Yeomanry Field, Penally, WWI (aka Holloway Field, Volunteer Field, Poppy Field)

[kob3203]

We've been trying to identify the location of the attached photo (the full size photo is posted here), and after considering places as diverse as Ceylon, Egypt, and the Balkans in addition to the more obvious UK it now seems most likely to be somewhere in Glamorganshire or Pembrokeshire (the cap badge, uniform and equipment makes it most likely that the men are from the Glamorgan Yeomanry or Pembroke Yeomanry, and the landscape definitely has that British countryside look to it).

tonepad suggested that the building on the horizon near the horseman's rifle muzzle looked like the medieval dovecote at Llantwit Major in Glamorganshire, which it certainly does. While following that up I was googling for WWI army camps in Wales - I didn't find any near Llantwit Major but came across several photos of a pre/early WWI Yeomanry camp at Penally with a similar feature on the horizon - see this and subsequent replies on the other topic for details and links.

So is this photo taken at Yeomanry Field in Penally ?

P.S. The Penally History Group posted several of the photos I found (and the alternative names in the title are from one of those). But although their website says to email them it doesn't give any email address ! With luck one of them is a member here.

[kob3203]

I eventually managed to get in contact with a member of the Penally History Group. The initial response was that the top of the tower didn't seem to match that at Penally, and the topography of the fields seemed different. This surprised me as the photo that originally made me think it might be Penally (the link to that photo, including context, is in the third paragraph of reply 66 to the original topic) seemed a good match in both respects. After looking through other photos in their archive they've found nothing conclusive, but think it is likely to be Penally.

The watchtower at Penally is a listed building located at the end of Four Winds Lane and it appears to be on private land. But you can now  see Penally watchtower on GoogleMaps StreetView (it didn't go that far up Four Winds Lane when I last looked).

Another piece of circumstantial evidence I just found - 'A' squadron of the Pembroke Yeomanry (one of the regiments that the Prince Of Wales feathers cap badge fits) was headquartered at Tenby, which is only a mile or two away.

[kob3203]

I eventually managed to get in contact with a member of the Penally History Group. The initial response was that the top of the tower didn't seem to match that at Penally, and the topography of the fields seemed different. This surprised me as the photo that originally made me think it might be Penally (the link to that photo, including context, is in the third paragraph of reply 66 to the original topic) seemed to me to be a good match in both respects. After looking through other photos in their archive they've found nothing conclusive, but think it is likely to be Penally.

The watchtower at Penally is a listed building located at the end of Four Winds Lane and it appears to be on private land. But you can now  see Penally watchtower on GoogleMaps StreetView (it didn't go that far up Four Winds Lane when I last looked).

Another piece of circumstantial evidence I just found - 'A' squadron of the Pembroke Yeomanry (one of the regiments that the Prince Of Wales feathers cap badge fits) was headquartered at Tenby, which is only a mile or two away.