Bakeries in St Davids

The baking story of St Davids

With only around 1,600 residents, St Davids is the smallest city in Britain: a cluster of houses around a great purple-stone cathedral in the far west of Pembrokeshire. Wales's patron saint founded a monastery here in the 6th century, and pilgrims have come ever since. On St David's Day, 1 March, Welsh cakes and cawl — a slow-cooked broth of lamb and leeks — appear on tables across the country, and nowhere celebrates more fittingly. The Pembrokeshire coast supplies crab, lobster and laverbread, a purée of seaweed traditionally mixed with oatmeal, fried and eaten with bacon and cockles. Local cafés and bakers serve bara brith and Welsh cakes to walkers coming in off the coast path.

Local bakes to look out for

• Welsh cake – A buttery, currant-studded griddle cake, eaten especially on St David's Day.
• Bara brith – A tea-soaked fruit loaf, sliced and buttered.
• Laverbread cake – Laverbread mixed with oatmeal and fried, traditionally served with bacon.

Bakery hunter's tip: Combine the cathedral with a walk on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, then reward yourself with a Welsh cake from a local café or bakery.

Did you know? Pembrokeshire Earlies, new potatoes grown on the county's mild coastal farms, have Protected Geographical Indication status.