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Food and drink winners announced at County Show

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FOUR local businesses which champion the use of Pembrokeshire produce have been officially recognised for the outstanding quality of their food and drink in the annual Pembrokeshire Produce Mark Awards.

Hand-picked scallops, locally-produced sea salt, home-made sauces and restaurants that make best use of local produce made up the winners that were presented with awards at a ceremony in the Food Hall at the Pembrokeshire Agricultural Show, Withybush, Haverfordwest, this morning (Aug 16).

The awards were announced by the Chairman of Pembrokeshire County Council, Councillor Paul Harries.

The Pembrokeshire Produce Mark scheme recognises county businesses which excel in providing or sourcing local food and drink.  Members display a unique logo which helps customers to identify that the product is local.

The scheme has more than 300 members, which are verified to ensure that the product they sell or use is made in Pembrokeshire.

There were two winners In the Best New Product category: the Pembrokeshire Sea Salt Company – with their homemade sea salt and salted caramel sauce – and Pembrokeshire Scallops.

The concept of producing salt first came to Sherrill Evans, when she was making sea salt body scrubs.

Given that she was living so close to the sea, she thought it might be worth giving salt production a go at home.

Armed with buckets, bottles and funnels, seawater collection and salt production experimentation began, returning some promising results.

The salt being produced was not only good enough to replace the shop-bought sea salt she was using for the scrubs, but the high quality taste and texture meant it was good enough to eat.

“We’ve come a long way since we were collecting seawater with buckets,” said business partner Josh Wright.

“In the year we’ve been operating, our range has been extended and now includes plain salt, five flavoured salts plus the salted caramel sauce, which has been a firm favourite with the public.”

Based just outside Newport, Pembrokeshire Sea Salt Company’s products, including salted caramel sauce, can be found in selected delicatessens, food festivals and local producers’ markets.

A desire to earn a living from the sea is what prompted local divers Neil Walters and Ceri Jones to start Pembrokeshire Scallops and the quality of their hand-dived scallops has quickly come to the attention of food lovers from all over the county.

A company with concerns for the environment at the forefront of their philosophy, they harvest the scallops by hand, leaving no damage to the sea-bed

Carefully choosing which scallops to collect and which to leave for re-breeding also allows the beds to re-populate.

“Pembrokeshire Scallops is dedicated to the scallop population,” said Neil who started the business two years ago with business partner Ceri.

They regularly have a stall at Haverfordwest Farmers Market.

“We formed because we love to dive and we love to dive in Pembrokeshire’s waters,” he added.

“Because we know the sea bed so well, we started diving specifically for scallops and other shellfish from the cold, clean waters off our coast.

“It means we’re able to choose the best scallops and shellfish for our customers.

“We focus on two things at Pembrokeshire Scallops: a desire to provide our customers with the best tasting shellfish and to ensure their homes on the sea-beds off our coast are well preserved and maintained for future generations to come.”

There were also two winners in the category for Best Use of Local Produce in a Hospitality Outlet and both came from St Davids.

They were St Davids Kitchen and the Blas Restaurant at the Twr y Felin Hotel.

Located in the heart of Britain’s smallest city, St Davids Kitchen truly is a local business.

From the five full time chefs to the pedigree Welsh black cattle they breed, everything served at the establishment comes from St Davids and the surrounding area.

“We pride ourselves on that,” said owner Neil Walsh, who along with his wife Ruth opened the restaurant less than a year ago after moving back to the area

“Our family can be traced back over 215 years to the city and we’re incredibly proud to live and work in St Davids and we base our restaurant on three key principles.

“We produce for our own restaurant, we trade fairly, openly and ethically with local producers and we provide well paid, full-time jobs with career progression.”

The produce they serve is so local they can even tell what field it came from be it the Welsh Black cattle they rear or the vegetables and pork they source from the nearby Farms for City Children.

They also have an agreement with the RSPB allowing them to source venison and ram lambs from Ramsey Island and they work with the National Trust on conservation grazing for their Welsh Black cattle on local heathlands.

