John Campbell, better known as Lord Cawdor, is renowned as the man who beat the French when they landed at Fishguard in 1797. But there is more, much more, to the life of this active and enthusiastic man who dominated society in south Pembrokeshire during the early part of the 19th century.

Campbell was born on 24 April 1755 at the family home, Cawdor Castle, near Nairn in Scotland. He inherited his estates at Stackpole in south Pembrokeshire from his father, Prys Campbell, in 1777.

It was an immense holding, covering some 16,000 acres, and what Campbell created on his land was widely recognized as the perfect agricultural system, run for the benefit of owner, tenants and farmers alike.

John Campbell had represented first Nairn, then Cardigan in parliament until he was created Baron Cawdor of Castlemartin in June 1796 in recognition of his support of Pitt's war policy. He may now have been Lord Cawdor but to the people of Pembrokeshire he would always be affectionately known as Squire Campbell.

Cawdor's moment of glory came in February 1797 when he quickly rounded up and imprisoned 1,400 members of the legion Noire who had landed at Fishguard. Truth be known, his opponents were a pretty desperate lot, something of a forlorn hope. Nevertheless, it required courage and initiative to gain the victory and these were qualities that Lord Cawdor had in abundance.

His courage had been amply displayed a year or so before the French landings. One evening, as he sat down to dinner, news reached Cawdor that a smuggling brig was putting in to the beach at nearby Freshwater East, about to discharge a cargo of illicit brandy.

Cawdor, accompanied by three friends, immediately set out for Freshwater East beach. They had no weapons and had little or no idea what they were likely to be facing. When they reached the beach they discovered the landing well in progress. Cawdor ordered the smugglers to stop. Alarmed, the men dropped the boxes and ran for their boat.

As Lord Cawdor and his comrades were gathering up the crates of brandy, two boatloads of smugglers pulled back into the beach. They were armed with metal staves and pokers.

The sensible option would have been to flee. Not Lord Cawdor. He resolutely stood his ground and although attacked by the smugglers, he managed to fight them off using just his fists.

Within a few minutes the smugglers were again in flight, this time leaving Cawdor in full and final command of the beach. He took the brandy to a nearby house for storage and went back to Stackpole Court to finish his dinner.

As it happened, the owners of the house were not made of the same stuff as Lord Cawdor and a day or so later the local representatives of the smuggling gang surrounded the house and demanded "their property." It was duly passed over.

Cawdor's colourful life continued. In the aftermath of the French landings at Fishguard, Lord Cawdor, along with several others, was highly critical of Lt Col Thomas Knox, commander of the Fishguard Fencibles.

By rank at least, Knox was the senior officer in the county but his actions in retreating from Fishguard when news came of the French landings was hardly in the best traditions of the British army – even if his soldiers were no more than part-time warriors.

Cawdor was scathing about Knox's conduct during the invasion scare. He refused to serve under him, writing to the commander of all British forces along the Severn Estuary to resign his commission, declaring that he, along with the other officers, would not "risk our characters by acting under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Knox whose ignorance of his Duty and want of judgement must be known to you."

It did not say it outright but there were clear implications of cowardice here. Typical of the age, Knox took exception to Cawdor's comments and challenged him to a duel.

As the challenged man, Cawdor had the right to choose the location for the duel and he opted for the Turnpike Road to the north of Milford Haven. At midday on 24 May 1797 he and Knox met but the outcome of the fight remains unclear.

Cawdor's Journal entry for the day reads simply: "A very fine day. After breakfast rode to the ferry. Met Jos (his second) there, and Mr Knox and Colonel Vaughan near the Williamston Road. Rode home, back by half past two."

Whether the duel was ever fought is not known. Perhaps there was a quick crossing of blades or exchange of pistol shots, perhaps a brief apology. Cawdor would not have been afraid but he was too sensible to risk life and limb unnecessarily. At this distance no-one will ever know.

Whatever happened, the duel was just one more episode in the amazing life of Lord Cawdor, one of the most interesting men ever to live in Wales.

Throughout the years the approaches to encapsulating Wales on canvas have been diverse in their reach. Its rugged mountain peaks and glorious coastline have inspired many an artist to put paintbrush to paper in an attempt to capture its beauty.

