Freshwater West
Encyclopedia
Castlemartin, Pembrokeshire
Castlemartin is a village, parish and community in the Hundred of Castlemartin, Pembrokeshire, West Wales.- Location :...
, Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....
in south-west
West Wales
West Wales is the western area of Wales.Some definitions of West Wales include only Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, an area which historically comprised the Welsh principality of Deheubarth., an area called "South West Wales" in the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics....
Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It lies along the B4319 road
B4319 road
The B4319 road is a road in Pembrokeshire in far southwest Wales. It leads southwest out of the town of Pembroke from the A4139 road at , and passes through the villages of St Petrox, Merrion and Castlemartin before passing Freshwater West along the coast and then joining the B4320 road at which...
, adjacent to the Army Tank Ranges that use this part of the Pembrokeshire National Park
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park is a national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in West Wales.It was established as a National Park in 1952, and is the only one in the United Kingdom to have been designated primarily because of its spectacular coastline...
.
The beach, which is surrounded by sand dunes, has fine sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
and faces due west. Despite its natural beauty, Freshwater West is unsuitable for bathing due to dangerous offshore swell
Swell (ocean)
A swell, in the context of an ocean, sea or lake, is a series surface gravity waves that is not generated by the local wind. Swell waves often have a long wavelength but this varies with the size of the water body, e.g. rarely more than 150 m in the Mediterranean, and from event to event, with...
s and strong current
Ocean current
An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of ocean water generated by the forces acting upon this mean flow, such as breaking waves, wind, Coriolis effect, cabbeling, temperature and salinity differences and tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun...
s. The beach also has areas of unmarked quicksand
Quicksand
Quicksand is a colloid hydrogel consisting of fine granular matter , clay, and water.Water circulation underground can focus in an area with the optimal mixture of fine sands and other materials such as clay. The water moves up and then down slowly in a convection-like manner throughout a column...
. Signs warning of the dangers are positioned all along the coast.
Nevertheless, surfers regularly use Freshwater West because of its consistent swell and strong waves. The Welsh National Surfing Championships have been held here. Facilities include toilets, a small car park and an emergency telephone at the south end of the beach. At the northwest end of the beach, high on the dunes, is a war memorial.
Filming location
In 2009, the beach at Freshwater West was used as location in a new version of Robin HoodRobin Hood (2010 film)
Robin Hood is a 2010 British/American adventure film based on the Robin Hood legend, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett...
starring Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
and in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 is a 2011 epic fantasy film directed by David Yates and the second of two films based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the eighth and final instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David...
. For the latter a full sized house, Shell Cottage, was erected temporarily in the dunes.
It was also the filming location in series four of The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
.