Background

Pembroke Dock in 1931 - six years after the closure of the Dockyard
I was brought up in Pembroke Dock. 

Pembroke Dock was established in 1814 as the site of a Royal Dockyard, and the town sprang up on southern banks of Milford Haven, on the fields of a farm called Paterchurch. After about a hundred years of blazing glory, the raison d'etre of the place disappeared in 1926 when the dockyard was closed. Since then the area has enjoyed a boom and bust economy, latterly dependent on the various energy related industries that have been established around the deep water harbour of Milford Haven.

At times in  their past Pembroke Dock and Pembroke have been almost two separate worlds, but now, as industry declines, the two neighbours need to find a common, mutually supportive, economic way into the future.

I moved to Suffolk to work in 1981 and now enjoy the best of two worlds. I live in South Suffolk, near the the border with Essex, but frequently return to Pembroke. The classic and settled rural calm of the softly rolling East Anglian countryside with its ancient timber framed houses, and the wild, west and windy drama of the beautiful Pembrokeshire Coast provide both contrast and complement to one another.

My ancestors, as far as I can determine, came from Pembroke, The Stackpole Estate, Monkton and Rhoscrowther. Earlier generations came from a little further afield...Llanboidy on the Pembrokeshire/Carmarthenshire borders and Peterchurch in Herefordshire.

I am interested in most things, but more notably Science, Natural History, Aviation, Archaeology and Local History (Castlemartin, Stackpole, Pembroke in Wales). This Blog will be a collection of comments, ideas, thoughts and discoveries on these subjects, plus whatever else comes to mind. The destruction of my homeland's heritage through poor planning policies and decisions is a particular bone of contention, that has come to prominence whilst researching some of my earlier blog posts.

There is no particular plan or schedule! Comments and information are always welcome. I hope you enjoy the material I post and that it gives you food for thought.









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