News

Pembrokeshire man’s death-defying journey across Africa

Published

1 year ago

March 17, 2025

Speaking with Patrick Nash, it soon becomes clear that this is a man with an honesty and a profound understanding of how his life was turbulently restructured following a mind-blowing decision way back in 1980.

Fresh out of Bristol University with an economics degree under his belt, Nash decided to shy away from the predicted career ascent that was being favoured by so many of his peers and instead, set out on a death-defying trek which would cover the entire width of Africa.

During his journey he was shot at by border patrol guards, he fell into unconsciousness at the side of the road after contracting malaria and, perhaps most terrifyingly of all, he was jailed on suspicion of carrying illegal drugs, which carried a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

“I was a very naive 22-year-old who hadn’t really thought in any great depth about what I was doing,” Patrick told The Pembrokeshire Herald from his home in Solva.

“I was ridiculously unprepared for the journey, and all I had with me was a map of Africa, two UK passports and £250 in my pocket. If I’d thought too much about what could have happened to me, I probably wouldn’t have gone, but obviously in those days it was very difficult to find out about things.”

Following five weeks spent working on a farm in Israel, Patrick became one of the first backpackers to cross the Sinai border into Africa. His journey would subsequently take him across 14,000 miles, covering 11 African countries, many of which would be impossible for a solo traveller to attempt today. These included Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria and then back across the Sahara Desert to reach Britain.

Throughout his journey, Patrick chose to travel like a local, which meant he either walked on foot or cadged a lift on the lorries and pick-up trucks that were filled to the brim with miscellaneous items.

“People would be hanging on to those lorries for dear life, but it was a great way to meet the locals, chat to them and find out about their way of life,” continues Patrick.

“They were fascinated to see this white person choosing to travel like them, either on foot or hanging on to the top of those bumpy lorries. And sometimes they’d invite me back to stay in their homes or invite me to stay in a mosquito tent in their garden. And in many ways, this is the overwhelming memory that I have of those six months in Africa. People helped me, and this taught me how important it is to reach out to people and ask for help, wherever we are in the world.”

It was Patrick’s faith in the African culture that helped save his life when he began suffering from acute malaria for the second time during his journey.

“It was bad,” he recalls. “I was staggering around and eventually collapsed at the side of the road. But some guys picked me up, took me to the nearest town and one of them invited me to stay with him. They took me to the clinic where I was able to get treated, and I ended up spending a week with them, until I was well enough to start walking again.”

Patrick also forged a very strong relationship with the locals as he journeyed through the Congolian rainforests.

“People started hearing about me – about this white man who was walking through the forest – and almost every night people would come and find me, invite me back to their villages and ask if I would like to stay with them. They also used to ask me to talk to the young people, most of them young men who wanted to go to Europe, and once again this helped me to see how supportive and caring all these people were.”

But things took a dangerous turn when Patrick, together with another traveller who he met on his journey, attempted to cross the border between Zaire and the Central African Republic.

“The border guards were trying to get us to give them a bribe which we didn’t have, so we got in a boat and despite the fact that they started shooting at us, managed to get across to the other side.”

Shortly afterwards, Patrick was arrested and thrown into prison when a guard mistakenly assumed his malaria pills were illegal drugs.

“This was possibly one of the most frightening experiences, as I knew that the jail sentence for possessing illegal drugs would have been between 15 and 20 years,” he said. “Amazingly a police investigator turned up, realised what was going on, and released me.

“But throughout those six months, no one tried to rob me, even though this has happened a few times in Europe, and I never felt threatened by the local people who I met along the way. I was struck by their goodwill.”

The Foreign Office, however, has since placed red and orange warnings relating to their danger, on many of the places visited by Patrick during his 1980 journey.

After returning to the UK, Patrick became a social entrepreneur, setting up a workers’ cooperative selling vegetarian food, which became one of the UK’s largest cooperative businesses. he then helped set up an eco village in Scotland and in his late 30’s he returned to London where he worked for the Dalai Lama, with responsibility for running his UK charities. In 2006 he moved to Wales where he set up a charity helpline, its workforce expanding from 10 to its current figure of 450.

On March 27 Patrick will be publishing his memoir ‘Shots Across the Water’ which describes that incredible journey carried out in 1980.

“When I made that journey as a 22 year old, I made a diary of the things had happened to me, so reading those accounts all these years later has helped to stimulate my memory of what took place.

“I hadn’t had the happiest of childhoods, and things hadn’t always been easy, but it was that trip that opened my eyes to the values in life and which gave me confidence to move forward with my own self belief.

“If my daughters announced that they would like to make that same journey in 2025, I would do my best to dissuade them.

“But there’s no doubt that that journey formed me and has made me who I am today. It helped me realise that if I was able to complete that journey, then I could do anything.”

‘Shots Across the Water’ is available via Amazon, price £9.99 for a paperback and £7.99 for a kindle edition.

News

Parties make final push as Wales prepares to vote in historic Senedd election

Published

2 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Tom Sinclair

Campaign leaders criss-cross country in last-minute battle for crucial votes

WALES heads to the polls tomorrow (Thursday, May 7) after a frenetic final day of campaigning that saw party leaders, candidates and activists make one last push to win over undecided voters in what is being described as the most unpredictable Senedd election in modern Welsh history.

