One of the things that got lost in the mêlée of the year now almost past is a significant birthday. For on 16 May 2020 the Pembrokeshire Coast Path turned 50.

In the grand scheme of things perhaps not very important; the year 2020 will forever be remembered for Covid-19 over everything else. Therefore one could be forgiven for not paying too much attention to the Path’s anniversary, especially as at the time about two-thirds of it was closed to walkers.

But the BBC did pay attention to it: see the video below. And stunning it is, although never as stunning as the real thing!

The Path was literally trail-blazing back in 1970, and clearly well ahead of its time. It took until 2012 to complete the All Wales Coast Path, and the English Coast Path is still to be completed, although large stretches of that have meanwhile also been opened. So Pembrokeshire, and especially the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, can be rightly proud of their efforts.

At the start of the year we had high hopes that the anniversary would bring extra attention to Pembrokeshire, and perhaps even some extra guests to Rosemoor. We are after all ideally located to access the path – almost from our doorstep. So we had actually planned to pay extra attention to the Path’s anniversary over the course of the year ourselves as well. Which then didn’t happen, of course.

It turned out coastal locations, Pembrokeshire among them, nonetheless did get a boost when the (first) lockdown came to an end. We are quietly hopeful that this will translate into more interest over the years to come. As we often say to our guests (with a smile): “if you like it here, please tell your friends. But not too many of them, as we want the place to stay like you found it.”

With all that has happened, all of the horror we have had to see and perhaps endure, with all the pain and loss that so many of us have had to suffer, it is only logical to maybe want to try and forget 2020.

Still, there is at least one very positive thing to the year as well: the creation (and approval) of vaccines that may help to bring back some semblance of normality in years to come – perhaps even in 2021 already.

And we shall be very happy to welcome you to Rosemoor.

For these things we really do have very High Hopes!