Lawrenny & Martletwy
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Its position at the junction of the Carew River and the Milford Haven waterway meant that Lawrenny Quay was for many years a busy river port.
Shipbuilding and ship repairing were important local trades, coal and limestone were exported to harbours along the Bristol Channel, and ferry-boats crossed to Cosheston and Rhooseferry. With the decline in coastal trading, Lawrenny Quay began to develop as a yachting and holiday centre and now has a landing-stage, boatyard and chandlery, much of it based on the site of RNAS Lawrenny Ferry.
Lawrenny, a mile away in the midst of rolling farmland, is a village of attractive cottages. Martletwy, too, is now predominantly a centre of agriculture although coal was mined for many years around Landshipping and exported from Landshipping Quay.
Searchlight Batteries: Few traces remain of the WWII batteries which were located at Deals Cross, Lawrenny Newton and Prettylands, Coedcanlas.
Further reading:
The Military Airfields of Wales and West Midlands by Ken Delve;
Airfields and Landing Grounds of Wales (West) by Ivor Jones;
Flow Gently Sweet River by Robert Davies and Jane Nelson;
A River Never Sleeps by Robert Davies and Jane Nelson.
Locations of Interest
- Lawrenny Ferry
- (SN 012061): A training school was established here in 1941 by the Fleet Air Arm to train qualified pilots in the art of flying seaplanes. Back to map
- Lawrenny Castle
- SN 015067 Back to map
- Lawrenny Village
- SN 016 070 Back to map
- Landshipping Quadrant Posts
- These two riverside posts, both in good condition, were used by range crews to observe and take bearings on the bombing practices carried out by seaplane crews from HMS Daedalus II on the mudflats below. Back to map
- Martletwy Churchyard
- SN 034106: Reginald Rhys Soar, who is buried at Martletwy, was born in August 1893 at Castleford, and went on to enjoy a brief but remarkable career as an aviator in the First World War. Back to map
