Maenclochog

Maenclochog is a proper inland village — a square, a shop, a pub, a chapel and a school — on the rolling ground where the Preseli Hills drop towards the Landsker lands of central Pembrokeshire. It has none of the tourist infrastructure of the coast and a lot more everyday Welsh life; the language is spoken normally in the street here, and the village functions year-round rather than for twelve weeks in summer.

For visitors, its value is as a launchpad into an underused part of the county. The Preseli ridge and Foel Cwmcerwyn are a short drive north, Rosebush's flooded slate quarries five minutes, and the forestry at Pantmaenog and Canaston Woods gives waymarked walking and mountain biking that does not depend on the weather being kind. The old railway from Clynderwen once ran up to Maenclochog and on towards Rosebush and Fishguard; sections of its route are still visible in the fields, and the village hall area retains the shape of the terminus.

The honest assessment is that this is a value base rather than a scenic one. There is no sea view and no beach; Newgale and the west coast are around thirty minutes, Newport and the north coast twenty-five, Tenby and the south coast forty-five. Narberth's restaurants and shops are fifteen to twenty minutes, Haverfordwest twenty-five. If you want a large house with land, a hot tub and low prices, and you are content to drive to beaches, this belt of country delivers what the coastal villages cannot.

Mostly farmhouses, barn conversions and cottages in the lanes around the village, typically with plenty of space, parking and gardens — a common choice for multi-family groups. Properties in the village itself give a shop and pub on foot, which is unusual and useful in this area.

On the B4313 between Narberth and Fishguard, with lanes east towards Crymych and north into the Preselis. Clunderwen station on the West Wales line is about ten minutes south by car.