Strumble Head

Strumble Head is a rocky headland a few miles from Fishguard in North Pembrokeshire, it is also only 50 or so miles from Ireland, but separated by the Irish sea.

The lighthouse at Strumble Head is owned and operated by Trinity House, it was first built in 1908 to help improve the safety of sea traffic along this stretch of coast.

It was manually maintained by a staff of lighthouse keepers until 1965 when it was electrified, and in 1980 it was fully automated.

Strumble head is now well known as a bird observatory - a wartime look out post converted to an observatory and opened by Bill Oddie. As well as a bird observatory Strumble head is considered to be one best locations in the UK for spotting families of Cetaceans, particularly Porpoises racing through the fast tidal waters of the headland.

There are often organized visits to Strumble head by the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales, these visits are open to everyone and are inspirational in explaining the local sea and wildlife. Strumble head is very near where the "Last Invasion of Britain" occurred in 1797 at Carreg Wasted. When the French forces landed they were repelled by a group of Welsh Ladies armed only with pitchforks.

The French Army mistook the black Welsh hats and the red flannel cloaks the ladies wore to be the British Army. The French Army conceded and the treaty was signed in the Royal Oak pub in Fishguard.

To mark 200 years since the invasion there were many celebrations and special events in the area, however the most lasting is the Tapestry which was tooled locally and tells the story of the invasion in embroidered panels. This is now on display in town.

This dramatic stretch of coastline is well worth a visit, on a clear day you can see north to the Lleyn Penninsula and South to St Davids head and occassionally as far as Ireland.

From here there is easy acess to the coastal path, and you can leave your car here and collect later, returning on the Coastal bus if you wish " the bus operating in this area is aptly named "The Strumble Shuttle"