It was an early start. The tide was moving quickly, and there was no time to hang around. Vans pulled up, cameras were lifted, and within moments, Craig was already heading down towards the shoreline.
We ran after him, laughing, trying to keep up, racing the water as it crept back in.
Watch this part of our Pembrokeshire Road Trip as Anthony heads out along the shoreline with Craig the Forager, learning how to spot, gather, and cook wild coastal ingredients, and seeing the coast through a different lens.
This was not a morning about standing still. It was about looking down, paying attention, and seeing the coast differently.
Craig knows this stretch of Pembrokeshire shoreline instinctively. Every rock pool, every crevice, every plant that clings to the edges between land and sea. Walking with him feels less like a lesson and more like having your eyes opened for the first time. Things you would normally step over suddenly become ingredients. Things you might never notice start to matter.
What followed was a morning spent moving, noticing, and learning how much the shoreline has to offer when you know where to look.
You will often find Craig out on the Pembrokeshire coast with his golden retriever Llew, poking around places like Wiseman’s Bridge and Freshwater West. He knows where to look for wild garlic bulbs, rosehips, edible petals, and rock samphire, and he knows how to turn them into something genuinely good to eat.
His knowledge comes from time spent outdoors rather than textbooks. If it grows along the coastline, chances are Craig understands how it behaves, when it is at its best, and how it should be treated. That connection to place runs through everything he does.
Craig also plays a role in the wider revival of seaweed and coastal foods in Wales. As interest in these ingredients grows and environmental awareness increases, he introduces people to plants and shoreline produce that have featured in Welsh kitchens for generations but are only now coming back into view. His work sits comfortably alongside that renewed appreciation for local food and the landscapes it comes from.
He is often invited to lead foraging sessions at places like Bluestone Resort, where families and guests are introduced to the coastline through hands-on experiences that combine foraging, storytelling, and a sense of adventure. These sessions lean into everything from samphire to cockles and are often described as “liquid sunshine” days out.
Craig has also stepped into the spotlight beyond the shoreline. His first mainstream television appearance came on Coast and Country on ITV Wales, alongside presenter Ruth Wignall. It was one of those quietly proud local moments, showing that the wildest larder often sits right under our noses.
Craig moves quickly but deliberately. He scans the ground as he walks, stopping suddenly to point something out before moving on again. For him, the coastline is familiar, but it is never dull.
“People walk past this stuff every day,” he said. “They just don’t see it.”
Almost immediately, the rocks began to look different. Patches of green and brown seaweeds clinging to stone. Small plants growing where land and sea blur together. What first looked like background detail slowly revealed itself as food.
Very early on, Craig talked about restraint. The key is taking only what you need, knowing exactly what you’re looking at, and understanding how it grows.
He showed how to cut rather than pull, how to leave roots intact, and how to take small amounts from different spots rather than stripping one place bare.
“If you pull it out, it’s gone,” he explained. “You’ve got to let it grow back.”
There was a calm confidence in the way he worked. Nothing rushed. Nothing taken without thought.
As we moved along the shoreline, Craig pointed out sea vegetables growing naturally along the water’s edge. Rock samphire clinging tightly to stone. Sea lettuce drifting gently in shallow pools. Pepper dulse tucked away in darker corners, bringing deep, savoury flavour.
Each one had its own character and its own place.
“It’s about knowing what it tastes like,” Craig said.
The focus stayed on flavour rather than novelty. Some things work raw. Others need cooking. Some add brightness. Others bring depth. Understanding that balance felt central to everything Craig does.
The more time we spent on the rocks, the clearer it became how generous this stretch of coastline can be. Limpets, crabs, seaweeds, plants, all existing together in a careful balance.
Craig spoke about how people have relied on these edges of land and sea for generations.
“People have always eaten this,” he said. “We’ve just forgotten.”
Standing there, with the tide slowly turning, it was easy to imagine how much knowledge has been lost along the way.
Before long, ingredients gathered only minutes earlier were being cooked right there on the shore. Simple heat. Minimal handling. No effort to dress things up.
“This is the best way to eat it,” Craig said. “Straight away.”
The flavours were clean and immediate. Nothing masked. Nothing forced.
For Anthony, the morning was about perspective. About being reminded that flavour does not always come from distance or complexity.
Ingredients like pepper dulse and sea vegetables that bring depth without heaviness. The idea of using the coastline as a source of flavour rather than a theme. Food that feels honest and grounded.
It was a reminder that some of the most interesting ingredients are already here, growing quietly along the edges of the land.
As the tide finally pushed us back up the beach, the shoreline looked the same as it had at the start of the day.
The difference was in how it was seen.
Foraging with Craig was about slowing down, paying attention, and understanding how closely food and place are connected.
You just have to look down.