magnificent coastline comprising important seabird breeding sites and numerous bays
and sandy beaches. Almost all of the coast is included in the Pembrokeshire
Coast National Park. A large estuary and natural harbour known as Milford
Haven cuts deeply into the coast, being formed by the confluence of the Western
Cleddau (which goes through Haverfordwest), the Eastern Cleddau and rivers
Creswell and Carew. The estuary is bridged by Cleddau Bridge as part of the A477 between Neyland and Pembroke Dock : the next bridges
upstream on the Cleddaus are at Haverfordwest and by Canaston Bridge.
Major bays include Newport Bay, Fishguard Bay and
St Bride's Bay. There are many small islands off the coast of the county, the largest of
which are Ramsey Island, Skomer Island and
Caldey Island.
In the north are the Preseli Hills (Mynyddoedd Preseli), a wide stretch of high
moorland with many prehistoric monuments. Elsewhere the county is relatively flat,
most of the land being used for lowland farming.
See the list of places in Pembrokeshire for villages, towns and
cities in Pembrokeshire. The county was founded as a county palatine in
1138 with Gilbert de Clare as the
first Earl of Pembroke. It has long been split between its mainly English-speaking
south (known as "Little England beyond Wales") and its mainly Welsh-speaking
north, along an imaginary line called the Landsker.
Media
Narberth is home to Radio Pembrokeshire, Radio Carmarthenshire and Scarlet FM broadcasting to 100,000 listeners every week.[1]
There are five local newspapers based in Pembrokeshire. The most widely read is The Western Telegraph (part of the Newsquest group).
Transport
The main towns in the county are well served with bus and train services, but those living in more rural parts have little or
no access to public transportation.
There are no motorways in Pembrokeshire and only 12 miles of dual-carriageway. There are currently demands for the dualing of
the A40 from St. Clears to Fishguard. The road is used heavily by traffic from the ferry port
in Fishguard which then follows the A40 south to Haverfordwest and then meets the dual-carriageway at St. Clears.[1]
The nearest motorway to the county town of Haverfordwest is the M4 which terminates at
Cross Hands in Carmarthenshire, some 46 miles to
the east.
The A477 which runs from St. Clears to the port of Pembroke Dock is 24 miles long, of which only 2 miles is dual-carriageway. This road
is heavily used by businesses and tourists visiting Pembrokeshire and improvements to the road have been made in recent
years..
The Cleddau Bridge connects south Pembrokeshire with North Pembrokeshire across the Cleddau Estuary.
-
Industry
Tourism
The main industry in Pembrokeshire is tourism. Tenby and its
surrounding area attracting the most visitors.
Oil and Gas
The banks of the Cleddau Estuary are dominated by the oil and gas industry with three oil
refineries, two large liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals and a large National
Grid switching centre. A gas-fired power station has been proposed for the site of the old
coal-fired Pembroke Power Station which closed in 1997 and subsquently demolished in
2000.
The three oil refineries in Pembrokeshire are:
- Chevron: 214,000 bpd (barrels per day)
- TotalFinaElf: 100,000 bpd
- Murco/Elf: 85,000 bpd
The LNG terminals on the north side of the Cleddau are scheduled to open in 2008.
Agriculture
Pembrokeshire's mild climate means that crops such as its famous new potatoes often arrive in British shops earlier in the
year than produce from other parts of the UK. As well as arable crops such as potatoes, the other main agricultural activities
are dairy farming of cattle for milk and cheese, sheep farming, beef production and some other arable crops, such as rapeseed.
Falling farm incomes have led to diversification into other novel farming and tourism related activities. From 1700 km² of land,
about 126,000 (74%) are used by agriculture. The majority of this land (60%) is down to permanent grassland and 26% is arable.
Farm revenues are less than the UK average, but agriculture still provides 7,000 jobs.
The former large fishing industry around Milford Haven is now greatly reduced, although limited commercial fishing still takes
place.
Flag
The unofficial flag of Pembrokeshire consists of a yellow cross on a blue field. In the centre of the cross is a green
pentagon bearing a red and white Tudor rose. The rose is divided quarterly and
counterchanged: the inner and outer roses have alternating red and white quarters. [2]
On Television and Film
Pembrokeshire is a popular location for filming locations. The following is a list
of movies and television programmes filmed in Pembrokeshire:
Local government
- See also: Pembrokeshire County
Council
Under the Local Government Act 1888, an elected county council was set up to take over the functions of the Pembrokeshire Quarter Sessions. This, and the administrative county of Pembrokeshire were abolished under the
Local Government Act 1972, with Pembrokeshire forming two districts of the new
county of Dyfed : South Pembrokeshire and
Preseli - the split being made at the request of local authorities in the
area.[3]
In 1996, under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, the county of
Dyfed was broken up into its constituent parts, and Pembrokeshire has been a unitary
authority.
Places of interest
Geography
Visitor attractions
|
Historical places
|
References
External links
Coordinates:
51°50′42″N, 4°50′32″W
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
