A BIRD IN THE HAND
When a winter storm brews up over her home village of Solva, on the Pembrokeshire coast, Emma Iles is a happy woman. At work, making cushions in her whitewashed stone cottage on the High Street, above the harbour, she has the woodburner going and a steaming mug of tea to hand while she looks out to the headland. ‘I love watching the sea foam whip across St Bride’s Bay and hearing the rain gushing loudly down the aluminium drainpipes of the house. When the wind’s high it feels like the roof is going to come off, but it never does - this house has stood firm since it was built in 1840.’
Professional seamstress Emma has relished the elemental nature of Solva ever since she moved there from Marlborough, Wiltshire, in 2003. She and her
