As the second largest settlement in the county of Pembrokeshire, Milford Haven is nothing if not an essential part of the inner machinations of the United Kingdom. Though its population of around thirteen thousand people pales in comparison to places like Glasgow, Dublin, Birmingham, and London, Milford Haven has nonetheless been an indispensable town in terms of history, impact, and culture.
Perhaps the most important and vital part of Milford Haven is the Milford Haven Waterway. This is a natural harbour that has over the years amassed a worldwide fame and was in use even before Milford Haven officially became a city in the late 1700s. Vikings once used the harbour as a staging point for their various forays into Ireland and beyond and evidence uncovered in recent years shows that the Vikings in fact camped out in the area quite frequently. The port was well known even before the town earned its name and it is even mentioned in William Shakespeare's "Cymbeline". Nearly a thousand years ago Henry II used this same harbour to stage an invasion of Ireland that was largely successful and, during the English Civil War, the polarizing figure Oliver Cromwell followed the King's lead (probably one of the only times Cromwell ever followed a King's lead) and stormed Ireland from the same vantage point. By all accounts Milford Haven Waterway was an integral and essential port for many leaders throughout the years, although the people of Ireland may not have as fuzzy memories as people in other parts of the U.K.
Despite its worldwide infamy, Milford Haven was still seen as little more than a historical natural harbour for quite some time and it wasn't until the latter half of the 19th century that the town finally became well-known in its own right. It was during that time that commercial docks began to be constructed along the beautiful harbour and Milford Haven almost instantly amassed a rather respectable fishing trade. By the dawn of the 20th century Milford Haven was the sixth largest fishing town in the entire United Kingdom and its population had doubled in under fifty years. By the 1930s the town's population would double yet again and would top ten thousand. It was right around that time, though, that the second World War began and Milford Haven would once more find itself as a vital place for the war efforts. The town was a base for Allied troops and thus gained even more fame and acclaim. Though it has only had its name for a bit over three hundred years, there is no denying that Milford Haven is and has been an essential town for Wales and the United Kingdom for far longer than one would assume. When speaking of Milford Haven, then, it is important to make sure that people know you're referring to the same land that Vikings called home and the same harbour that Henry II landed upon nearly a thousand years ago. No matter what it was called in those days, Milford Haven is and always will be that shining slice of earth sitting alongside that glorious harbour.
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