Dinas Head

On the rim of the wide, wide sea - 1

Friends,

This post is part of a series of four about a whirlwind tour of Pembrokeshire I’ve just taken to see the last lick of summer light, while searching for those enigmatic island mammals: grey seals. The trip took me to remote coves and peninsulas, and to a place I’ve never been to or even heard about, with one of the most spectacular views I’ve ever seen. I was lucky to arrive there as the sun went down. Numinous doesn’t even begin to describe it, and I have photographs to prove it!

Part one is about Dinas Island, a windswept place of steep cliffs and sea stacks. When I was told it was a good place for seals it gave me the excuse to close the studio for a few days and head off, where I stayed on an ancient working farm. Dilapidated barns, empty cattle pens, stone troughs, mill wheels and old iron ploughs abandoned in fields, much of the Pembrokeshire edge-lands are like this. This place seems to hover between past and present. There’s a very British (the Brythonic kind of British) magic to it. Most of the readers of Into the Deep Woods are not from the UK. If you do visit some day, go to Pembrokeshire. You will not regret it!

The next four posts are about one of the wild edges of these islands, and the deep, deep sea. Each post will have a photo essay for all subscribers. The writing, audio and video will be available to paid subscribers.

Hope you enjoy the series,

J