With polling stations due to open at 7:00am, parties spent Wednesday targeting key battleground constituencies across the country, including the new Ceredigion Penfro seat, amid growing expectations of a fragmented Senedd and a dramatic shake-up in Welsh politics.

The election is the first to be held under Wales’ new expanded Senedd system, with 96 Members of the Senedd being elected across 16 large constituencies using a proportional closed-list voting system.

Reform UK appeared to finish the campaign with significant momentum following a major rally on Tuesday attended by party leader Nigel Farage. The event drew large crowds and considerable online attention as Reform attempted to convert strong polling figures into seats in Cardiff Bay for the first time.

Farage used the rally to attack both Labour and Plaid Cymru, while positioning Reform as the party of “change” for disillusioned voters. Reform campaigners have focused heavily on immigration, cost of living pressures and opposition to what they describe as “wasteful government spending.”

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth spent the final day presenting his party as the main alternative to both Labour and Reform UK, insisting Plaid could “build a fairer Wales” while warning against what he described as “divisive politics.”

Labour figures, including First Minister Eluned Morgan and deputy leader Huw Irranca-Davies, urged voters not to “take risks” with public services, arguing only Welsh Labour could protect the NHS and local councils during a period of economic uncertainty.

Labour activists were heavily focused on turnout operations in traditional strongholds, amid polling suggesting the party could lose ground after decades as the dominant force in Welsh politics.

The Conservatives attempted to rally core voters with warnings about both Labour and Reform, while also focusing on farming, the rural economy and healthcare waiting lists.

In west Wales, Conservative candidates Paul Davies and Sam Kurtz spent the day meeting voters and carrying out final campaign visits across Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion, arguing their experience and local knowledge would be important under the new electoral system.

The Liberal Democrats and Green Party also maintained visible campaigns in several areas, hoping tactical voting and the proportional voting system could help them secure representation.

Across Wales, campaign teams handed out leaflets outside transport hubs, supermarkets and town centres, while social media campaigning intensified throughout the day.

Political analysts believe turnout could prove decisive, particularly because the new voting system means relatively small shifts in support could determine the allocation of the fifth and sixth seats in many constituencies.

The campaign has been dominated by debates over the NHS, farming, the economy, transport, tourism and the rising cost of living, alongside concerns about the future direction of Welsh devolution.

Polling stations open across Wales from 7:00am until 10:00pm on Thursday, with counting due to begin on Friday morning.

The Herald will provide live election coverage online throughout polling day and count day, including updates from count centres, candidate interviews and reaction as results emerge from across west Wales and the rest of the country.

News

Plaid Cymru projected to lead Senedd as Labour faces historic collapse

Published

2 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Tom Sinclair

Final poll suggests Welsh politics could be on the brink of a major realignment

PLAID CYMRU is on course to become the largest party in the Senedd, according to the final YouGov MRP projection for ITV Cymru Wales before polling day.

The model suggests Labour’s century-long dominance of Welsh elections could be coming to an end, with Plaid projected to win 43 seats in the newly expanded 96-member Senedd.

Reform UK is forecast to finish second on 34 seats, while Labour is projected to fall to just 12.

The poll, based on responses from more than 4,600 adults between April 25 and May 4, puts Plaid Cymru on 33% of the vote, ahead of Reform UK on 29%. Labour is on 12%, the Conservatives on 9%, the Greens on 8% and the Liberal Democrats on 6%.

Labour facing major losses

The projection points to a dramatic collapse in Labour support across Wales.

YouGov’s central estimate would represent a notional loss of 32 seats for Labour compared with the 2021 result under the new electoral system.

It would also be Labour’s worst result at any major Welsh election since 1906.

The model suggests Labour may fail to top the poll in any of the 16 new Senedd constituencies, and could return no members at all in four of them.

In west Wales, Labour’s support is projected to have fallen into single figures in some areas.

First Minister Eluned Morgan, who leads Labour’s list in Ceredigion Penfro, could also be at risk if the projection proves accurate.

Reform surge

Reform UK is projected to make major gains, rising from just 1% of the vote in 2021 to 29% in the final pre-election model.

The party’s support appears to be spread widely across Wales, though it is weaker in Cardiff and strongest in parts of the south Wales valleys.

One of the most striking projections is in Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr, which includes the Merthyr Tydfil area where Keir Hardie was elected as Wales’s first Labour MP in 1900.

There, YouGov’s central estimate puts Reform UK narrowly ahead on 34%, Plaid Cymru on 33%, and Labour on 14%.

Smaller parties

The Conservatives are projected to win just four seats, which would be their weakest devolved election result.

That would leave them one short of the five members needed to form an official political group in the Senedd.

The Greens are forecast to enter the Senedd for the first time, winning two seats in Cardiff.

The Liberal Democrats are projected to win one seat in Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd, keeping Jane Dodds in the Senedd.

No majority expected

No party is projected to win the 49 seats needed for an outright majority.

YouGov’s modelling suggests Plaid Cymru would be best placed to lead the next Welsh Government, but would probably need support from another party.

Plaid and Labour together reach a majority in most of the model’s simulations, while a Plaid-Green arrangement does so far less often.

A Reform-Conservative majority appears unlikely in the projection.

Under the new D’Hondt voting system, small movements in vote share could still make a significant difference, particularly for the final seats in each constituency.

Polling stations open tomorrow, Thursday, May 7.