Flemish settlers landed at Sandy Haven Pill
The Normans invaded from Normandy. They were European descendants of Vikings or Northmen – Normanni in Latin. Their Dutchy was formed in 911 under the strong Norman leadership of Rollo....
Sandy Haven Pill protected by floating boom from Sea Empress oil spill
15th February 1996 is an infamous day in Pembrokeshire and one still remembered with deep sadness. It was the day the super tanker Sea Empress went onto the rocks in the...
Sandy Haven was a decoy site for Luftwaffe bombers
Today the hamlet of Sandy Haven, with its 6 houses, is a sleepy quiet hollow on the tidal creek, best suited for summer holidays where small boats are moored, children...
The Monks Garden
After The Anchorage was built, the garden in front of the house proved very wet and muddy with a thick red clay soil. Roses, lavender and flowers put into...
Another gift from King Neptune
Pembrokeshire, with its three peninsulas (St. David’s, Dale and Castlemartin) jutting out into the Irish Sea, is at the receiving end of anything floating across the Atlantic Ocean drive by...
Aluminum wreckage finally identified
It took a long time to solve the puzzle of the aluminium wreckage recovered over a number of years of family summer holidays on Lindsway Bay (See story “The Aluminium...
The big oak tree
In the winter of 2013-14 there was a great gale in Pembrokeshire with very strong winds from the west. A lot of big old trees were blown down all lying...
The bridge is coming up
By John (this story based on fact was modified for submission to a Bloomsbury book company short story competition with the theme of “Ageing” to be judged in February 2016)....
My 69th birthday celebration in Wales
My name is Joop and I am a retired geologist living in Haarlem, Netherlands. On the occasion of my 69th birthday I decided to give a party for some Dutch...
Feasting at The Anchorage
After four years of summer renting of The Anchorage (sleeping 10 persons in 5 bedrooms), it is emerging as a popular place for family reunions. In September 2014, we had...
A Day Sail to The Islands
When the balmy days of summer arrive in Pembrokeshire, the world is a warm friendly place and winter gales and rain are but a memory. The sea beckons and sail...
Boat Trip to Stack Rock Fort
This is my first story for The Anchorage website. I am Matt, second son in the Roobol family, and I have spent much of my childhood and time as an...
The Nicholas Stone
The Anchorage site when purchased was full of rock and it took several summers of activity to get it all cleared up. The numerous vast sandstone boulders (shed by a...
The Black Mud of Sandy Haven
As a teenager in Milford Haven, my old grannie Newman worried about my roaming about looking at rocks in strange places as this was regarded as rather bizarre behaviour. She...
Cap Stones for The Anchorage Gate Posts
One summer when our oldest son Peter was 12 years old, we took one of his school friends (Matthew) with us to Pembrokeshire for our annual summer holiday. Our group...
King Neptune and The Pembrokeshire Coastline
During a lifetime of summer holidays in Pembrokeshire, mainly spent on the beaches with a family that grew to include what became four children, we all enjoyed beachcombing. For the...
My ‘Orrible Dad
In 1982 I bought a plot of land at Sandy Haven and started work on a house and gardens (now The Anchorage). Work had to start immediately as it was...
The Aluminium Wreckage of Lindsway Bay Pembrokeshire
When our children were young, August spent in Pembrokeshire was very sunny and the winds blew from the south west. Lately for some years August has become the monsoon season...
Three Big Waves at West Dale Bay
One very hot sunny summers day on our annual Pembrokeshire holiday when our first child was about 8 years old, we all went to West Dale Bay. It was a...
The Bottle of Orange Juice at Musselwick Sands Pembrokeshire
One summer when our fourth child was still a baby we spent the day on Musselwick sands beyond Marloes village. This involved parking alongside the road and walking across a...
An Early Winter Storm
Its nice to visit Pembrokeshire at different seasons to see the changes. One time when we had three young children we decided to have a holiday in Pembrokeshire in October...
The Missing Canoeist
It was one of those rare summer days in Wales when everything is perfect. Overhead the blue sky had some fluffy white cumulus clouds and it was a time when a...
The Lost Watch at Lindsway Bay
It was another summer holiday in Pembrokeshire and our family had now grown to four children. Lindsway Bay by the village of St. Ishmaels had became our favourite. We would...
The Pink Rocks of Sandy Haven
The soils and rocks of the Sandy Haven area are a distinct pink/red colour. These rocks are called the Old Red Sandstone by geologists and they belong to the Devonian...
Sandy Haven Water Supply
Before asphalt roads, motor cars and electricity and piped water mains came to Sandy Haven, the few inhabitants of this tiny hamlet obtained their drinking water from a spring on...
The Sandy Haven Ferry
Up until the mid 1980s and to a lesser extent today, cliff path walkers heading east for a night at Herbrandston or Milford Haven would appear around high tide in...
Nautical Decor
The interior of The Anchorage is decorated with a nautical decor old-world sailing ship theme, including prints and models. This is because the owner feels that the tiny hamlet of...
Keel of The Crystal – The Last Trading Schooner at Sandy Haven.
Leaning against the house wall at the side entrance to The Anchorage is a large black piece of wood. This is the largest remaining fragment of the sailing schooner –...
The Ruins of the First Baptist Chapel
Across the road from the main entrance to The Anchorage, the ivy grown stone walls of the first Baptist chapel at Sandy Haven can be seen. This was built in...
The Lime Kiln, Weighbridge and Firemans Hut
On the opposite side of the road to The Anchorage is a large stone built lime kiln with an iron weigh bridge and stone firemans hut. They are in a...
The Coast Path
The 200mile long coastal path of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park comes along the clifftop at the public sandy beach at Sandy Haven on the opposite side to the Anchorage....
The Crabbing Bridge
A popular and memorable activity for small children at Sandy Haven is The Crabbing Bridge. This is the footbridge exposed at low tide across the stream running down Sandy Haven...
Boating
Perhaps the major attraction of the Anchorage is as a dinghy, canoe or kayak launching site for the 1.4 mile long tidal creek of Sandy Haven. The high tide line...
The Menhirs
Ten menhirs or standing stones have been erected on one of the terraces. While walking the local beaches during the making of The Anchorage gardens (mainly by collecting and arranging...
Fort Sandy
The Anchorage occupies the side of a small valley. Behind the house, the wooded valley side rises to a raised marine platform that covers the Dale Peninsula and provides the...
History of The Project
The stories and photographs on this website record the history of the Roobol family of John and Anne and their four children, Peter, Joanne, Matthew and Alice over a lifetime...
The Monks Garden
In summer the social center of The Anchorage is the large patio garden in front of the house onto which two front doors open. This is known as The Monks Garden....
The Shell Well
Between the side entrance and the garage is a picturesque water well studded and roofed with seashells. This originated because the original cottages had a considerable problem of damp and...
A Bedouin Heaven
The design of the Anchorage and its two acres of gardens resulted from the owners experience as a geologist working in the Arabian deserts in summer. With daytime temperatures of...
The House Design
When purchased in 1982 there was a ruined double stone cottage on the site. Although grants were available to restore it, as the doors were only five feet tall and...
The Name
The owner of The Anchorage is a geologist originating in Milford Haven but working around the world. The Anchorage is where he would have liked to live with his family...
Website content is copyright to the Anchorage Holiday Cottage and written by John Roobol. Website created by Matt Roobol.