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SPRING
APRIL - MAY
2005 Edition 32. |
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SPRING
APRIL - MAY
2005 Edition 32. |
| FARM
HOUSE HOLIDAYS You can find a "Welcome in the Hillside" |
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| We
were convinced that Ben was more a 'tourist' dog than a sheep dog. He herded us down to a brook and then along tracks lined with Hazel hedges and Laburnum. |
We travelled up a winding
narrow single track road with high hedges, our destination, a farmhouse holiday
on a working dairy farm in Mid-Wales.
At the top of the hill beyond the daffodils, the rolling green valleys were
alive with the bleating of sheep and new lambs and when we got to the farm,
we were welcomed by Ben, a friendly farm dog who was a champion tail wagger.
It was a good start but
things got better; as after settling into our comfortable room in the 17th
century building we enjoyed a superb evening meal served by Joyce Cornes,
the farmer's wife who was also a qualified chef.
She worked her magic with the fresh produce from the farm and memories of
mushroom stuffed with Stilton cheese still linger.
Later, relaxing by the
fireplace with its massive oak beam and ingle-nook, she and her husband Roger
gave us helpful suggestions of things to do and places to see.
There were so many that we began to wish we were staying a week instead of
a couple of days.
We woke next morning to
sound of birds and through the bedroom window I saw the sun glinting on a
weather vane crafted in the shape of a fox.
The name of the
farm was 'Cwm Llwynog,' which means 'Valley of the Fox,' but we were
to learn that badgers live there too.
The sheltered area was a haven for wildlife and when we in slipped off for
a pre-breakfast walk we were joined by Ben who dashed on ahead, constantly
turning to make sure we were following.
We were convinced he was
more a 'tourist dog' than a sheep dog. He herded us down to brook at the foot
of the farm garden and along tracks lined with Hazel hedges and Laburnum.
A scruffy farm cat peeped out from behind the catkins, but decided to ignore
us and assumed the air of a working moggie with more important things on his
mind.
Following
up the suggestions that we had been given we went down to the local village
of Llanfair Caereinion and found smoke belching from the little engines of
the Welshpool and LLanfair Railway.
They were being fired up for the service that runs three times a day along the eight mile track through the secluded river valley, via Castle Caereinion, to Welshpool.
It costs £9.90 for
adults. Children under 5 go free!
"Driver Experience Courses" are run throughout the year. Phone 01938
810441 for details.
A lovely collection of brightly coloured locomotives have been collected from
as far a field as Sierra Leone in West Africa, Antigua in the West Indies,
Finland and of course Wales.
We drove up to the hills, finding narrow and ever narrower roads with sparsely
placed passing places, learning that the shortest distance between two points
was not a straight line. Certainly not when it came to the time taken.
After
reversing a couple of times to let farmers go about their business we eventually
found Lake Vyrnwy with its castle rising steep by the shore.
The lake had all the beauty of a Scottish loch, but was artificial being created
back in the 1880's when they flooded the valley to supply the city of Liverpool
with water.
Beneath the surface there
lies the remains of a complete village. It had its own baker's shop, tailor
etc., and of course, a chapel.
Somehow it seemed strange and we almost expected to hear bells ring eerily
from beneath the surface.
At Pistyll Rhaeadr, we
drove up a remote valley and picnicked by the waterfall which is listed as
one of the ‘Seven Wonders of Wales.’
A bridge takes you close to the two hundred and forty foot cascade and, if
you don your boots, you can follow a track up to the top.
It is apt that we should have used an ordinance survey map to locate it, as
it lies just north of the village of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochpant, where they made
the film "The Englishman who went up a hill and came down a Mountain."
In the storyline, the villagers were told by map surveyors that their beloved
hill was fifteen feet too low to be included in a map, so they topped it up
with soil.
The film, in which Hugh
Grant starred as one of the surveyors, is fondly remembered by the locals
and we were shown several of the locations.
As to the actual hill/mountain, there were in fact two of them used for the
film, including Cyrniau at Penybontfawr. This hill lay beyond a ring of standing
stones and at first I imagined these to be ancient Celtic stones, but over
a drink with the friendly locals at "The Goat" in Llanfair Caereinion
I learned that they had been placed there for the last National Eistedfod
competition.
Fresh images came to mind of the hills echoing to the sound of choirs singing
and cloaked Druid bards judging the poems recited in Welsh. For a moment I
thought of a line from Dylan Thomas's play, Under Milkwood; "Praise the
Lord we are a musical Nation."
In
Mid-Wales you hear the Welsh language around you and read it on signs everywhere.
You can also get close to the mountains; their size does not over awe you.
They are part of the scene without dominating the view.
And as to the farm holiday, the food alone was well worth going up hills and coming down mountains for!
FACTFILE
B&B for two at Cwm Llwynog £44-£50, Dinner £10 p.p.
Cwm Llwynog
Llanfair Caereinion, SY21 0HF
Tel: (01938) 810791 Fax: (01938) 810791
Web page: http://www.little-places.co.uk/
Welshpool and LLanfair Railway: http://www.wllr.org.uk/index.htm http://www.stmem.com/welshpoolllanfairrailway/
Stiching: http://www.colinette.com
