Saundersfoot Through the Ages!

Published: Monday 23rd May 2016

Written by: Anita Lee

Just two and a half miles from the iconic seaside resort of Tenby lies the small coastal village of Saundersfoot. With a plentiful supply of restaurants, pubs, shops and accommodation not to forget the lovely sandy beaches. Although it hasn’t always been tourism that has kept the heart beating within this Pembrokeshire village.

The Strand today is a busy street within the Summer months, with an eclectic mix of clothes, souvenirs and card shops. There is an old fashioned sweet shop, a jewellers and several places to refuel and rehydrate. Many of the properties along The Strand open out onto the sandy beach where there are constantly changing scenes of fishing boats going to & fro from the harbour and children playing on the beach.

We do offer a superb collection of properties on The Strand ranging from our two ground floor apartments within the Strandways Court apartment block 2 Strandways and 3 Strandways to an apartment in Holmlea Sea Shells. If it’s a cottage you prefer then take a look at Ruby Cottage it is positioned on the opposite side of the road from the beach but from the upstairs window those beautiful views can still be seen. Need a larger property in this most sought after location then try Penrose and Beachway House both with the ability to sleep 10.

If you walk to the far reaches of The Strand, you will be greeted by a series of tunnels. The Strand didn’t always have such a grand name, it used to be called Railway Street, for the very fact that coal trams travelled through it. They were used not only to transport the coal to the harbour but also to take local workers, mainly the young men to work in Bonville’s Colliery in the centre of Saundersfoot. It was the main line connecting all the collieries at Stepaside, Kilgetty and Reynalton to Saundersfoot harbour where the coal would be shipped off around the world. However, the mines were sadly closed in the late 1930s after years of recession within this harsh industry.

Significantly in 1943 Saundersfoot was used as a training ground for the 1944 D day landings. A lot of the buildings in the village were taken over by the military and Winston Churchill visited to watch the army landing crafts on the beach in preparation. This in turn led to a boom in tourism as many of these military personnel travelled back with their families on holidays – this was a true testament of the attraction of Saundersfoot.

After WW2 the ownership of Saundersfoot harbour passed eventually to the Hean Castle Estate and in 1958 the Saundersfoot commissioners were created. A sailing club built its new headquarters on the harbour. This made way for tourism to breathe life back into the village.

Sea Anchor is a well-positioned spacious apartment centrally located overlooking the harbour and is ideal to walk to all the local amenities which Saundersfoot offers – you can park up the car in the Harbour Car Park (Harbour parking ticket supplied) and forget about it till it’s time to go back home. If you would like a bird’s eye view of The Strand, beach & harbour then Mussell Reach will certainly give you this outlook. A new apartment in the centre of the village is The Coach House - Cambrian Quay this was built on the old site of The Cambrian Hotel – an old coaching inn.

In 2016 Saundersfoot continues to redevelop. Plans for a Marine Centre of Excellence for coastal tourism, an academy for sail & power and a facility providing education for maritime engineering, maintenance and sea pursuits is firmly on the agenda. We have a fantastic portfolio of properties to suit all requirements so check out this great little village for yourself Saundersfoot properties.


Anita Lee
Anita Lee

Author

Office Manager

Powells Cottage Holidays - Cottage holidays est. 1965

 


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