Fish is procured from Solva and if what they want to use can’t be grown locally, they ensure it is bought from a local wholesaler.

“We support local farmers, producers and fishermen by buying the best from the best and delivering that to the plates of our customers,” added Neil.

As one of Pembrokeshire’s leading fine dining experiences, the Blas Restaurant at the Twr y Felin Hotel has come a long way since it opened 18 months ago. It has now cemented itself on the county’s gastronomic map with two Rosettes and a local food, drink and hospitality award.

Meaning ‘taste’ in Welsh, Blas attracts customers from all over the world who are drawn in by head chef Simon Coe’s culinary creations that are often described as ‘art on a plate.’

It offers a true taste of Wales and a menu that is influenced by the season and locality.

The use of local ingredients is central to that.

Local farms, butchers, wholesalers and fish mongers provide the bulk of their produce.

They’ll even go out and forage for it themselves.

Wild garlic leaves and blackberries picked from local lanes and bushes often find their way into Coe’s dishes.

“Our aim is to provide a warm, Welsh welcome for all of our customers and using local ingredients helps us achieve that,” says Paula Ellis, Group General Manager of Twr y Felin Hotel, Roch Castle and Penrhiw Hotel.

“Wherever possible we will use local produce. We source fish from Milford Haven and shellfish from Solva.

“The cows that produce the milk for Caerfai Cheese come from a field that’s seven minutes walk away and the vegetables and salad come from Pen Pant Farm at Nine Wells near Solva.

“We want our customers to have a taste of our language, our culture and heritage and they get that from the time they spend here and the food we create from local ingredients.”

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Business

Trains resume between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock as works end

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TRAIN services resumed this morning (Thursday 28 March) after ten days of essential round-the-clock work to upgrade track and drainage between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.

The railway was closed from Monday 18 March to Wednesday 27 March to allow Network Rail teams to replace more than 200 metres of track and 300 tonnes of ballast (track stones) between Pembroke station and Pembroke Dock.

Work to improve the drainage between Narbeth and Kilgetty stations was also completed at the same time.

Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director, said: “This essential work in Pembrokeshire demonstrates our commitment to improving the reliability of the service we provide to passengers along our route.

“We know that replacing the track can be disruptive and very noisy, so I would like to thank the residents of Pembroke for their patience while our team carried out this crucial work.”

Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at Transport for Wales said: “We’re pleased that our colleagues in Network Rail have completed this essential work and that Transport for Wales rail services resumed today.

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while this work has progressed and look forward to welcoming passengers back in time for the Easter weekend.”

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Welsh Water has increased sewage discharges into waterways ‘by 40%’

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NEW figures released by the Environment Agency have shown that Dwr Cymru discharged sewage into waterways for a staggering 23,354 hours last year, a 40% increase on 2022. 

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are now calling for tougher action against sewage dumping in Welsh waterways.

The party has also called for a halt on bonuses for water company bosses whose firms have dumped sewage into waterways.

Conservative MPs have consistently voted against measures which would have helped to tackle the crisis.

The Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said: “It is a complete scandal that filthy sewage is being pumped into our nation’s rivers and waterways without consequence.

“It’s beggars’ belief that both the UK Conservative Government and the Welsh Labour government are allowing water firms to get away with this environmental vandalism.

“We as a party are calling for tougher action to stop sewage being dumped in local waterways. We have also called for a halt on bonuses for water company fat cats whose firms have pumped filth into our waterways.”

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New bus services announced by Pembrokeshire County Council

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A NUMBER of changes to local bus services will be introduced in the coming weeks as a result of a shake up to bus funding. 

From April 2024, the funding which has been provided directly to bus operators by the Welsh Government to keep services going in the wake of the Covid pandemic will cease. 

Additional funding will instead be provided to Local Authorities to support their local bus network.

In total, Pembrokeshire County Council and the Welsh Government will provide over £3million in support for bus services in Pembrokeshire during the coming year.

