What is travel writing?

• Travel writing is simply writing about a place or location.

• This can come in many forms and contexts. You can find pieces of travel writing in newspapers, web pages, emails, brochures, leaflets, letters, journals and many more.

That Summer: Tenby, 1963 I t may be livelier today, but Tenby retains the charm Richard Evans remembers f rom a childhood visit

Saturday, 2 August 2003

The lads' mag Maxim once voted it the second best place in the world f or stag nights. I t has golden sands and a vibrant nightlif e. But this is not Miami or even Prague, but Tenby in Pembrokeshire. Portrayed in the papers last year as a town at war with marauding crowds of drunks, it all sounded a f ar cry f rom the rather genteel resort I remember f rom my childhood in the Sixties.

A week in one of the Victorian hotels on The Esplanade overlooking Tenby's South Beach was something diff erent. I t was the fi rst time I 'd stayed in a hotel - let alone in one with two stars. Every morning we climbed down steep steps to the beach, swam in the sea, built sandcastles and played in rock pools and caves. We took a boat trip to see the monks on Caldey I sland and brought back sweets in a jar. Af terwards a man in a white jacket served us supper on crisp linen tablecloths with heavy cutlery. Someone made the bed for us and f olded up clothes we lef t on the floor. I can still remember the smell of the suntan oil and the sheets as I was dropping off to sleep, the call of the sea and the gulls and the sand I brought back f rom the beach with me.

I was pleased to fi nd that trains still come down f rom Swansea - winding along the coast and then cutting discreetly through the Carmarthenshire countryside. These days they are powered by diesel, and are just one or two carriages long rather than the steam-hauled beauties of the Great Western Railway that used to bring in holidaymakers by the thousand. What's lef t of Tenby railway station is a couple of minutes' walk f rom the medieval town walls, into which have been poured the pastel-coloured Regency terraces, the shops, the pubs and the restaurants. On one side the narrow streets spill down towards the North Beach and the old harbour; on the other, they clamber down to the sweep of the South Beach. I t's still safe and clean, with golden sand, fi rst-class bathing and views across the bay - and Fecci's I ce Cream.

There are amusement arcades and shops selling beach paraphernalia, but it's not like the more vulgar resorts of the English South Coast. I n Tenby, the slot machines are tucked away behind modest shop f ronts. Boats still take tourists to Caldey I sland where the Cistercian monks sell visitors chocolate and perfume made f rom wild flowers. The Pembrokeshire Coastal Path winds east to Amroth, but to the west, past the testing golf course in the sand dunes, there's another hundred miles or so to St Bride's Bay with its remote rocky coves, seabirds and cliff -top walks.

There were no crisp tablecloths at lunch anymore, but there were lamb sausages and plenty of local fi sh; the cobbled lanes meander down to the harbour where the day's catch is still sold on the quayside. The sun shone for our return, but then they say this sheltered corner of Carmarthen Bay is lucky with the weather.

I f you fi nd yourself caught by one of the systems sweeping in f rom the Atlantic, all will not be lost however. Within walking distance there's the 15th-century merchants' house and Saint Mary's parish church - one of the largest in Wales. Henry Tudor hid in the vaults before fleeing to France and returning as king.

On Castle Hill, with its views over the beaches to the north and to Caldey in the south, the museum tells more tales of ships and lif eboats. The art gallery proudly shows off the paintings of Augustus J ohn, the local boy who grew a beard and went a bit Bohemian af ter a diving accident, going on to become one of the most important artist of his generation. His legacy lives on in scores of little art shops, potteries and galleries in the area. The scenery of the National Park is a landscape artist's dream.

Saturday nights in high season can get rowdy, but rarely threatening, and no more than in the Seventies according to my sister-in-law, who tended to the wayward in her youth. She tells me, with a distant grin, that it was all going on in Cinderella's. My mother went back to that hotel on The Esplanade a f ew years ago and said it wasn't what it used to be. But I am glad to report that the resort of Tenby is still a little gem.

That Summer : Tenby, 1963

Quotation Effect ‘It has golden sands and a vibrant nightlife’

‘we climbed down steep steps to the beach, swan in the sea and built sandcastles…’

‘I can still remember the smell of the suntan oil’

‘medieval town walls’

‘the pastel coloured Regency terraces, the shops, the pubs and the restaurants’

‘Boats still take tourists to Caldey Island’

‘The scenery of the National Park is a landscape artist’s dream’

‘Saturday nights in high season can be rowdy, but rarely threatening.’

‘I am glad to report that the resort of Tenby is still a little gem’

The extracts on the following slides are taken from a piece of travel writing about Brittany, France. On the sheet provided I would like you to change the selected paragraphs into a short piece of writing about Tenby.

Brittany is a peninsula and because it is almost surrounded by water, its weather often changes. The Western coast is often damp and misty – especially during late Autumn and early Spring.

With one of the most spectacular coastlines in France encompassing granite cliffs, rocky inlets, sandy bays and colourful fishing harbours, Brittany boasts a proud sea-faring tradition.

Leaving Brittany’s coastal port of Roscoff we drove inland to the historic town of Morlaix and began our hunt for somewhere to stay. What a delightful and confusing town Morlaix turned out to be!

Travel Writing• Travel writing covers a specific subject matter. You should find more

than you would in a brochure, this needs to be descriptive, autobiographical, persuasive and informative.

• You should try to use humour and sarcasm to engage the reader. Think about local issues you could make into a joke or funny statements about the local area

The summer traffic ban, stag and hen parties.

‘drive 15 minutes from the town of Tenby and you will be greeted by the ‘hippy culture’ of Narberth where the residents are clothed in tie-dye and crochet garments’

‘the delightful foods of Tenby are soon forgotten as you approach Pembroke Dock and the wonders of McDonalds’

• This type of writing need to be personal and present the writer’s personality.

• Use personal experiences (a visit to Caldey Island, the horse and cart ride around town, visit to Oakwood)

• This piece must be descriptive - the reader needs to get a ‘feel’ for the location

• This piece must be lively, fun and bright – it MUST NOT be a list of what you can do, where you can eat and where to stay.

• You can use a ‘chatty’ style (‘tacky’, ‘roaring trade’ etc)

• Use similes (‘the colourful houses on Tenby’s harbour catch your eye like a box of beautiful crayons’)

• Use facts (visitors flock to Pembrokeshire every year for their summer holiday)

• Use the technique of tripling (Tenby is simply idyllic, beautiful and breathtaking)