Porthgain is a small coastal village on the north coast of St Davids Peninsula.
Once a small commercial harbour used for exporting stone from the nearby quarry, Porthgain is now a very popular tourist centre thanks to a great pub, a wonderful cafe restaurant and excellent art galleries. The Shed Fish & Chip Bistro serves the best fish and chips in Pembrokeshire and is one of our favourite destinations!
From around 1850 slate, then brick, and then granite were shipped from the harbour. The crushed granite road stone was dispensed from the massive brick built hoppers, built at the beginning of the twentieth century, directly into small ships alongside Porthgain harbour. These and earlier slate quarrying related structures including the lime kiln, harbour and pilots house can still be seen.
Walking is the main activity. There are a couple of good short walks around Porthgain, or you can head west on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path on one of the best walks in Pembrokeshire to Abereiddi Beach and back. There’s lots to explore from the old quarry above Porthgain to the slate quarries at Abereiddi. There’s a wonderful beach at Traeth Llyfn too with an interesting steel staircase down onto the beach – you need to see the beach at low tide to appreciate it at its best.
The spectacular Blue Lagoon at Abereiddi is a flooded former slate quarry. Slate was transported to the harbour at Porthgain along a tramway. Quarrying ended in 1910 and the site was flooded by the sea. Ruins of quarry buildings perch on the edge of the cliff top, and the remains of the workmens cottages can be found behind the beach. Recently the Blue Lagooon was the venue for the Red Bull World Series Cliff Diving Championship.
Distance from Manor Bedw: 26 miles