As part of this process, all Pembrokeshire’s local bus services have been re-tendered. 

A public consultation, receiving over 300 responses, helped to inform decisions about which services should be prioritised. 

Councillor Rhys Sinnett, Pembrokeshire County Council Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services said: “I am delighted to be able to report that we are able to maintain the whole of Pembrokeshire’s current local bus network in the coming year.

“We have also secured key improvements such as reinstating an hourly service on the 349 route between Haverfordwest and Tenby via Pembroke Dock, and the popular Strumble Shuttle and Puffin Shuttle coastal bus services during the summer.”

The changes will also see two key services, the 302 Haverfordwest to Milford Haven and 349 Haverfordwest to Tenby via Pembroke Dock, brought under Council oversight for the first time. 

This will give the Council greater oversight of service operations and fares.  Pembrokeshire residents will also benefit from a new fare structure on all First Cymru services, due to be introduced from 1 April 2024. 

This will use Tap On Tap Off to allow passengers to pay the cheapest fare depending on the number of journeys they make or distance travelled, and will cap the maximum adult fare at £3 single and £5.40 return. 

More information about these fares can be found on the First Cymru website

A number of additional service changes and improvements are being considered for introduction during the course of the coming year in response to feedback received from the public consultation.  

The following bus service changes have been confirmed:

From 23 March 2024:

  • The Celtic Coaster (403) on the St Davids peninsular will restart for the 2024 season on Saturday 23 March and will run until Sunday 29 September. This is an hourly service, increasing to half-hourly during the whitsun half term and school summer holidays. There will be no service departing Caerfai Road at 13.00 and 13.30.
  • The 351 (Tenby to Pendine via Amroth) will return to its summer timetable.

From 1 April 2024

  • An hourly service will return on the 349 (Haverfordwest to Tenby via Pembroke Dock) service (April to September only).
  • The 356 (Milford Haven to Monkton) service will no longer call at Waterston and Hazelbeach due to operational issues caused by the narrow lanes in this area. The Fflecsi service will still be available.
  • A Saturday service, between 07:30 and 18:30, will be reintroduced in the Fflecsi Mid Pembrokeshire zone (formerly known as Bwcabus). This zone covers the area between Letterston, Crymych, Clunderwen and Wiston.  Passengers can also travel from this zone to Fishguard and Haverfordwest. 
  • The 302 (Haverfordwest to Milford Haven) and 349 (Haverfordwest to Tenby via Pembroke Dock) services operated by First Cymru will come under Pembrokeshire County Council control, giving the Council greater oversight of service operations and fares.
  • The 322 (Haverfordwest to Carmarthen) and 381 (Haverfordwest to Tenby via Narberth) services will be run by First Cymru. The 322 timetable will remain the same. The 381 timetable will remain the same from Haverfordwest to Tenby but journeys from Tenby to Haverfordwest will depart slightly earlier (37 past the hour instead of 45).
  • The X22 and X61 services which provided journeys at the start and end of the day between Pembroke Dock and Kilgetty, and Pembroke Dock and Haverfordwest will be withdrawn.
  • The 410 (Fishguard Town) and T11 (Haverfordwest to Fishguard via St Davids) services will be operated on a commercial (T11 part commercial) basis by Richards Bros. An improved connection with the ferry at Fishguard Harbour will be provided at 12.30.

From 19 May 2024

  • The Tenby Coaster service between Tenby and Saundersfoot will return for the summer season.

From 25 May 2024

  • The 400 Puffin Shuttle and 404 Strumble Shuttle services will return to the coast between Marloes and St Davids, and St Davids and Fishguard. These services will operate 7 days a week until 29 September 2024.  The Fflecsi service is also available in this area throughout the year.
  • The 387/388 Coastal Cruiser service around the Angle Peninsula will also return to its summer timetable, operating 7 days a week until 29th September 2024.

Further information about all Pembrokeshire bus services can be found on the Council’s website.

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