Now a gallery in one of the most stunning parts of the country is hosting an exhibition that showcases the work of landscape artists here since 1970.

Oriel y Parc at the visitor's centre at Pembrokeshire Coast National Park is also home to Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales in Pembrokeshire.

Curator Bryony Dawkes is behind the latest event, New Ground: Landscape Art in Wales since 1970.

It casts a glance at how different artists have chosen to interpret the setting ever since the birth of conceptual art as a genre. And it's not just restricted to paintings - a variety of media is on show, from waste slate, oil paintings and sculptures to film and photography.

Clare Woods, Hill of Hurdles, 2010 © the artist, courtesy of Stuart Shave/Modern Art

Detail from Brendan Burns' Shimmer, 2009 © the artist

Detail from Mike Perry's Green Gorse, 2003 © the artist

You can get a lot of walking done in a week - as I've just discovered after spending half-term in North Pembrokeshire, getting back to basics.

I stayed in the hamlet of Tregwynt (location of the famous woollen mill), a stone's throw away from the coastal path, which can guarantee a good bracing walk whatever the weather.

Our very own Pembrokeshire coast has been in the news today as it came second in a National Geographic poll of the top 10 best 'coastal destinations' in the world.

The Pembrokeshire coast beat off stiff opposition from the likes of Chile, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Namibia, Oregon, Scotland and more - so bear that in mind next time you're out walking and it starts to pour down with rain!

Just wipe away the rain, smile and admire the beauty all around you ;)

Barafundle Beach, on the Pembrokeshire Coast by Arwyn Harris:

A few people have been in touch to say that a tornado struck Neyland in Pembrokeshire last night, Thursday 27 May.

At around 9.40pm a loud roar was heard and a rush of wind in the Wood Lane/Honeyborough Grove areas of the town.

Mrs Dawn Delahaye says "the sky went very dark. There was heavy rain, the wind suddenly picked-up followed by a severe gust which lasted for a few seconds.

"The wind hit the house, stripping tiles off the roof and caused more damage to my neighbours roof across the road. It was very frightening."

It is difficult to say whether the gust of wind was due to a tornado or not without further evidence, but I wouldn't rule it out completely. A trough moved through Pembrokeshire yesterday evening bringing heavy showers.

The air was unstable with cumulonimbus clouds, which tower upwards, and these can sometimes bring heavy rain, hail, thunder and sudden gusts of wind. If conditions are right in the atmosphere, these clouds can produce a funnel cloud. If the funnel cloud touches the land it is called a tornado. If it touches the sea, it is called a waterspout.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1968192.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8003444.stm

www.torro.org.uk

The Autumnwatch team visited Pembrokeshire this week, to film a few sequences for this years programme.

Chris Packham and Kate Humble were down at West Angle bay hoping to film choughs, various wading birds and try their luck at some rock pooling.

It's a lovely spot and I spent a lot of time here as a child, swimming on the far right hand side of the bay and jumping off the old wooden jetty.

It was also the place where I saw my first canadian goose. I can always remember being amazed to find a pair nesting on small island - a short walk around the headland, to the South of the bay.

They looked completely out of place to my young eyes which were accustomed to seeing seagulls or cormorants, not exotic looking geese?!

Nowadays they're a common sight on lakes and ponds but in the late 70's, it felt like I'd discovered the Loch Ness monster on my home turf!

Pembrokeshire is particularly good for rock pooling during the summer months due to the crystal clear water and warm gulf stream currents which allow a variety of unusual creatures to live there.

Let's hope the rain held off long enough for them to spot the odd rock goby or crab. The sea anemones never disapoint though.

West Angle is particularly well known for it's fossils too and both sides of the bay are littered with them, in the cliffs and shale below.

We've got some great spotter guides for kids to take with them to the beach if this weather ever clears up, so take a look.

Let me know if you spotted the Autumnwatch team or took any photos of them during their brief visit.

Gull

The BBC Wales Nature Flickr group are a very clever bunch of snappers...

Since we started the photo group back in 2007, we've had something in the region of 5,600+ images and the standard blows my socks off so regularly that I've actually taken to wearing sandles around the office! ;0

These photos of short beaked common dolphins have come in from a regular contributer to BBC Wales Nature called Ade: