This Sunday morning, I woke early and took Rosie to the beach. It was a sunny morning and there were very few people: two or three dog walkers, like myself, and a lone fisherman. Because of the early hour, everything was quiet and calm. In Pembrokeshire, the sea breeze only tends to pick up around 11 in the morning. The sun lit the water from the landside and the sand was transformed into a beautiful painting of ridges and hollows, accentuated by the play of light and shade. If you are outside a lot, as we are at Rosemoor, you know that every season has a different smell to it. September mornings smell of dew about to be burned off in a few hours. It is a very pleasant smell, and this morning was no different.

The weather promised to be lovely the rest of the day as well, so we both ventured out again this afternoon. Parked the car in Broad Haven and walked to “the Dru”. Sitting outside having a cup of coffee and a bite to eat, soaking up the sun, before making the return journey on foot.

Walking, I realised how blessed we are to be able to do this kind of thing and it gives us an understanding why so many of our guests love to come to Pembrokeshire, again and again.

The past school summer holiday weeks, we were very busy with families with children of all ages. I am always pleasantly surprised that a lot of these children are so enthusiastic to be able to run to the playground, unaccompanied, and call it ‘going to the park’. In our eyes, it is a nice, spacious, green area, but a park? Not really. I grew up in a village where it was normal to play outdoors, often in the street, go for bicycle rides in the surrounding countryside, and cycle twelve kilometers to secondary school. My ideas about space are shaped by those experiences. It is easy to forget that a lot of children nowadays do not have those opportunities or are not stimulated to be outdoors, either because their parents are too protective, not into it themselves, it is not seen as ‘cool’, or a bit of all these reasons combined.

If going ‘to the park’ at Rosemoor is seen as an adventure, think what it means for them to be able to go to the beach, see all that space, be able to get muddy and wet and just feel free from all restraints that normally accompany living in a more built up area.