Caregwastad Point, Pembrokeshire (43)

Wales will always have a special place in my heart for three reasons: one, I went to university in Cardiff and fell in love with the city; two, my maternal grandfather (who I never met) was Welsh; and three, the Welsh accent makes me go weak at the knees!

In 2006, an old uni friend, Ally, and I spent a week hiking on the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path. The walk turned into a bit of a reunion because we met up with three more uni friends en route. Before and after the walk we stayed with Tim, a friend I worked with during my industrial training year in Reading who has now ‘emigrated’ to Pembrokeshire. Tim walks along the coastal path every day with his dogs Jake and (Mad) Mick and was our support crew on the walk.

This scene is painted from a photo I took of the stone monument at Caregwastad Point, where we had lunch on the first day of the walk. It commemorates the failed last invasion of Britain, when a group of French conscripts scrambled ashore in 1797. A more difficult landing place would be hard to find.

This painting will be exhibited at Fidels, Essex Street, Fremantle from 26th January to 25th February 2010.