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 Fishguard, Wales
A major port for ferry crossings to Ireland, Fishguard in Wales still retains some of the old fishing village charm of this cliff top town which once faced down the last attempted invasion of Britain.
 Fishguard, Image © Wales Tourist Board
The town of Fishguard is made up of three settlements based around the shores of Fishguard Bay. Goodwick is the area in which the busy ferry port is situated together with the railway station and is where the roll on roll off ferry to Rosslare in Ireland departs from. Upper Fishguard is the main town centre while Lower Fishguard, ‘y Cwm’ lies at the mouth of the River Gwaun, hemmed in by the cliffs. Lower Fishguard is the original fishing village, dotted with picturesque fishermen’s cottages and was the setting for the 1971 film making of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood, which starred Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
Nearly 200 years previous to this, Fishguard was the setting of a comically ill-fated invasion attempt by the French. This last invasion of Britain took place in 1797 when a motley crew of French mercenaries and convicts led by an elderly American called William Tate, sailed into Fishguard Bay aboard four French men o’war. After Fishguard Fort fired one of only three of its canon rounds the French invasion fleet retreated further eastward and landed at the cliffs of Carregwastad. The original plan was to march to Liverpool , diverting English troops away from another French invasion of Ireland. However the invaders were more interested in stealing chickens and getting drunk on wine and were quickly rounded up by the locals, who were mainly women armed with pitchforks. Their surrender was signed in the Royal Oak Inn, which still stands in Fishguard and where memorabilia of the whole laughable event can be seen.
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