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Tours > Wales > Fishguard
Fishguard (Abergwaun: Aber Gwine)
 One of the highlights of the West Wales summer season social calendar is the annual day of boat racing held at Fishguard, on the Bay of Cardigan. Here, at the picturesque harbor of Lower Town (the setting for the 1971 film of Dylan Thomas' "Under Milk Wood"), male and female crews from villages along the coast race their long boats in a full day of sports and entertainment.
Fishguard's Upper Town contains the historic Royal Oak Inn, where you can see some relics of the 1797 French invasion led by an Irish-American general. A huge, locally-woven tapestry unveiled for the 1999 festivities commemorates the ignominious defeat of the French, who surrendered quickly when faced by the local militia supported by the redoubtable Jemima Nicholas. Local tradition tells that enemy General Tate mistook the red cloaks and tall black hats of the local womenfolk as the dress of a regiment of guards; Jemima is said to have captured 14 of the enemy single-handedly.
Each July, Fishguard hosts its International Festival at various venues in town, inviting well-known international musicians to take part in choral, orchestral, recital music and jazz.
Fishguard Harbor is the base for the ferries to Rosslare in Ireland. Nearby Carreg Wasted (Karreg Wass ted) is the point at which the French forces landed before they became a drunken rabble attacking farms and churches in the district.
Next Stop: St. Non's Well and Chapel
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