THE LAST INVASION

In the early hours of 23 February 1797, 1,400 French troops invaded Britain. They were the first hostile foreign troops to set foot on British soil since the Norman invasion of 1066. They scaled the 160-foot rugged Pembrokeshire cliffs at Carregwastad Point, three miles west of Fishguard, in West Wales. This beautiful but isolated headland juts into the Irish Sea and is so windswept the trees have a permanent stoop.

Led by Colonel William Tate, an Irish-American who fought against the British during the American War of Independence, their mission was to create an