Fishguard, Pembrokeshire

Fishguard loves to tell the story of how in 1797 the last invasion of Britain by 1,400 French soldiers was deflected by a small army of Welsh women standing on a headland in national costume. There are monuments to this momentous day in the town's history and the pub, The Royal Oak, is where the surrender was signed. The local heroine, to this day, is Jemima Nicolas who, single handed and armed with just a pitchfork, took 12 French soldiers prisoner.

On a recent holiday in Pembrokeshire we enjoyed a bar snack at the Royal Oak and were told the story by a young woman who was pulling pints, as if it had happened yesterday.

“The men were running about like headless chickens, trying to get an army together,” she said. “The women just put on their cloaks and tall hats and they went and stood on the headland waving bits of red cloth. The French had seen nothing like it. They thought, if they've got an army like that on the headland just think what they have waiting for us on the shore.”

There is now a Fishguard tapestry, which tells the story of the incident on view free of charge in Fishguard's Tow Hall.

Fishguard is, in reality, two separate towns: Lower Fishguard, Abergwaun in Welsh, is situated where the river Gwaun meets the sea in a deep valley. It is a typical fishing village with rows of attractive, pastel painted fishermen's' cottages. It has a short tidal quay and it was from here that the herring industry started. Upper Fishguard is the more modern side of the town. The Parish Church and the high street can be found here. A mile from Upper Fishguard Goodwick can be found , where the Fishguard ferry leaves regularly for Rosslare in Ireland.

Fishguard has recently gained fame, or perhaps it should be called notoriety through the character of Hugh Pugh, a character in a Welsh language TV sitcom who is always pointing up the rivalry between Fishguard and Haverfordwest (also in Pembrokeshire).

The town is in the Pembrokeshire National Park and on the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path. Staying in and around Fishguard means that the rest of the National Park is on your doorstep. The ferry provides a good, but somewhat long, day out for holidaymakers, with buses from Rosslare going to the Irish town of Wicklow.

Get away from the traffic and down to the coast in Fishguard and all you can hear is the gentle sound of the wind in the rigging of yachts and the calls of curlew, redshank and sanderling. On the coastal path the walker is often rewarded with the sight of stonechats, cormorants and fulmars, while out at sea the occasional seal swims by and there are reported sightings of porpoises and dolphins.

Fishguard and Goodwick have an annual carnival, there is also a classical music festival, a pop festival and Theatre Gwaun has a youth theatre, a cinema and regular jazz performances.

The films Moby Dick and Under Milk Wood, with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, were shot on location in Fishguard.