Pembrokeshire Murders

[anthonykay]

There's been a lot of publicity recently about the TV series on the Pembrokeshire Murders; which has reminded me of my small part in the story . . . .

In July 1989 I had a cycling (and fell running) holiday in North Wales. I had heard on the news about the double murder before I started my holiday, but I hadn't heard that there were reports that a suspect was going around Wales on a bicycle. Anyway, after visiting Pistyll Rhaeadr in the Berwyn Mountains (a long way from Pembrokeshire!) one afternoon, I stopped at a cafe just down the valley for tea and cake. There's a bridleway that goes over a pass from there to Llangynog, and that was my chosen route after the cafe stop; I was continuing the long tradition of off-road cycling in the Berwyn Mountains.

The first part of the bridleway is a rough track that zigzags up the side of the valley. As I was plodding up the zag, I noticed a police car coming slowly up the zig below me. After a few minutes it dawned on me that the only possible reason they could be driving up the track was to speak to me. So I waited for them, and when they reached me, all was explained.

I haven't watched the TV series about the murders, and I doubt whether it featured the cafe proprietor in the Berwyns who reported a suspicious cyclist to the police.