Mariners

The Mariners monument sits just outside Haverfordwest, a modest but oddly compelling landmark that stops you in your tracks if you're passing through Pembrokeshire. It's a statue dedicated to the seafaring lives lost from this corner of Wales - the sort of thing locals know about but visitors often miss entirely.

You won't spend hours here. Ten minutes, maybe twenty if you're the type to sit and read the inscriptions properly. But there's something about standing at a marker like this, surrounded by the flatness of the Pembrokeshire landscape, that makes you think about the generations of men who left from these ports and didn't come back. It's not flashy or polished, and that's partly why it works.

The monument is free to visit, which is just as well since there's no visitor centre or facilities to speak of. It's best tackled as a brief stop between bigger attractions rather than a destination in itself. If you're based at one of the nearby caravan parks - Newgale Coast Holiday Park or Nolton Cross are close - it's an easy detour on a driving day. Families with young children will get restless quickly, but history enthusiasts and anyone interested in maritime heritage will find it worthwhile.

The real appeal comes from how it sits within the broader Pembrokeshire Coast National Park landscape. Use it as a punctuation mark between beach visits and longer coastal walks, not as your main event. Go when the weather's decent - there's no shelter here, and a grey drizzly day won't improve the mood.