Pendine

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Pendine

Pendine Beach

Pendine beach

Pendine has a good beach with a mix of sand sea shells and rocks, great for the kids with their fishing nets. A few small shops sell souvenirs and beach goods and there are also cafes and fish and chip shops. Pubs provide evening entertainment.

There is a car park near the beach with toilet facilities and access for the disabled.

Huge caravan parks spoil the look of the place, but if caravan holidays are your thing, this could be the place to go.

Other information

Pendine is famous for the sands which stretch for 7 miles between Gilman Point in the west to Laugharne Sands in the east.

Early in the 1900s motor sports enthusiasts used the firm sands for races. By the 1920s normal tracks were of no use for land speed records as they were too short to allow fast acceleration and safe braking.

Pendine was ideal for World land speed records and in 1924 Malcolm Campbell, driving Bluebird, set a speed record of 146.16 mph (235.22 km/h) on the Sands. In the next few years other attempts on the record took place and the speed was raised.

In 1927 Parry-Thomas tried to beat Campbell’s record in "Babs", but at 180 mph (290 km/h) the car rolled over and Parry-Thomas was killed. This was the last World land speed record attempt made at Pendine Sands. The car was buried on the sands. In 1969
permission was sought to excavate Babs and over the next 15 years it was restored and is

now housed in the Museum of Speed in Pendine village.
In 1933 Amy Johnson and her husband Jim Mollinson took off from Pendins Sands in a DH Dragon to fly non-stop to the United States.
During WWII Ministry of Defence acquired Pendine Sands and used it as a firing range. The beach is still owned by the MoD. Public access is sometimes restricted and signs warn of the dangers of unexploded munitions.

In June 2002 Don Wales, Malcolm Campbell’s grandson and nephew of Donald Campbell, set the UK electric land speed record on the Sands in Bluebird Electric 2, with a speed of 137 mph (220 km/h).
Pendine Sands is sometimes used as a stage in motor rally events, but spectator access may be restricted for safety reasons.

Kite buggying, touch rugby and rock music festivals are held at Pendine at various times.

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